WAH Pedal.. no "wah" effect

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Bash_Man

Bash_Man

Well-known member
hey everyone,
My Dunlop 95q crybaby seems to have all the sudden just stopped making the "wah" sound. When I rock the pedal forward, I can hear the filter effect kicking in, but no wah wah wah sound. I adjusted the dials (volume and tone) and no go.

The Pot shaft and gear seem to move without an issue. Could a defective Pot be the cause of this? Its only couple of months old bought brand new, but seller hasnt responded back to me about warranty repair.

Any input is appreciated.

Thanks
 
Duke of Metal said:
hey everyone,
My Dunlop 95q crybaby seems to have all the sudden just stopped making the "wah" sound. When I rock the pedal forward, I can hear the filter effect kicking in, but no wah wah wah sound. I adjusted the dials (volume and tone) and no go.

The Pot shaft and gear seem to move without an issue. Could a defective Pot be the cause of this? Its only couple of months old bought brand new, but seller hasnt responded back to me about warranty repair.

Any input is appreciated.

Thanks
Click to expand...
You can measure the pot with a multimeter. The inductor is the critical part making the wah sound
 
scottosan said:
You can measure the pot with a multimeter. The inductor is the critical part making the wah sound
Click to expand...
Thank you. if I recall, the pot has 3 prongs to it. Do I measure across any 2 of them and rock the pedal? any info would help.

cheers
 
Sounds like a bad pot. You have to desoulder the pot from circuit to measure resistance. Across the outside pins should be the full pot value resistance (25k, 50k, 100k, something of that sort). Put a probe on one side, and a probe on the middle pin, and turn the pot shaft. You want to look for jumping or the meter going OL meaning open circuit. If you have a high quality count meter you can sweep it fairly fast but if not, you’ll likely have to sweep it at whatever speed the meter can update correctly.

If the pot is jumping around in value take some contact cleaner and clean it out well over a paper towel. Try measuring it the same way again and see how it does. If it still is jumping around it will be time for a new pot.

If after all of this it does not solve the problem, then you’ll have to diagnose elsewhere - possibly a loose solder joint so keep a lookout for that.

Make sure no battery is connected when soldering.
 
glpg80 said:
Sounds like a bad pot. You have to desoulder the pot from circuit to measure resistance. Across the outside pins should be the full pot value resistance (25k, 50k, 100k, something of that sort). Put a probe on one side, and a probe on the middle pin, and turn the pot shaft. You want to look for jumping or the meter going OL meaning open circuit. If you have a high quality count meter you can sweep it fairly fast but if not, you’ll likely have to sweep it at whatever speed the meter can update correctly.

If the pot is jumping around in value take some contact cleaner and clean it out well over a paper towel. Try measuring it the same way again and see how it does. If it still is jumping around it will be time for a new pot.

If after all of this it does not solve the problem, then you’ll have to diagnose elsewhere - possibly a loose solder joint so keep a lookout for that.

Make sure no battery is connected when soldering.
Click to expand...
Thank you. The pedal is only 7-8 months ago and I know dunlop provides a 1yr warranty on these things, so I am just trying to see if they'll honor it seeing that I bought it from a USA distributor off of Reverb and I am in Canada.
 
Start with the simplest / cheapest possibility: power. If using a 9v, make sure it’s fresh and hot. If using an adapter, make sure it’s working. Most of the Dunlap stuff will pass the signal even when the power is insufficient to provide the effect. Also - if I’m not mistaken - the 95q is also a boost pedal, +15db I believe. That will definitely drain a 9v battery more quickly than a std wah that only filters tone. If the pot is bad, they are relatively cheap and relatively easy to replace.

https://reverb.com/item/6857406-rep...MIrKishbjL7wIVDtvACh2WyQejEAQYBCABEgI0AfD_BwE
 
PDC said:
Start with the simplest / cheapest possibility: power. If using a 9v, make sure it’s fresh and hot. If using an adapter, make sure it’s working. Most of the Dunlap stuff will pass the signal even when the power is insufficient to provide the effect. Also - if I’m not mistaken - the 95q is also a boost pedal, +15db I believe. That will definitely drain a 9v battery more quickly than a std wah that only filters tone. If the pot is bad, they are relatively cheap and relatively easy to replace.

https://reverb.com/item/6857406-rep...MIrKishbjL7wIVDtvACh2WyQejEAQYBCABEgI0AfD_BwE
Click to expand...
Thank you. I was using a TrueTone CS7 to power the pedal. Plenty of power to it, even tested with a Fresh 9v. same results.

I am going to inquire with the Canadian Dunlop distributor for repair.
 
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This appears the be the unit with the adjustable volume / boost and wah sweep - by any chance have either or both of those controls been rotated down to their minimal setting? Just thinking out loud here - sounds like you‘ve done a good job of trouble shooting.
 
PDC said:
This appears the be the unit with the adjustable volume / boost and wah sweep - by any chance have either or both of those controls been rotated down to their minimal setting? Just thinking out loud here - sounds like you‘ve done a good job of trouble shooting.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the suggestion, but I've also tried that. I've tried to move those dials at almost every combination possible. if i do manage to somehow get a "wah" effect out of it, its very very weak. Definitely not like what it was sounding like when it was brand new.
 
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