'brightening' a wah

Ed G. · December 31, 2004, 03:25:03 PM

Hey guys,
Recently I put together a GGG mod-wah, using a scavenged inductor from an old Crybaby 535 wah.
Overall, I like the sound of it, it is very fat and vocal sounding, yet a bit dull, esp. when compared to my old Thomas Organ crybaby. It doesn't get bright until the very last bit of the pot's sweep, and I've adjusted to get as much of that as I can.
Will changing the inductor change this? Or is there a component that's not covered by the trimpots in the mod-wah?
I have a feeling it's just the lame wah inductor, but I want to be sure before I sink 30 bucks or more on an inductor.

cd · December 31, 2004, 03:30:18 PM

You've read "Technology of the Wah" at GEOFEX, right?

Ed G. · December 31, 2004, 04:28:35 PM

Numerous times. I haven't found any references to the overall 'brightness' of the wah. Most or all of the mods suggested by R.G. are contained within the GGG mod-wah via trimmers. I've also searched through the archives here. I wonder if a higher-quality inductor won't make it sound more bright and open.

jmasciswannabe · December 31, 2004, 05:27:13 PM

hey ed....i used to have a crybaby inductor and then i went over to the fasel, i found it smoother and more throaty....i liked it a lot better, but it wasn't "brighter" in my opinion, actually kind of the opposite IMO. are you using a capacitor range rotary switch?

Ed G. · December 31, 2004, 06:08:26 PM

Yeah, I use the rotary cap thing. I keep it mainly set at the stock .01 value.

jmasciswannabe · December 31, 2004, 08:36:30 PM

thats cool....I was going to say at the higher values I useit sounds like i loose brightness and highend....so if you didn't use the rotary and had a higher value this might be the case....without messing with some of those trims I am not sure what to tell yo, but I am sure someone around here will have some suggestions

zachary vex · December 31, 2004, 08:55:34 PM

measure the resistance of your pot when the pedal's fully up. you may discover it's not turned all the way after all.

Dai H. · January 01, 2005, 01:15:03 AM

have you tried smaller caps for the input .01uF and the freq. cap .01uF (you mentioned)? Maybe smaller like 8200pF or whatever sounds better. The halo--I think that was supposed to be clearer (maybe "thinner") sounding versus the Fasel.

dev · January 01, 2005, 01:16:04 AM

A smaller input cap=less bass so maybe that might do the trick. Or try to increase the gain of the pedal by using higher gain transistors or lowering the input resisistor, higher gain = more treble. You may have to decrease the pedals output though with an added volume pot (use a trim pot). Or add a volume pot at the tail end of the circuit with a small treble bleed cap between the center lug and the non-grounded lug of the added volume pot this will definitely cut some lows out.

good luck Dev

Ed G. · January 02, 2005, 02:17:54 PM

Quote from: Dai H.have you tried smaller caps for the input .01uF and the freq. cap .01uF (you mentioned)? Maybe smaller like 8200pF or whatever sounds better. The halo--I think that was supposed to be clearer (maybe "thinner") sounding versus the Fasel.

I think it's just the dunlop inductor. I'm used to playing the old thomas organ crybaby, which def. wasn't as fat sounding, but clearer. The TDK inductor, it's not supposed to be as desirable as the stack of dimes or halo, but it's not half bad either. I'm going to either go with the fulltone or the red fasel.

RDV · January 02, 2005, 02:24:03 PM

Quote from: Ed G.I think it's just the dunlop inductor. I'm used to playing the old thomas organ crybaby, which def. wasn't as fat sounding, but clearer. The TDK inductor, it's not supposed to be as desirable as the stack of dimes or halo, but it's not half bad either. I'm going to either go with the fulltone or the red fasel.

I've got the red Fasel in my wah, and it's really mellow. You might try the yellow one, I kind of wish I had.

RDV

Ed G. · January 02, 2005, 05:10:55 PM

Really? I thought the red fasel was supposed to be clearer, or have more 'headroom'
I'd like to do a shootout of the different inductors and settle on the best two (the ggg mod-wah can switch between or run 2 together) but they're the most pricey part of the pedal.
I'm using bc109c transistors right now. Maybe the 5117 transistors are brighter.
or
Maybe I should quit obsessing over this and just play the damn guitar. The wah already sounds better than 99.9 percent of the other wahs I've ever played (but I've never played a Teese or Budda)

Fret Wire · January 02, 2005, 05:50:33 PM

They've (or distributors) have mixed up the advertising a few times. When they first came out, they said Yellow was the classic, and Red was cleaner. They compared it to Cream (yellow) and Frampton (red). Based on that I bought a Yellow, and liked the sound. Then new ads came out saying the opposite, and the most recent ads came out again saying yellow was the classic sound. I never tried the red, but I'm more than happy with the yellow model.

This is from the Antique Electronics site. Type "wah" in the search field.

P-ECB-FI-01
2004 Catalog
page 74
DUNLOP INDUCTOR FASEL CUP CORE MODEL (YELLOW)
This cup core model for vintage vibe. Use the precision-wound Toroidal, part number P-ECB-FI-02, for the cleanest sound possible.
The Fasel inductor is back! These near-mythical inductors are the key to the singing tonal sweep every wah player lusts for but can't capture with a new pedal. The ultimate upgrade to your current wah, these magic bullets are available exclusively from Dunlop, the new worldwide agent for Fasel of Italy. Your wah will finally give up the lush harmonic sparkle you've always heard in your head but could never coax from you rig.

P-ECB-FI-02
2004 Catalog
page 74
DUNLOP INDUCTOR FASEL TROIDAL MODEL (RED)
This precision-wound Toroidal will give the cleanest sound possible. Use the cup core model, part number P-ECB-FI-01 for a more vintage vibe.
The Fasel inductor is back! These near-mythical inductors are the key to the singing tonal sweep every wah player lusts for but can't capture with a new pedal. The ultimate upgrade to your current wah, these magic bullets are available exclusively from Dunlop, the new worldwide agent for Fasel of Italy. Your wah will finally give up the lush harmonic sparkle you've always heard in your head but could never coax from you rig.

Right now, Aron has the best price on the Yellow model.

dev · January 05, 2005, 01:27:01 AM

Hi,
I recieved this from Dunlop:

The Cup core model is the Yellow Fasel Inductor...and is also the inductor that gives the vintage sound. The red on the other hand is the Toroidal inductor, which will give the cleanest sound possible.

Hope this info helps!

Abraham Hammad, Tech Support
Dunlop Manufacturing USA........

The new "classic crybaby" has the red toroidal inductor along with some "classic" surface mount components.

http://pgong.home.comcast.net/crybaby/.

I'm not sure what they are going for maybe a later 70's wah or maybe with the added components the red inductor alters the sound to give a more 60's vibe. Hopefully we'll get an inductor shoot out sometime soon.

One question I have is what will inductors in parallel do and what will inductors in series do to the sound of a wah?

good luck Dev

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'brightening' a wah