BOSS foot wah FW-3

[Brymus]

I was given a Boss foot wah FW-3 yesterday.
The unit is dead,why it was free.

Does anyone have a schematic or any other info on this unit ?

It has the shortest travel of any wah I have seen ,only an inch or so.
Is this normal for this unit?
It has a very large rubber stopper/block on the heel end under the treadle that limits the movement it looks original and yet it looks like it was an afterthought from the factory in that it only matches the casting on one side.
Again any info on this unit would be appreciated.
Thank You

[Brymus]

OK I found a schematic for it.
Found it here ,this is a really cool site you guys should check out > lots of good schematics and mod info ,the guy has worked for some of the big players in the music field http://www.nicosonic.com/english/indexen.html

Also the Boss FW-3 has really really good reviews and appears to be sought after as collectable...
I guess I scored a good semi -collectable if I can fix it.
The unit is in fair condition,just dirty not to worn.
http://www.nicosonic.com/schems/BossFW3.pdf

[Brymus]

Ha Ha it wasn't broke really,
It is just missing what goes on top off the power switch to turn it on/off with the treadle.
I can do it by pressing it with my finger
Sounds really good too,even has a decent battery in it.
Its a good thing cause the treadle attaches to a slide pot with a stainless steel arm/very simple but effective.
And the board that holds the slide pot is wedged or glued in and I cant flip the main board without removing the other two sub boards and that includes the one with the slidepot that I couldnt pull out.
Lesson learned-  dont take the guys word for it that its broke before you test it yourself...

Now to figure out a switch for it ,it has a remote switch jack,maybe I should just build an A/B/on/off box for it.
Its definetly not true bypass.
Any suggestions here?

[Brymus]

Played it tonight/last night,cant sleep right now,,,anyway.
I added the PDF to the gallery for everyone here http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php/v/Brymus/Schematics/BossFW3.pdf.html

Its a really nice sounding wah I like it alot,plus the price was unbeatable.
Just need to figure out where to put the momentary switch for power/bypassing,it uses the input jack for main power supply but doesnt feed the circuit until the momentary is engaged.
Someone at the Boss forums built a DIY version from this PDF(how I found it)

[asatbluesboy]

And it's back to life! Didn't really find it necessary to open another thread. Anyways, I've got one of these. It sounds great, but I've got a CryBaby that is gonna be modded to hell and back, so I would like to turn it into a volume pedal. Problem is the travel is way too short (as reported by Brymus), which is actually one of the reasons I got a CryBaby. Is there any way to overcome this? Removing the rubber stopper doesn't do anything.

[Skruffyhound]

I shouldn't think so. The slider pot only has so much travel. Unless you can change the length of the stainless steel arm .... but it's not easy to say how without having a look at it. Save your time and sell it as is, thus keeping a rare effect alive, and use the massive amount of cash to buy a dozen more easily mod-able CryBabies. Or a volume pedal

[asatbluesboy]

Hmm... I haven't tried detaching the arm from the pot. *facepalm*

I never knew FW-3s were going for big bucks. I bought it for something like US$50 American (I am Brazilian). Checking the 'Bay as we speak and I can see they're around $80-ish. Not anywhere near massive, but good enough to me. I wasn't really wanting to mod it--I also don't feel comfortable modding old stuff, even when they're not true "antiques"--I was thinking about removing the circuit and using just the enclosure, but I'll think I'll try and trade it for a real volume pedal. I miss my FV-300H...