Question about Sewing Machine Wah

[FastJunkie]

I'm thinking about building a wah pedal out of a sewing machine pedal and just had a few questions about it.

1. Is there any particularly good Bass wah circuits that I should use and what their advantages are
2. Is this project too hard for someone who has very little experience? (my dad has a friend though who has worked with elctronics for 30+ years and is more or less a god with them so if I really need help he's there
3. What should I look for in a casing. (size, material, action ect....)

Thanks 

[smallbearelec]

IMO, this is not a good first build. Yes, you can get a ready-to-solder board from any of several sources, and you can find the parts to stuff it with, a Wah pot, and a rack gear on my Stock List. But the real heartache is setting up the mechanics needed to crank the pinion gear on the pot. Take a careful look at the guts of a Crybaby; that is what you are aiming to duplicate. If you have enough help, OK. Otherwise, I would suggest that you find an easier build on which to develop some construction chops.

[FastJunkie]

yeah this won't be my first build, I'm just getting some ideas. I've git a 1590BB which should be here in a week or two. Still not sure what to put in it though...

[oldrocker]

I would try a simple circuit like the inductorless Color Sound Wah.  I used an LED\LDR setup to block and unblock light instead of trying to turn a pot.  For most novice wah pedal makers this might not be their cup of tea but it does work.  I used mine at a jam session and everyone was surprised how good it sounded.  The LED\LDR goes where the 100K pot is.  I also use a 50K pot in place of the 33K resister to ground.
It all depends on what type of sewing machine pedal you end up using too.  They vary so much.  Some just can't be used for this.  My wife gave me this one and I was surprised she was willing to do that.
http://www.logmonster.com/images/full/?pic=cswah_1162439148-422-14160.jpg
http://www.logmonster.com/images/full/?pic=Sewingped_1162536480-422-14165.jpg
http://www.logmonster.com/images/full/?pic=DS0010ns_1162432918-422-14161.jpg
http://www.logmonster.com/images/full/?pic=sew2_1170098589-422-14680.jpg
http://www.logmonster.com/images/full/?pic=sew3_1170083831-422-14681.jpg

[joegagan]

oldrocker that is really COOL!!!

[oldrocker]

Thanks Joe,
When I first set this up I used a clothes pin to block and unblock the LED\LDR.  But decided to try a sewing machine pedal when my wife asked me if I could use it for something.  I still use that DIY clothes pin mechanism to adjust the frequency on my Crash Sync.  I put a switch on it to toggle between clothes pin and pot.  Eventually I used half of an upside down mini bread baking tin as a light shield.  Kind of funny looking I know but hey it's quick and easy way to adjust resistance on a device to free your hands up.

http://www.logmonster.com/images/full/?pic=crash2n_1162539272-422-14164.jpg
http://www.logmonster.com/images/full/?pic=crash1n_1162517025-422-14163.jpg
http://www.logmonster.com/images/full/?pic=Crashs1_1159230403-422-13732.jpg
http://www.logmonster.com/images/full/?pic=crash3_1159247363-422-13733.jpg
http://www.logmonster.com/images/full/?pic=crach3n_1162477456-422-14162.jpg

[FastJunkie]

So with the colour sound when you Press down on the pedal a little "shutter" kind of blocks the light going into the ldr? Or when you press down it moves the shutter away? I'm thinking of using a pot though but if this works as well and is much simpler I'll go with your design.

oh yeah I'm going to see a guy who fixes sewing machines and I'll be getting a pedal from him, should have quite a selection to choose from, and best of all, they're free   

[oldrocker]

Okay.  Sounds like you've got a nice selection of sewing machine pedals. 
When you press down the lever it unblocks the light and lets the LED shine on the LDR.   Toe back blocks light from getting to the LDR.   I would go with the pot if you have any doubts as I wouldn't want to be responsible for a wah you don't like.  The Color Sound isn't for everyone and wahs with inductors seems to be popular.  I made a Vox 847 wah and used one side of a Radio shack audio transformer for the inductor.  I used a slider type pot for the actuator on that one.
http://www.logmonster.com/images/full/?pic=inducpkg_1175295000-422-14898.jpg
http://www.logmonster.com/images/full/?pic=rsinduc_1175303588-422-14899.jpg
http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/diagrams/wah_847_sc.gif

[FastJunkie]

Well I could only get one off the guy (and I'm not sure if it's the one I wanted but if it doesn't work out I'll resort to buying one I do). Plus I got this volume pedal from an organ which I would be interested in seeing if it was possible to do something with 

Pictures:

http://www.logmonster.com/images/full/?pic=asdfgh_1175283001-1-14900.jpg

http://www.logmonster.com/images/full/?pic=qwert_1175332680-1-14901.jpg

http://www.logmonster.com/images/full/?pic=uiop_1175283920-1-14902.jpg

http://www.logmonster.com/images/full/?pic=zcxvb_1175266198-1-14903.jpg

oh and how big is your case for the colour sound? Mine is about 12cm X 6cm I'm scared the thing won't be big enough 

[oldrocker]

Mine is smaller than that and I didn't pay attention to size.  So I think you should be able to make it small enough to fit.

[FastJunkie]

Alright then, thanks for the help and expect pictures sometime down the road.

I think I'm going to call it the "Moon Wah-ker"

[oldrocker]

COOL!!!