Whammmy IV enclosure repurpose

[sshrugg]

Hello! My Whammy IV died (again!) and I was really bummed until I demo'd the Whammy V, which rules.

Anywho, I thought I might build a rebote into it, and use the expression pedal for delay speed.  My question is how would you rig a potentiometer in this thing?  The stock design uses photo-optics.  Just crowd-sourcing ideas...thanks!

[space_ryerson]

I also have a dead Whammy IV laying around that is waiting for the day that I figure out what to do with it as well. 

What you want to look at is using a LED/LDR (light dependent resistor) combo through that piece of plastic with the gradient on it on the treadle in place of a potentiometer. You would wire up the LED to be lit solid (not blinking), through the plastic gradient, and have the LDR on the other side 'seeing' the change in light as you move the pedal. The tricky part is finding a LDR with the right resistance range to replace the pot on the delay circuit you are planning on.

[sshrugg]

The tricky part is finding a LDR with the right resistance range to replace the pot on the delay circuit you are planning on.

Agreed.  Other ideas?  I was hoping to rig it up with one of those pulley systems similar to a Ernie Ball VP, but I don't really know enough about ropes and knots to work that out, either.  The range of motion is very limited, only about 20 degrees.  This makes it difficult to make the lever twist a potentiometer directly.  I think I'd have better luck with LDRs or pulleys. I prefer pulleys, but I don't know where to get or how to install the hardware.  Maybe I just need to go to Lowes, and get creative.

[space_ryerson]

If it were me, I'd stick with working with the LED/LDR method, since the physical part is already set up for you with the treadle. Getting the right resistance might simply be a matter of setting up a trimpot in parallel with the LDR.

[sshrugg]

If it were me, I'd stick with working with the LED/LDR method, since the physical part is already set up for you with the treadle. Getting the right resistance might simply be a matter of setting up a trimpot in parallel with the LDR.

That is a great idea! I will try soon