Using Sewing Machine -- Wah wah?

[Michael Allen]

I want to make a wah, and i've got a sewing machine pedal that I want to use as the housing. It will have to use and LED/LDR. So what circuits do you guys suggest?

There is not much movement inside the casing, so the LED movement will be at most 3/4". Think it will be a problem?

Thanks!
Michael

[zener]

The problem will depends on how do you plan to set up the LED/LDR in connection with the up and down motion of the foot rocker. How bright is the LED? Is it dark enough for the LDR when the foot rocker is tilted up?

The "smoothness" of the wah effect as you move the foot rocker will be your indicator how the big will be the problem if there will be.

[Ansil]

it would probally help if you built a preset range so you could have a wide sweep range or a narrow one since you only have so much range.

[casey]

I want to make a wah, and i've got a sewing machine pedal that I want to use as the housing. It will have to use and LED/LDR. So what circuits do you guys suggest?

There is not much movement inside the casing, so the LED movement will be at most 3/4". Think it will be a problem?

Thanks!
Michael

morley has free schems on their site, all based on the led/ldr idea.

hope this helps.  

[Alex C]

Paul Marossy has a page on his site where he details how he built an A/B switch out of a sewing machine pedal.  Yours will be more complex, but maybe this will help.

http://diyguitarist.com/DIYStompboxes/SewingMachinePedal.htm

Alex

[Michael Allen]

Ok so Morely is the way to go for LDR usage I take it. Which pedal would you guys suggest? I've never used a wah before so I'm not experienced in sound characteristics. Which pedal is sort of a 'do-all'?

The LDR...where can I order these? I ordered some photocells from mouser awhile ago but they didn't have them anymore.

[Paul Marossy]

The only problem with a sewing machine pedal for a wah shell is that in practice, it would be sort of counter-intuitive. Instead of like stepping on a gas pedal, it's the opposite. In other words, on the paddle, instead of the pivot point being in the middle like a wah, it's on the top. I don't know, maybe you could turn it around and try to use it like a regular wah pedal. I'm not sure how well it would work. The other complication is the linkage to control the pot would be difficult to make work properly, I think it would require a pulley system kind of like an Ernie Ball volume pedal. And, it would be hard to fit all that stuff in such a small shell. But hey, give it a shot and let us know if you have any success.  Sounds like a real good challenge...