Re-Built my Wah...

[Paul Marossy]

man, im never satisfied with transistors.

Not satisifed with transistors?! Have you tried germaniums yet? That will give you some more options to not settle on... 

[jonathan perez]

yup, the oc44 is in one of my wahs, right now. i tried a few others, some from smallbear.

as soon as i put trimpots for every resistor in a couple wahs, ill test it with germs to see how that goes...

[jakenold]

yup, the oc44 is in one of my wahs, right now. i tried a few others, some from smallbear.

as soon as i put trimpots for every resistor in a couple wahs, ill test it with germs to see how that goes...

That sounds like an interesting project! I can't wait to get to work less next week (from 7AM to 19PM as an IT-consultant monday to wednesday, with thursday-sunday off  ) so I can get started on all my projects. I have a Phase100 and McMeat I need to debug, and then I also have this wah I'm gonna trick out.

I've started playing funky hiphop with my cousin who's doing some oldschool rapping and two of my friends I went to highschool with. It's a mix of Chic, Kurtis Blow, RHCP, Gang Starr and such, so a good funky wah is essential. I'm playing with my VOX AC30 + Fender CS '62 Strat with Abigail Ybarra pickups (FANTASTIC!). My stomps are a VOX wah, SD-1 with germanium mod, Dr Quack, Orange Squeezer + Ross comp in one box and a double tubescreamer pedal I made myself.

Which germanium transistors do you guys recommend? AC128 / 188? Which gain would be the best to use? I need to make the gain-measurement device R.G. Keen has posted on his site.

[jonathan perez]

to be quite honest, there isnt much tonal change going on with germs...the ones ive been using have gain around 120, so it just sounds like a wah with less "intensity." but, i would suggesting swapping the gain resistor for something lower, to compensate.

i bet if i goofed around with the transistor resistors i can get some neat tones...i think ill do it tomorrow...i think...

i suggest something with gain around 200 for mellow, but satisfying no less...

[jakenold]

to be quite honest, there isnt much tonal change going on with germs...the ones ive been using have gain around 120, so it just sounds like a wah with less "intensity." but, i would suggesting swapping the gain resistor for something lower, to compensate.

i bet if i goofed around with the transistor resistors i can get some neat tones...i think ill do it tomorrow...i think...

i suggest something with gain around 200 for mellow, but satisfying no less...

Okay, that is also what I'll settle with on my next experiments. I'm gonna try the BC107 / BC109 combo mentioned here. Any other tonal tips?   

[Paul Marossy]

Ah, I didn't know that the OC44 was a germie. Keep on chasin' the elusive perfect wah tone... 

[jonathan perez]

i havent listened to my main wah in a while, maybe a week, and that sucker is cool!

if anyone is interested for this gnarly waaaaah tone (my favorite), try these mods.

bass/gain:430ohms
electro:10uF
Rb2 (at the negative leg of the electro...often around 100k): 120k+...gets you closer to saturation, nice thick tone...
volume:33k
Q:100k
trannies:2n5089 (or if you dont want it to be as intense, bc109)
inductor:fulltone halo, or of the like...
sweep cap: .012

very "classic" tone with some enhancements, makes for a saturated, sharp as a knife cuts through like a chainsaw tone...

when i use it for very quick barre chord enhancements, i swear it cuts through all of the cymbals perfectly (paiste rudes).

my .02 for the day...until i get them trimpots goin...

[jakenold]

i havent listened to my main wah in a while, maybe a week, and that sucker is cool!

if anyone is interested for this gnarly waaaaah tone (my favorite), try these mods.

bass/gain:430ohms
electro:10uF
Rb2 (at the negative leg of the electro...often around 100k): 120k+...gets you closer to saturation, nice thick tone...
volume:33k
Q:100k
trannies:2n5089 (or if you dont want it to be as intense, bc109)
inductor:fulltone halo, or of the like...
sweep cap: .012

very "classic" tone with some enhancements, makes for a saturated, sharp as a knife cuts through like a chainsaw tone...

when i use it for very quick barre chord enhancements, i swear it cuts through all of the cymbals perfectly (paiste rudes).

my .02 for the day...until i get them trimpots goin...

I just got 3 working and 1 defect GBC-95's from eBay. That's the cheapest way to get the enclosures here in Denmark (Sorry Steve!). I'm gonna try that out for sure!

Great tips everyone, keep them coming! I can't way till next month where I have a weeks full vacation - talk about stompbox-trip 2007 

[alderbody]

to be quite honest, there isnt much tonal change going on with germs...the ones ive been using have gain around 120, so it just sounds like a wah with less "intensity." but, i would suggesting swapping the gain resistor for something lower, to compensate.

i bet if i goofed around with the transistor resistors i can get some neat tones...i think ill do it tomorrow...i think...

i suggest something with gain around 200 for mellow, but satisfying no less...

I used to have a CV7112 in Q1 for quite some time and i liked the sweeter tone it gave to my wah.
But it's relatively lower Hfe weakened the overall level, so i always played it along with my "resonance" pedal (parked wah/also loaded with a CV in Q1) in order to get it closer to "normal" levels. And i recall that combo giving me some of the sweetest wah tones.
(I had to somehow "crank" Re1, though to get more gain)

Btw TheBattleOfMidway, the OC44 is a PNP. Did you make a PosGnd wah? What was the Q2 with the OC44?

...or did you mean OC140, which if i remember well is the non-mil spec CV7112?  because in your site i saw some Wah pics with CV7112s

If i could find a CV7112 with a Hfe of around 200+, i would definitely use it as Q1.

But i don't quite think i will find one...

The "hottest" i've ever seen was about 120-130 tops.

anyway, the old BC10X i currently use, are quite good in there.

I know i promised to record, but still nothing.

The promise remains, though... 

[jakenold]

I used to have a CV7112 in Q1 for quite some time and i liked the sweeter tone it gave to my wah.
But it's relatively lower Hfe weakened the overall level, so i always played it along with my "resonance" pedal (parked wah/also loaded with a CV in Q1) in order to get it closer to "normal" levels. And i recall that combo giving me some of the sweetest wah tones.
(I had to somehow "crank" Re1, though to get more gain)

Btw TheBattleOfMidway, the OC44 is a PNP. Did you make a PosGnd wah? What was the Q2 with the OC44?

...or did you mean OC140, which if i remember well is the non-mil spec CV7112?  because in your site i saw some Wah pics with CV7112s

If i could find a CV7112 with a Hfe of around 200+, i would definitely use it as Q1.

But i don't quite think i will find one...

The "hottest" i've ever seen was about 120-130 tops.

anyway, the old BC10X i currently use, are quite good in there.

I know i promised to record, but still nothing.

The promise remains, though... 

Please refresh my theoretical knowledge, but coulnd't you just stack two transistors in parallel to up the gain? With a similar HFE.

[alderbody]

not sure about that.

I hope you don't mean a darlington pair, because in that case the gains multiply.

[alderbody]

I posted soundclips of my Wah into a Thor into a Twin Reverb.

you can find them here:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/userfiles/index.php?&direction=0&order=&directory=public_downloads