Fixed Wah suggestions

[petey twofinger]

i would like to try a fixed wah (vero) . really dont know too much about inductors , but i seemed to notice that some folks claim they are more challenging , or something . (?)

i was thinking this would be a simple build , so far i did a buffer , a mosfet boost , and an easy face , plus a dano flanger rehouse (ouch) .

any recommendations ?  ideally i would like it to be effective in that the effect would be pronounced , but i may be biting off more than i can chew . i did see a color sound schemo , and the idiot wah . readily availible parts / common stuff would be a huge plus . a search for "fixed wah vero " didnt turn up much , thats what i am doing at this point , veros .

thanks !!

[anchovie]

You don't need to search specifically for a "fixed" wah vero - there's no difference electronically between a fixed and rocker wah, just whether you operate the pot with your foot or not!

[smallbearelec]

i would like to try a fixed wah (vero) . any recommendations ?

My Wild Mouse

http://www.smallbearelec.com/Projects/WMouse/WMouse.html

does this really well, and it does not require a wah inductor. I'm working on a re-design that gets rid of the switched capacitors in favor of a pot-with-parallel-capacitor arrangement, simplifies the build considerably while preserving the effect.

Regards
SD

[deadastronaut]

i made a pulsewah a while back. it has lfo (auto sweep) and manual too...nice simple build but cool....uses a modded morley classic wah...

pcb though,

if you go to morley pedals site they have all the schematics for their wahs...which is handy.

http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php/v/chickpea/render.gif.html

[joegagan]

i like the character that inductors add to the sound, personally. as others have stated, a fixed wah is simply a regular wah circuit with a knob in place of he foot swept pot.

M shenker of UFO  used a regular wah with the gear disconnected, he would simply reach his finger in and tune to the freq he liked, then when he stomped the pedal he had filter. ( he also had a regular wah for  regular wah duties).

the thing about wahs is they have a little bit of distortion at certain freqs, which is what gives them character.

[artifus]

i guess what you're saying joe, is that it is the nature of that distortion which is important in defining the character of the wah, be it single transistor, op amp or inductor based?

*edit* aside from subjective perception, that is.

[petemoore]

  Took me a while before learning how to start working with it, getting it sounding good/better in my case involves getting the input level 'right', too much and it 'gliX' [I attribute this to transient overloading], just below that input level works well, depending on playing strength etc.
   Sure can clean up multi-guitar mixes, making the guitar parts stand out from one another [IME] putting wah instead of 'full range' on one or more of the guitar tracks.
  Fixed is a nice option [gets a good bit use] which I'd consider worth it.
   "Better'' inductor ? I like R/F fasel [examples I own] inductors better than what I guess was a TDK [looked a little like a ceramic motor magnet].
   

[JustinFun]

I can heartily recommend the Systech Harmonic Energizer - it can do a decent '%^&*ed wah' sound with the width knob about halfway, but you can also narrow the peak frequency to get some seriously interesting sounds.

There's a layout here:

http://www.sabrotone.com/?p=310

And a clone demo here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhNFPsbv2Lk

[JustinFun]

That's c*o*c*k*ed wah, obviously.

[zombiwoof]

I know you're talking about building a fixed wah, but I thought I'd mention that I bought a Boss AW-2 Auto Wah, and when looking at the suggested settings in the manual, I found that it can be set as a fixed wah.  I tried the settings, and it is great as a fixed wah.  One of the knobs sweeps through the frequencies until you find the spot you want to leave it at.  This was an unexpected surprise, as I didn't know previously that it could work that way.  I got it pretty cheap, too, in mint condition.

Al

[Gordo]

+1 on both the Autowah and the Systech.  Check out Madbean's Karate Shop for a really nice Systech clone.