A Non-Invasive Way To Add LED & DC Jack To A Vintage Wah Pedal

[Paul Marossy]

I bought this Italian made Vox Wah with a Fasel inductor a few years ago, but didn't ever use it because I didn't like how it sounded - way too harsh at certain positions and I didn't like the fact that I didn't have a DC jack.  

So the other day I got it out and started messing with it again. One thing I hated was the 200K "Pro Pot", did not like the taper on it AT ALL, and I think the 100K pots sound better. So I put a Dunlop Hot Potz II in it instead and I liked it MUCH better. And the original wiring in it was a real HACK JOB, so I decided to just completely re-wire the thing. I had already true bypassed it because it "sucked tone" really really bad.

So anyway, I had this 3PDT switch in it already, a I was thinking that there must be some way to add and LED to it without drilling any holes in it so I could keep the case 100% original. Then I realized that I could use the hole in the side of the treadle to mount a 5mm LED, which fits perfect. I just added a couple of drops of Super Glue on the inside to secure it. Works great, and it's completely reversible. It looks just a little weird, but it actually makes for a very easy visible indicator of whether or not the wah is on. I added an LED on one of my other wah pedals, but it's not very easy to see.


So here is how the wires pass thru the enclosure to the LED. If the wires ever break, it's a very easy job to replace them.



Here is how the LED looks from the exterior.






The second thing I wanted to do because I HATE having to use 9V batteries for many reasons, was to add a DC jack somehow to it without having to drill any holes in the enclosure. So I had an idea to use an external DC jack with a battery snap adapter. It actually worked out pretty well.

Here is the battery snap to DC jack thing I made up. You can also see the little "Q control" trimpot I added at the Q resistor on the PCB. I tweaked until I found the sweet spot that I like, and it made a BIG difference in the harshness of the sound.



Here is how the DC jack looks. Since the wah pedal stays planted on my DIY pedal board, this arrangement works just fine for me. The small gage wires pass thru between the bottom plate and enclosure.



On any other wahs I would have just started drilling holes, but on this one because it's something of a rarity, I didn't want to do that. So there you have it. I hope this might help someone in the future...  

[SteveG]

Hi Paul,

Ancient thread, I know, but I really like your LED-mounting idea. I had a 'why didn't I think of that' moment there!

Another way of getting DC power into a vintage pedal is to get hold of a 9V battery snap, connect the red and black wires together and attach it where the battery would have gone. You can then use a stereo 1/4" jack to feed the DC into the 'input' socket. No modification required. Heck, you could even add series diode protection to the snap if you wanted.

Apologies if I've broken any forum conventions by replying to a 100 year-old thread, BTW! :-)

Steve

[Paul Marossy]

Ha ha thanks for replying to my post, old as it is.