Idiot Wah not working properly

[tatems]

I just built Tim Escobedo's Idiot wah and it doesnt sound right. When i turn it on there is the guitar but no wah. also you can hear a hissing sound.
I used a pot instead of an LDR. When i turn the pot the hissing sound gets softer and sound diffrent. I think its only the sweep i'm hearing.

Can anyone help?

[tatems]

Actually come to think of it, is the idiot wah manual or automatic?

Also i am going to build Phuncgnosis and i was wondering if that was auto or manual?

[robbiemcm]

My great ability of getting hissing noises is related to not having the jacks grounded. Although I'm sure you did this, best to check.

[NaBo]

Actually come to think of it, is the idiot wah manual or automatic?

Manual!  And lovin' it!  So you may wish to use an LDR instead of a pot.  But, you can also use it as a wah frozen at a certain point.

Did you flip the "resonance" switch?  I found the effect to be very very subtle without it on.

I assume it isn't shielded yet, right?  That'll be your biggest source of noise if everything's grounded right.  You say the hissing gets softer and sounds different as you turn the pot clockwise?  I'm sure this is a different problem and may be your wish, but it sounds like the pot MAY be backwards.  From my experience the noise is quieter at the low end of the sweep...  as in the "W" part of the "WAH"... as in the part of the sweep with the highest resistance.  You probably want this at the most counter-clockwise position of the pot.

With an LDR as the control (good for manual control), you don't get the luxury of choosing though, the Idiot Wah will be an Idiot "Aww".  The "Photon Filter" on Tim's page is an LDR-controlled manual wah with a low-to-high sweep as your toe comes down, so you might wanna check that out.

But I guess that doesn't matter if you dont have a working effect!  So, if it still isn't working, post the info required in the "what to do when it doesnt work" sticky, I'm sure you'll get an answer in no time!

[tatems]

thanks for that. I just added the ldr and now it works fine. The only problem now is that i need allot of light to make it really WAH. I think i can get another ldr which is more sensitive to light.

thanks again

[NaBo]

Ahh, good to hear!

Yeah, the thing about LDR's is achieving consistency in different light conditions, but for the price, simplicity and convenience, it sure beats a conventional wah pedal.  A decent investment is the Photocell Variety Pack at ratshack... actually an ok deal, you get about 6 LDRs for 3 bucks of all different sizes and ranges, so you'll probably find a good one in there.

I'm considering a dedicated light source with a dimmer switch a foot or so above the pedal, and a pot in series and parallel with the LDR to make a bit of a sensitivity/sweep control.

Those circuits are definitely fun to mess with, huh?

[tatems]

Ok i've finished it completely and i am just about to put it in its enclosure.

One problem now remains. (lol) When i bypass the circuit it sounds louder that when it isn't. How can i fix this? I don't have the space to put another pot on. Could i use a trimpot?

Any ideas?

[tatems]

any?