Q About Italian Vox Wah Pedal

[Paul Marossy]

Anyone know what circuit they used? I have an Italian made Vox wah pedal that I believe was made in 1973 with a Fasel inductor in it, but the bottom plate makes no reference to what model it is...

[sean k]

Surely you can trace it out.I just redid my old wah with easy find 100k pot and low noise resistors...those circuits are dead simple to follow...or am I interpreting your question wrong?
                                               sean k,nz.

[Paul Marossy]

Well, I suppose I could trace it out. I am still wondering what circuit is supposed to in those old Italian Vox wahs, though. I'm thinking that it should be a V846 because of the date of manufacture. All of the V847s I have seen have the TDK inductor, but maybe mine is a V847? Just looking for some confirmation on that. (Isn't the V846 the Clyde McCoy circuit?)

I ask because I have read up on these old wahs, and there seems to be differences in what I have read about the V846/V847 circuits, leaving me a little unsure...

[Paul Marossy]

Just to give this one some closure, I traced it out last night. It's almost exactly the same as the Clyde McCoy circuit with a couple of exceptions. I think this is one of those post-Clyde McCoy / pre-V846 wahs that I have read about...

The differences between mine and a Clyde McCoy are as follows:

1. Fasel inductor in lieu of "halo" type.
2. No "tropical fish" caps, but they are all the same values.
3. 33K resistor in parallel with the inductor.

On my circuit, the input cap is before the 68K resistor, as it is on the Clyde McCoy model. Something that is a source of confusion is the resistor that is in parallel w/ the inductor. From what I have read, 33K, 68K or 100K resistors were all used in the Clyde McCoy wahs. So, based on my research, schematically speaking, mine is the same as the Clyde McCoy model. The actual components used are different, and I guess that is where people would split hairs about the caps, the inductor and that cap paralleling the inductor...

So anyhow, there's my answer to my own question.  :wink:

[Stuart]

If yours has a Fasel and just "VOX" on the bottom, it's early '70s.   Most Clydes had a 33K resistor in parallel with the inductor; the 100K was only used with one particular variant of halo inductor.  The grey JMI Vox wahs have no resistor across the inductor.

The order of production for Italian Vox wahs was roughly:

Picture Clyde / halo
Signature Clyde / halo
"Transitional" (plain bottom) / halo
"Transitional" (plain bottom) / unpotted inductor bolted to board
"Transitional" (plain bottom) / epoxied inductor
V846 / brown inductor
V846 / can inductor
Vox / Fasel

To confuse things further, there are equivalents of the Clyde and V846 that were sold in Europe, with different model IDs and serial numbering systems.  Hope that helps.

[Paul Marossy]

Thanks Stuart. Yes, mine has the white rubber ring on the bottom plate, it just says "Vox" on the bottom with a number "250-049", has the Fasel and also has "Vox" cast into the shell. So, I guess mine is not a transitional model then, huh? I know you're more versed in this than me, so I will defer to you.

I've heard of these grey Vox wahs, but I haven't ever seen one. Anyhow, that clears things up quite a bit! Thanks once again.  

EDIT: Hey, one question. I have read about a Vox "Wah Baby". What the heck is that?!

[Stuart]

Thanks Stuart. Yes, mine has the white rubber ring on the bottom plate, it just says "Vox" on the bottom with a number "250-049", has the Fasel and also has "Vox" cast into the shell. So, I guess mine is not a transitional model then, huh?

No, the transistional wahs have plain black bottom plates, sometimes with a paper label carrying the "this pedal contains a battery..." text.  All the early wahs had a serial number, but the stickers are often missing or damaged.

I've heard of these grey Vox wahs, but I haven't ever seen one.

They are fairly rare.  Of the pros that had them, Jimmy Page used one extensively, John Lennon had one (you can see it in the rooftop concert photos) and I believe Syd Barrett probably had one, judging by the very high pitched wah on Apples and Oranges (the inductor is nominally 250mH in these).

Jimmy Page

Grey Vox wah

Guts

I have read about a Vox "Wah Baby". What the heck is that?!

I've seen Sam Ash Wah Babies, but none labelled Vox...  it will just be another rebadged Jen Crybaby anyway.  The Wah Baby, Dallas Arbiter Wah Face, Gretsch Playboy, Elektra Wah & many others are all basically the same pedal.

[brian wenz]

Hello Hello Stuart--
    How about a Jen Vox Mister Crybaby??
Brian.

[Stuart]

Hi Brian,

The Jen Mister Crybaby is a wah-volume pedal.  The Vox version was labelled Wah Swell, at least the few I've seen were.  There's also a Sam Ash Volume Baby and probably other variants too.

Stuart

[Paul Marossy]

I've seen Sam Ash Wah Babies, but none labelled Vox... it will just be another rebadged Jen Crybaby anyway. The Wah Baby, Dallas Arbiter Wah Face, Gretsch Playboy, Elektra Wah & many others are all basically the same pedal.

I never heard of a "Wah Baby" before, but it's mentioned in this article like it was a legitimate product. I can not find any info to support this, though. http://www.analogman.com/kraft.htm


BTW, thanks for the pix of the Vox grey wah. I did see a schematic for it once, and I remember the 250mH inductor. It looks like it has a permanently mounted output cord?

[1wahfreak]

Here is a pretty comprehesive example of all the wahs that were made by Jen. I know there are still one or two that are missing. Stuart is right, they are basically all the same thing. Wah Baby, Playboy, Greco, Playa Baby, Luxor are all Jen Cry Baby's. The only other wierd one I've seen is called a Strepitoso made by Eko. It looks like it could have been made at the Jen factory. It's has a film can inductor, Icar pot, Arco caps and sounds pretty decent too.


http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/bronecki@sbcglobal.net/album?.dir=e78b&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos

[Paul Marossy]

Wow! You are a wah freak!  :wink:

Interesting, they all look quite similar.  :shock:

Um, you said Wah Baby. Is that in the picture?

EDIT: I think I see it in the second row. So I take it that is not a Vox wah pedal?

[1wahfreak]

Ya, I've been known to border on obssesive/complusive. Good for collecting pedals, bad for beer drinking.  
There is one pedal there that is marked Vox. I'm not sure of the transistion between the Clyde/V846 models and the Jen made units (with the white piping around the bottom) I assume it's after Vox sold the rights to Thomas Organ......something like that.