Early 80's Cry Baby Wah inductor

[GuitMan]

I have seen a lot of talk about wah inductors here but none have really covered my early 80s "Original" Dunlop Crybaby. It has a short, fat blue capacitor looking thing which is the inductor in the circuit. But this looks like no iductor I've ever seen. It's not a halo, red or yellow fasel or even the current black inductor being used by Dunlop. Also, its smaller than other 500mh inductors in wha whas. My cousin has a relatively new crybaby with a "normal" looking inductor in it. Does anyone know what's in mine? Can it be replaced with another type of inductor (halo or fasel)?

[jonathan perez]

indeed, the old blue ugly small inductor thing.

any inductor will be an upgrade.

[Paul Marossy]

That sounds strange. What does your PCB look like? Does it look like the one in the picture?



If so, then it's a replacement inductor. Does it sound good? If you like it, why change it? 

[jonathan perez]

no, it looks like this, right?

[Paul Marossy]

Those were a component used in standard off the shelf wah pedals?!

[jonathan perez]

thats dunlop for ya. 

[Paul Marossy]

Interesting. I've never seen those in any wahs before. 

[GuitMan]

This is my 80's Dunlop Cry Baby.  It was purchased brand new and right now it is all original.  Use of this blue inductor couldn't have been very popular because have not seen any information on this type of inductor on the web.  I never really got the sound I wanted out of the pedal and it has been shelved for decades.  With all the information out there on pedal modification, I wanted to see if I could get some better mojo out of this pedal.  I got an ArielFX halo, "blue" 3PDT switch for true bypass, and a "black top" Pro Pot for what I consider to be necessary replacement parts.  The halo for better vocal quality, 3PDT for better bypassed tone, and the Pro Pot to get rid of the scratchy old pot and for better vocal sweep.  Since I will need to relocate the 33k resistor (located just above the blue inductor), I will probably replace it with a 47k to further enhance vocal quality.  Of course I will test after each mod but if I'm not happy at that point I will try some additional mods.  68k input resistor to a 47k (volume boost), the 470 ohm resistor to a 300 ohm (for more gain), and the 1.5k resistor to a 2.2k resistor (more mids and smooths out bass/treble transition).  I am also going to shave the bumper at the back of the pedal for more sweep when the pedal is rocked all the way back and adjust the pinion gear to what my ear likes for the sweet spot.  We'll see how all that goes...LOL 

[Paul Marossy]

Well, I'll be. Looks like a stock inductor. Replacing it with a Fasel or a halo inductor would probably be a vast improvement in the sound quality.