Dunlop Wahs: GCB95 Vs GCB95F

[warioblast]

Besides the fasel inductor, what are the differences 

[RedHouse]

Well probably the BIGGEST difference is that the GCB95F which is supposed to be the "Classic" wah uses SMD parts and has 2 IC's on board (and the Fasel as you said) which the original, and up till now, virtually none of the wah's had.

The GCB95 is built much more like the original with discrete transistors, through-hole parts etc.

For visual reference here are the two, this is the GCB95F "Classic" notice the surface mount parts and the two IC's:



and here is a GCB95  and JH-1:
(there have been like 6 rev's of it but the boards are basically the same)



so if you want a modern wah (and hard to modify) use the GCB95F, if you want more like vintage (and easy mod'ing fodder) use the GCB95

-Brad

PS;  I have a short blog here on sheilding a Strat for those who are into that:
http://users.isp.com/brad_anne/guitar/shield.html

[jonathan perez]

not to mention they both suck 

just kidding...but not really. 

[warioblast]

Thx Brad.

In fact I had the GCB95. I filled up the shell with a somewhat clyde board.
I know how badly the GCB95 sucks and I keep on hearing people saying the GCB95F sounds good
I thought there were more than the inductor swap but Dunlop's website is greedy in its descriptions. It's funny how Dunlop advertized the GCB95F "Classic wah-wah sounds from the '60s". LOL classic sound with modern parts then  

I guess they're 2 totally different beasts. Thx again Brad for the nice pic of the "classic" board.  

[Paul Marossy]

That GCB95 F PCB looks exactly like the Dime Bag Darrell DB-02 board. 

[sandman]

hello guys, my first post here. 

I've got a GCB95F and I wonder is it buffered or hardwire?

How did they wire the DPDT switch and is it possible to rewire it for TB using the same switch?

thanks

[no one ever]

hello guys, my first post here. 

I've got a GCB95F and I wonder is it buffered or hardwire?

How did they wire the DPDT switch and is it possible to rewire it for TB using the same switch?

thanks

looks to be an SPDT switch(no tb) along with the IC's and plethora of parts


therefore must be a buffer.

[Paul Marossy]

looks to be an SPDT switch(no tb) along with the IC's and plethora of parts

Nope, that's a DPDT switch with a ribbon cable from the PCB to the switch.

[RedHouse]

...It's funny how Dunlop advertized the GCB95F "Classic wah-wah sounds from the '60s"....

Yeah, to me that borders on false advertising IMHO. There is nothing classic about the classic wah.

I had a pal at a music store who "lent" me the GCB95, GCB95F, V847 and JH-1 and I compared them to my original 70's Thomas Cry Baby (with the TDK inductor), if I was going to buy a Wah and wanted any sort of vintage'ness I'd buy a VOX 847.

[tcobretti]

Yeah, I had a GCB95 that I modded a few times looking for that sound.  Then I demoed a used V847 in a pawn shop and bought it on the spot.  The only mod I'm considering is an output buffer.  I wouldn't change a thing otherwise.

[RedHouse]

Same here, I think an output buffer is the only thing a wah really needs, and inside the TB loop (so it's out when the wah is out).

[alderbody]

I have a short blog here on sheilding a Strat for those who are into that:
http://users.isp.com/brad_anne/guitar/shield.html

great job there, but IMO too much shielding would kill your Strat's high-end response. (one might say that it kills the "airy-ness"...)

I once did this ultra-shielding to mine, but when i removed the excess, i got back some quite useful (to me) treble.

Now i only have the control cavity and jack cavity covered with copper tape.

It all depends on what you need the most, but the noise is not more now than what it used to be with the super shielding.

[OK, i have a set of  WCR SR pickups which are already quite low-noise (not noiseless).]

btw, Star grounding helps a lot in terms of de-noising the Strat.

[sandman]

Thanks, I guess it's buffered. But it doesn't affect my fuzz pedal in a way that Boss buffers do 

[RedHouse]

great job there, but IMO too much shielding would kill your Strat's high-end response. (one might say that it kills the "airy-ness"...)

I once did this ultra-shielding to mine, but when i removed the excess, i got back some quite useful (to me) treble.

Proper shielding has absolutely NO effect on the high's, can't speak for your work but you must have done something else to affect your sound. The shielding you see on my web-blog only cuts RFI and some EMI but has ABSOLUTELY NO effect on the guitar's high's...period.
(I've done a few dozen of these for customers and my own 3 Strats, there is NO treble loss on my work)

In fact quite the opposite has occured in my experience, the "air'y-ness" is way more evident when buzz and hum is significantly reduced specially on Strat's and to a lesser (but still noticable) degree on Les Paul's..

Post some pic's of your work I can probably help you get past your problem.

Star grounding does have it's place and it can definately help poorly implemented designs but in a guitar there is very little to be gained by star grounding a properly bus grounded guitar.

When you did your "ultra-shielding" you must have goofed-up something, there is just no treble-loss in a properly shielding a Strat.

[Paul Marossy]

Star grounding does have it's place and it can definately help poorly implemented designs but in a guitar there is very little to be gained by star grounding a properly bus grounded guitar.

+1

[alderbody]

Proper shielding has absolutely NO effect on the high's, can't speak for your work but you must have done something else to affect your sound. The shielding you see on my web-blog only cuts RFI and some EMI but has ABSOLUTELY NO effect on the guitar's high's...period.
(I've done a few dozen of these for customers and my own 3 Strats, there is NO treble loss on my work)

nobody has questioned your work...
Btw, i have shielded some guitars myself. There is NO WAY to goof in there, man...
In fact, my shielding work was done in the exact same manner as yours.
And what i call "excess" is the pickup cavity shielding and the pickup cover shielding, which cause treble loss.
This is not only my experience-opinion...

In fact quite the opposite has occured in my experience, the "air'y-ness" is way more evident when buzz and hum is significantly reduced specially on Strat's and to a lesser (but still noticable) degree on Les Paul's..

Reducing buzz (hum cannot really be reduced because of the single coil's nature) could make some frequencies more evident.
But shielding a coil, cuts off some (very) high end, which to many people is "interpreted" as "airy-ness".

Post some pic's of your work I can probably help you get past your problem.

There's no problem here so, no need to post pics for "elementary" stuff.... 

Star grounding does have it's place and it can definately help poorly implemented designs but in a guitar there is very little to be gained by star grounding a properly bus grounded guitar.

I never mentioned anything about super-audible results.
Changes from the Shielding-Star_grounding thing are subtle and barely audible to many people, although i felt the difference.
But things didn't quite change when i removed the pickup cavity shielding, only that i got back some of my lost "airy-ness".

When you did your "ultra-shielding" you must have goofed-up something, there is just no treble-loss in a properly shielding a Strat.

Hey, you gotta learn that there is always some "grey" between "black" and "white".... 
I don't quite dig your offensive post. 
I just posted my opinion-experience on the subject. Now, if you feel like someone is ruining your busyness, it's not me... 
Peace, man!...

[RedHouse]

...
Hey, you gotta learn that there is always some "grey" between "black" and "white".... 
I don't quite dig your offensive post. 
I just posted my opinion-experience on the subject. Now, if you feel like someone is ruining your busyness, it's not me... 
Peace, man!...

I really don't "gotta learn" alderbody, I know how much grey area there can be ...and how much mis-information can go around.

Sorry if you read my post as offensive, it simply disagrees with your's, entirely. I like to respond to posts regarding treble loss-in sheilding guitar control cavity's as IMHO it's just not true. In fact only a minute loss of presence can even be observed when adding a sheild (cover) to a pickup and even (then it's usually due to being nickel plated brass) but sheilding a guitar cavity and scratchplate just has no effect on treble.

Single coils don't have to be "by nature" hum-ridden, the single coil is only that way due to lack of proper sheilding, a properly sheilded single coil has quite near zero hum, in fact my Strats can be right in front of a TV or computer monitor and barely pick up any hum/buzz, try that with a stock Strat. One of the biggest offenders in a Fender type single coil is the magnets arent referenced to ground, which creates six little hum/buzz antenna's to reach way out in the world and pick up anything that's going 'round.

Unsheilded pickups don't have any added air'y'ness but are mix of the true (real) sound and a bunch of stray unwanted garbage. The trick to sheilding pickups is NOT to add copper around the coils (like tape) there needs to be some space there to minimize any capacitance.

A word on capacitance in a pickup, you realize we're only talking apout a few picofarad's here don't you? at 10k adding 5pF capacitance can only have an effect on very high, barely audible (except to the neighborhood dogs) frequencies.
(do the math if you care)

Again, sorry if you find my post offensive, but I gotta call it when I hear it.

-Brad

[Paul Marossy]

Single coils don't have to be "by nature" hum-ridden, the single coil is only that way due to lack of proper sheilding, a properly sheilded single coil has quite near zero hum

+1

[alderbody]

...and how much mis-information can go around.

Hey, you bet!... the web is full of misleading info.
btw, i'm just posting my OWN experiences and not something i read somewhere else.

Sorry if you read my post as offensive, it simply disagrees with your's, entirely. I like to respond to posts regarding treble loss-in sheilding guitar control cavity's as IMHO it's just not true.

After all it's your opinion and not necessarily the whole truth.
I believe you know that "truth" is so god-damn subjective these days...

In fact only a minute loss of presence can even be observed when adding a sheild (cover) to a pickup and even (then it's usually due to being nickel plated brass) but sheilding a guitar cavity and scratchplate just has no effect on treble.

...i feel like we're getting a little closer now... 

Single coils don't have to be "by nature" hum-ridden, the single coil is only that way due to lack of proper sheilding, a properly sheilded single coil has quite near zero hum, in fact my Strats can be right in front of a TV or computer monitor and barely pick up any hum/buzz, try that with a stock Strat.

I know because the pickups in one of my Strats are shielded. (WCR SR)
But you said it yourself: near zero hum, NOT plain zero.
We're just "saying" the same thing here, but from a different point.
I'm biased towards "more hum" and you're more to the zero side...   

One of the biggest offenders in a Fender type single coil is the magnets arent referenced to ground, which creates six little hum/buzz antenna's to reach way out in the world and pick up anything that's going 'round.

TRUE

Unsheilded pickups don't have any added air'y'ness but are mix of the true (real) sound and a bunch of stray unwanted garbage.

That's the point!
What you call garbage might be my airy-ness.
That's the point where many people disagree.
Some (me included) believe that shielding takes away the garbage plus some useful (to "us") frequencies,
while you believe that it ONLY removes the crap.

The trick to sheilding pickups is NOT to add copper around the coils (like tape) there needs to be some space there to minimize any capacitance.

Yes, i know that...  I tried both methods (with some super-noisy TexasSpecials) and didn't like either of them.

A word on capacitance in a pickup, you realize we're only talking apout a few picofarad's here don't you? at 10k adding 5pF capacitance can only have an effect on very high, barely audible (except to the neighborhood dogs) frequencies.
(do the math if you care)

Remember what i wrote? I mentioned VERY high frequencies. And btw, i'm quite aware of the info you give here about pF's.
It's all subjective, as i stated above. Some people are so tone-deaf that sometimes i'm really jealous of them....
(AHA! that explains why sometimes i feel the urge to dig a hole in the garden and scratch my ears with my toe-nails....   )    

Again, sorry if you find my post offensive, but I gotta call it when I hear it.

Glad to see that our "dispute" has turned to an "eye-opener".

Once again, i believe that we remotely agree, it's just that the bias in our opinions makes it invisible.
You have your own experiences and i got mine.

And as in almost every gear related issue, THE TRUTH LIES SOMEWHERE AMONG PEOPLE'S OPINIONS....



nice "talking" to ya, Brad! 

[alderbody]

..........and a big sorry to warioblast for hacking this thread..........