Wah Input Buffer

[YouAre]

I heard that an input buffer on a wah (like those in crybabies) makes them brighter. can anyone back this up??

[R.G.]

It's more like with a buffer in front of them, they don't suck the treble out by loading your pickups down.

But I guess you could say that's brighter, OK.

[YouAre]

Well i saw the "fat wah" mod which involves modding this buffer. The vox type circuits that i've modded/built, sometimes seem too "warm" to me. I guess its what people describe as the "harshness" of those crybabies??

Sorry for the subjective terms i use. But am i making sense?

[tcobretti]

There are a few things that add to the harshness of a crybaby.  The input buffer, the high gain transistors, and (in my experience) the inductors all contribute to a brighter sound. 
Another thing you might try is a trimpot for the 68k input resistor.  Tweaking this value will boost the volume of the circuit and help it push your amp a little more.

[YouAre]

sorry i shoud've specified...

i'm using a BYOC wah, i trimmed the bass/input gain nicely. but i still want a bit more treble. will adding a crybaby style input buffer help?

[tcobretti]

After looking at the BYOC wah kit, I'd probly try different transistors first.  I'd try some 2N5089s or MPSA18s.  These will boost the signal and thin out the wah a little.  Your transistors should be socketed, so this will be easy to do.  The next thing I would try is a Red Fasel inductor.  Aron sells them here in the store and they have a brittle high end that I think might be more of what you are looking for.

I don't think an input buffer is going to help much.  To paraphrase RG, they don't boost the treble so much as prevent its loss.

[Processaurus]

Interesting, maybe the tonesucking was figured into the design intent of the originals, with a buffer perhaps it would need to be compensated for its now unexpectedly bright sounding input.

Like other tonesucking old pedals, you true bypass them, and the effect is then too quiet, because it was intended to match the volume a loaded down guitar.

[jonathan perez]

After looking at the BYOC wah kit, I'd probly try different transistors first.  I'd try some 2N5089s or MPSA18s.  These will boost the signal and thin out the wah a little.  Your transistors should be socketed, so this will be easy to do.  The next thing I would try is a Red Fasel inductor.  Aron sells them here in the store and they have a brittle high end that I think might be more of what you are looking for.

+1...but the yellow is brighter....

[rockgardenlove]

Red is brighter IMO.  It has some more bite that's nice for humbuckers while I like the yellow for the single coiles.  That's what I hear anyways.
Isn't it there largely because if you don't true bypass it the signal will be loaded down moreso even when bypassed without it?

[YouAre]

i have the red fasel in there already.

I tried putting in different transistors (i have b109c's in there) and wah didn't work.... I believe i tried mpsa18 and 2n5089....i dont remember where i heard that the latter works for wahs. Any reason why mpsa18's wouldn't work?

[R.G.]

"Didn't work" probably means the pinout is different. The Vox wah circuit is remarkably tolerant of different transistors. Just different gains and such would still let audio through. Swapping in a transistor that's a different pinout would give a doesn't-work condition.