Re-Built my Wah...

[Roobin]

On my Fuzz I've got more socketed parts than soldered parts...

[Fuzzy-Train]

^ what's holding the sockets? J/K I know what you mean.

TBOM, that would be wicked.... you've got to post your results if/when you do it.

[jonathan perez]

ill do it as soon as i get another board...that way i think ill be able to find ALL sorts of different wah tones...

[alderbody]

haha, no way man, a trimpot for EVERY resistor.

hehe, that's something i wanted to do for experimental reasons...

squeeze every drop of available tone from that circuit!

[alderbody]

Could you explain what the treble bypass mod is all about? I am very interessed in trying that out! 

It's a 500K trimpot in series with a .0033uF cap, connected in parallel with the wah's input cap/resistor.

I just added a switch to remove it on demand, but it's really very good when it's on.

I found it here in the forum, but i can't remember the subject of that thread, so all my searches gave no result...

and since the schematic is not mine, i cannot post it.

I'm sure somebody else will be able to help.

but it's so simple, you don't quite need a schematic to do it...

[jakenold]

Could you explain what the treble bypass mod is all about? I am very interessed in trying that out! 

It's a 500K trimpot in series with a .0033uF cap, connected in parallel with the wah's input cap/resistor.

I just added a switch to remove it on demand, but it's really very good when it's on.

I found it here in the forum, but i can't remember the subject of that thread, so all my searches gave no result...

and since the schematic is not mine, i cannot post it.

I'm sure somebody else will be able to help.

but it's so simple, you don't quite need a schematic to do it...

That does sound very simple - I'm gonna try that out for sure. I am also building a "wah-lab", to check out the posibilities of such a circuit. Currently, my favorite is a vintage halo with pro pot and orange drop 0,22's. I've grown fond of two sweep caps - 0,1 stock and 0,15 - what fulltone calls "Shaft", so they are both going to be in my final version.

If you stumble across the topic, be sure to post a link here! This could be a great thread, for us to share wah-tricks 

Thanks for your help!

[alderbody]

I've grown fond of two sweep caps - 0,1 stock and 0,15 - what fulltone calls "Shaft", so they are both going to be in my final version.

that would be 0.01uF as stock and 0.015uF as an extra option. (a little bassier)
For a treblier sweep try something like a 0.0068uF or 0.0082uF.


EDIT: i would avoid polypropylene caps...

[jakenold]

I've grown fond of two sweep caps - 0,1 stock and 0,15 - what fulltone calls "Shaft", so they are both going to be in my final version.

that would be 0.01uF as stock and 0.015uF as an extra option. (a little bassier)
For a treblier sweep try something like a 0.0068uF or 0.0082uF.


EDIT: i would avoid polypropylene caps...

Wow, that's a double up on the embarrasment factor  I meant the values you said there. I'm using a Custom Shop '62 California Beach Stratocaster with an Abigail Ybarra pickup set. The guitar has that fat rosewood stratocaster sound, so I might try out your suggestion to get those "wacka wacka" rythms, even though 0,01uF does it pretty good for me right now.

I'm using Xicon polupropylene, although I'm also testing some mylar-caps, with no apparrent gain tonewise. Which caps do you recommend? I live in Denmark and order most of my stuff from Banzai (although I get those great stacked metal film caps by Panasonic from Digikey... Danish tax and customs included: a little over 1,5$ a piece! Yikes!).

[alderbody]

I'm using Xicon polupropylene, although I'm also testing some mylar-caps, with no apparrent gain tonewise. Which caps do you recommend? I live in Denmark and order most of my stuff from Banzai (although I get those great stacked metal film caps by Panasonic from Digikey... Danish tax and customs included: a little over 1,5$ a piece! Yikes!).

I couldn't recommend a specific type of cap, because everyone has their own "good tone" perception...

But i'd just say that i have a peference for Mallory 150 caps...
What you see in my current Wah configuration (pics above) are my favs for this setup.
I ended up using them after many hours of testing caps, even from the same Brand/type/value.
So my advice would be: Test and listen till you find the one(s)!

I get most of my stuff from Olaf (Banzai), too. [i'm from Greece, btw]

EDIT: I like Olaf's Nichiden audio caps, too. They sound (to me) quite like the mallories, though a little "grainier".
The Mallories were softer and more 3D, while the Nichidens were more edgy and somehow "compressed"...
This "edge" might go with the softer attack you get from the rosewood board...

OK, i might have a dog's hearing, but what i say is not BS...  At least for my setup!
(main rig: Warmoth total vintage strat copy_ 1pc alder/maple+braz r/w_ WCR SR pickups, twin reverb, etc...)

The Xicon polystyrene caps are from Mouser.

Since you come from Denmark, why not give Jensens a try?...  (those huge paper in oil caps...) hehe
That would be fun, though... I'm very curious to find out how they might sound in a wah...

[jakenold]

I couldn't recommend a specific type of cap, because everyone has their own "good tone" perception...

But i'd just say that i have a peference for Mallory 150 caps...
What you see in my current Wah configuration (pics above) are my favs for this setup.
I ended up using them after many hours of testing caps, even from the same Brand/type/value.
So my advice would be: Test and listen till you find the one(s)!

I get most of my stuff from Olaf (Banzai), too. [i'm from Greece, btw]

EDIT: I like Olaf's Nichiden audio caps, too. They sound (to me) quite like the mallories, though a little "grainier".
The Mallories were softer and more 3D, while the Nichidens were more edgy and somehow "compressed"...
This "edge" might go with the softer attack you get from the rosewood board...

OK, i might have a dog's hearing, but what i say is not BS...  At least for my setup!
(main rig: Warmoth total vintage strat copy_ 1pc alder/maple+braz r/w_ WCR SR pickups, twin reverb, etc...)

The Xicon polystyrene caps are from Mouser.

Since you come from Denmark, why not give Jensens a try?...  (those huge paper in oil caps...) hehe
That would be fun, though... I'm very curious to find out how they might sound in a wah...

I have just ordered some 150's from Olaf yesterday. I am very excited how they sound. Do you also use them for your sweep cap?

I'll be sure to give Jensen a call, but I'll have to be careful not to fall into that NOS/tube-goop kinda mood 

[alderbody]

I have just ordered some 150's from Olaf yesterday. I am very excited how they sound. Do you also use them for your sweep cap?

I'll be sure to give Jensen a call, but I'll have to be careful not to fall into that NOS/tube-goop kinda mood 

For sweep cap i use a Xicon polystyrene. I kinda liked that one more than the other competitors...

Just be aware that Olaf only sells the 630V Mallories. These are relatively larger (dimension-wise) than "average".

I used the 630V .22's because i used perfboard. These caps do not fit in normal pcbs. You'll have to wire them offboard.

Since i have done that in the past, it's good to wire them directly on the wah_pot's leads and run wires to the pcb.
But you'll have to mount them on the chassis somehow(quite easy though).


In case you call Jensen could you ask them if they make smaller size/voltage_rating paper in oils?  In that case i would be interested.

[jakenold]

Ah okay, that's the one I'm using too! The Xicon's for sweep caps.

I have already designed a huge PCB to fit inside a wah shell with all the nessesary connectors and such for pots and trimmers... I just freed up some real estate for the 150's 

[jonathan perez]

i use xicon's polystyrene caps, they give the clearest tone for my wahs.

check out myspace.com/sunshinewahs for the clip of the sweep ranges.

[jakenold]

i use xicon's polystyrene caps, they give the clearest tone for my wahs.

check out myspace.com/sunshinewahs for the clip of the sweep ranges.

Great, I'm not totally off course then! I'll be sure to check out your site. Where do you get those tropical fish caps from? They're so good looking 

[jonathan perez]

i bought around 500 from a person who used to build radios in italy. no, im not selling any. 

[jakenold]

i bought around 500 from a person who used to build radios in italy. no, im not selling any. 

Keep 'em! Just wondering 

[alderbody]

i bought around 500 from a person who used to build radios in italy. no, im not selling any. 

I wouldn't, either... 

[alderbody]

Ah okay, that's the one I'm using too! The Xicon's for sweep caps.

I have already designed a huge PCB to fit inside a wah shell with all the nessesary connectors and such for pots and trimmers... I just freed up some real estate for the 150's 

make sure to post pics when you're done.

i hope you like the sound of the mallories...

transistors?...  what type are you using?

[alderbody]

I'll try to record some clips this weekend...

[jonathan perez]

man, im never satisfied with transistors.

one of my wahs has bc109s, another 2n5089s, another oc44s, another bc108s, another bc549s...

i had a dream last night about dropping the bass/gain resistor to about 300, and not being totally satisfied..i really want a castledine inductor...