Wah Explanation: Crybaby with base noise (like white noise)??

[richon]

Hello, i need a Wah Explanation:

my Crybaby has a base noise (like white noise)when activated that changed as I move the pedal/control. What is that makes this??  is there a way to fix this??

[richon]

it seems like Clapton didn't mind for the "white noise" in his WAH  (look for 1:40 on the video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4vxOoSS5RY

[MovingInSloMo]

Sounds like your wah doesn't have true bypass switiching, the effect is always on. You can "wah" the noise right? Mod for true bypass and you'll be bypassing the whole wah signal path when the effect off.

[richon]

it's already modded to TBP and the noise goes away as soon as the WAH if off ('cause it's like a WHA'ed noise... like white noise... no RF but close)

[Riscchip]

Greetings,

This is a common problem with wah pedals. There are few possible causes, a few possible solutions. It might be EMI interference--some folks will shield the inductor with mumetal, which helped a lot with noise issues in my Teese RMC3. I'm not sure where to get mumetal shielding--I bought mine from a fellow on The Gear Page some years ago, but I expect a search here could provide the answer.

You probably tried this, but moving the pedal away from other pedals on your board will often drastically reduce the noise it makes.

How are you powering your pedal? Batteries are generally the quieter option--you can also filter the power supply with a 80-100uf cap which could help.

This is the most remote possiblility, but you may have a dirty pot. Deoxit may be helpful here.

Hope these thoughts are of some use.

--Carson

PS -- Unhelpful comment alert--I kind of like making funky noises with wah hiss, hehe. You can do little rhythms if you crank your amp up and rock the pedal to the beat.

[n9voc]

Greetings All!

I just reduced the noise of a Crybaby wah by at least 90%.  How was this accomplished?  A combination:

The pedal is a Jim Dunlop GCB95 "original" crybaby.  When it came to me, it had a horrendous white noise hiss that was loud enough to compete with the full up signal level out of my guitar.

I looked at the schematic (easily available).  I changed out the MPSA13 darlington, (being a darlington transistor it was susceptible to being a noise source) and the 9.1V Zener Diode.  I added a 0.1 uF directly across the diode (will NOT affect DC performance) to reduce any potential Zener noise in the power supply.

However, these things, I believe were not the major contributor to the quiet.

When I examined the cast metal case, the post for the ground of the circuit board and the posts to attach the metal bottom plate were painted.  This is NOT condusive to a well grounded case.  I carefully scraped the paint off the tops of the five posts (four for the sheet metal bottom, and one the circuit board mounts onto.  NOW I have excellent metal to circuit board contact and metal to metal contact between the cast metal case and the sheet metal bottom.

Low and behold, I don't hear any noise until I dime my Champ clone out.

By having excellent metal to metal contact with the ground trace and the two metal halves of the pedal itself, one has shielded the coil and everything else!  (Faraday cage effect).

Just thought I would pass this success story along. Someone else may need to give it a try!

[PRR]

Thanks for the tips, and Welcome!

[GibsonGM]

Nothing like a painted ground to ruin your day. 

Welcome, N9 - good first post!