Need a Colorsound Wah drive mechanism (long shot, I know)...

[jessetrbo]

I have a friend (and bandmate) that owns a colorsound wah that has seen better days.  The basic problem is that while touring a long time ago, the drive/cam mechanism of the pedal broke down and is now lost forever.

If anybody has this (slotted cam)part lying around  or maybe an empty Colorsound Wah/Swell shell that they'd be willing to sell, please send me a PM with your price.  I am fully aware that this is a long shot and very unlikely.

I've been looking at eBay and CraigsList, but to no avail.  My friend put the circuit board into a crybaby shell, but the throw/range of the pedal is now compromised due to the different mechanism.

If someone has a DiY solution to this problem, I think it would be an useful discussion as there must be more than one person who has experienced this problem.

I've attached a link to a picture of the mechanism in question from Paul Marossy's most excellent site, DIYguitarist.com

http://www.diyguitarist.com/Images/ColorsoundWah2.jpg

Thanks,

Jesse Trbovich

[digi2t]

I've found some more pics;













I think that it would be possible to fabricate a similar cam out of plastic. With all these pics, you could probably scale the lever, and then make one. Here is a close up of the lever;



and the dimensions;
Overall length = 36.8mm
Width of slot cut out = 6.0mm
Length of slot cut out = 25.3mm
Width of arm outside slot ~ 11.6mm (varies, plastic is quite rough)
Diameter of shaft hole = 6.3mm (With screw finger tight)

You can also try http://www.wah-wah.co.uk/, or http://www.stompboxes.co.uk/wowfuzz.html. They're doing a repro of the Colorsound Wow Fuzz, so maybe they can supply you with a replacement lever.

Cheers,
Dino

[jessetrbo]

Thank you very much!  Those pics are great... I will try contacting the people you supplied links to.

Much obliged,

--Jesse

[digi2t]

Thank you very much!  Those pics are great... I will try contacting the people you supplied links to.

Much obliged,

--Jesse

Just in case you didn't see it, I added a close up of the lever to my original post above, along with dimensions.

[jessetrbo]

digi2t, you are the best!!

--Jesse

[Ronan]

I have a colorsound wah pedal here and can help with any detailed measurements of the cam if you need them, but cannot part with the piece you want.

Anyone know what sort of box caps those grey/green ones with silver ends are? My first colorsound wah had those in it, and the one I have now has tropical fish caps. I have not seen them anywhere else.

[ringworm]

I recall someone had made a CAD drawing of the gear lever and posted it somewhere... I thought I had a copy in my files but it's not there 
It was not dissimilar to this drawing http://www.diyguitarist.com/PDF_Files/ColorsoundWahShell.pdf
I wonder if anyone had access to a 3D printer, it would be short work to make some.

[Seljer]

I recall someone had made a CAD drawing of the gear lever and posted it somewhere... I thought I had a copy in my files but it's not there 
It was not dissimilar to this drawing http://www.diyguitarist.com/PDF_Files/ColorsoundWahShell.pdf
I wonder if anyone had access to a 3D printer, it would be short work to make some.

Or just some plastic stock and a fretsaw

[joegagan]

not sure about the colored one, but the dark one looks like delron or some other nylon.  nylon has lubricating qualities and is more durable by far than the average plastic. i would advise making one out of nylon if you can get your hands on some.

you can see in the photo there is a worn spot ( or is that part of the design?) in the dark one. never had one of these wahs. does the cam gear hold up to years of use?

[kaycee]

I've owned a few of the colorsound wahs and the actuating levers/cams are often a pain. They are only plastic and the grub screw is easily over-tightened stripping the thread out. Adjustment isn't that easy either (always seems that the screw is hard to reach), sometimes the pot shaft slips around inside the cam and you loose your full travel. Might be worth having a go at making one out of sheet aluminium, its easy to work. Instead of the grub screw into a thread I'd go for a bolt and nut through a lug to pinch the shaft - wood might also be an idea....I'm sure they only used plastic because it was the cheapest option.

[joegagan]

i spent a couple of very long evenings prototpyping my own version of the colorsound slotted cam mechanism for boomerangs.
the only way i could get enough travel on the pot was to make a curved piece, since the pot needs more rotation than a straight line will provide. this curve necessitated the use of a spring to keep the curved piece travelling past the midpoint of the axis. then, probably a reverse spring to make it come back the other direction. what a pain. failed experiment.

there was a japanese made  ( i think) pedal that used a gear that had twice as many teeth as the standard crybaby/vox/dearmond etc. it also had a centering roller to press the straight gear onto the round gear. i wish i could find a supplier for this setup, it is smooth as silk.

[jessetrbo]

Many thanks for all the advice on this thread... Some really great suggestions/pictures/etc.  I'll keep you posted. 

--Jesse

[digi2t]

Many thanks for all the advice on this thread... Some really great suggestions/pictures/etc.  I'll keep you posted. 

--Jesse

Please do. It would be interesting to know of a place to get these.

Cheers,
Dino

[Nasse]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycaprolactone

Quite ideal stuff for modelling such plastic part yourself

[Electric Warrior]

Why bother? Macari's/Colorsound is still making Wahs and from the pics it looks as if they're still using the same kind of plastic part:



Just email info@macaris.co.uk to check if they sell replacements.

[joegagan]

the guts of that make me all squishy inside.

castledine must be involved

[digi2t]

the guts of that make me all squishy inside.

castledine must be involved

I hear you man! It's like walking through a Ferrari factory! 

[jessetrbo]

Electric Warrior, don't assume that they will sell me the part I need.  I am waiting to hear back from them... My guess is that they'd much rather sell me a new wah instead.  Who knows?

--Jesse

[stallik]

Had an old Colorsound swell pedal which I broke many years ago. kept the plastic widget for some reason

If it looks correct, PM me & I'll post it on

[jessetrbo]

PM'd