Hey,
I've been modding my stock crybaby wah for years now. First I thought I broke it irredeemably, but I've sortof got it dialed in now where I enjoy playing through it. I've got a knob on the side that adds resistance to the output of one of the transistors in a way that seems to make it more bassy, I also have a switch on the "sweep cap", so I can go between the stock value and a slightly higher (.022uF) value. It sounds pretty bitchin' on bass now, not super over the top, but nice and smooth if I go with the higher cap and the more resistance. On guitar I can get a nice range from kinda sizzly treble to a more smooth, less "vocal" feel. I've gone back and forth so much that tonight some pads lifted off the circuit board and I had to wire things into alternate locations.
So, I'm wondering if I should put the bottom back on and quit while I'm ahead, or push on into tone quester territory.
1: What do I really gain by removing the input buffer and going true bypass. I tend to not ever bypass the thing. It's either plugged in and I'm using it, or it's not plugged in. Also, I always use it after a BK Butler, "Tube Works", Tube driver pedal. (A real tube driver, not to be confused with the Ibanez thingy.) So, is removing the input buffer a bad idea? I heard it was there so you can better use the wah after other pedals (which I'm always doing.) Will it give me fuller tone?
2: Is there something I can do to make the bass bassier when I rock back the pedal? It kinda gets more and more muted and muffled as I go back. It's almost unuseable (to me) in the all the way back position. I find myself trying to be careful never to rock the pedal back all the way. But I'm happy with where the treble end of the pedal is winding up. What I'd love is some sort of actual bass boost kindof sound or feeling as I go back. Is that possible by modding the crybaby? I compared my pedal to the model in this multi-effects pedal I have, and my pedal doesn't really sound more muffled than the model, so I don't think my pedal is broken, per se. Also, the mods above affect this a bit. When I put both controls in the treblier (stock) position the effect is lessened. Or is this always the trade-off of using a wah?
BTW - when you use a filter, such as a wah, what happens to the parts of the sound that you're taking out? Do they go to ground? A guitar tech told me that's what happens with a guitar tone control. It would be cool to have the inverse of the wah sound somewhere to play with.
Also, btw, I suppose it matters what sortof tone I'm after. I like a fairly gnarly guitar sound. I always use distortion (via the Tube Driver). But I like the notes and palm mutes, etc., to be complex, full and distinct. (Been really getting into single coils lately as I feel they have a more nuanced sound than humbuckers. Or at least the ones I've used.) I don't like a mushy sound with zero attack.
Thanks so much,
2 [basically] wah mod questions:
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Snarl 12/8
- cryogenically thawing
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Snarl 12/8
- cryogenically thawing
- Posts: 3511
- Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:01 pm
- Location: Right Cheer
- Contact:
One of the best guitarists I've ever known personally used to spend hours sometimes folding up matchbooks and stuff to try to get a shim in there to the perfect height. I was thinking about that tonight when I was playing around. I'm gonna try that. Although the perfect height changes now when i fiddle with my knob and switch.
[quote="Snarl 12/8"]One of the best guitarists I've ever known personally used to spend hours sometimes folding up matchbooks and stuff to try to get a shim in there to the perfect height. I was thinking about that tonight when I was playing around. I'm gonna try that. Although the perfect height changes now when i fiddle with my knob and switch.[/quote]
I got a quote once from a man to make me a "shim" to tighten the action on my Great Grandfathers shotgun, an unengraved boring looking stick of death to a bird called a Greener.
He wanted eleven weeks salary for a slice of brass... He got a laugh...
The gun works fine.
I got a quote once from a man to make me a "shim" to tighten the action on my Great Grandfathers shotgun, an unengraved boring looking stick of death to a bird called a Greener.
He wanted eleven weeks salary for a slice of brass... He got a laugh...
The gun works fine.
TOMB is a great place, and there are some folks around here who really know their shit. If you really want to get into playing with pedals, though, the right place to go is DIYStompboxes. I'm having some trouble getting to the forum right now, but it'll be back soon I'm sure.
Also, have you read The Technology of Wah Pedals? More than you ever wanted to know, I'm sure, but in pretty accessible language.
The filter in a Crybaby wah is actually very similar to the action of guitar tone control. Their both RLC low-pass filters with some resonance. So what happens to the high frequencies? Two things really:
1) Some of the high frequencies are "dropped" across the inductor (the windings of the pickup in a guitar) and basically lost as heat.
2) Some of what's left completes its circuit through the capacitor before it gets to the load. That would be the amp input, the next pedal, whatever the output of the wah plugs to. This is what your friend meant when he said that it's dumped to ground. I don't like that way of describing it, though. You could, theoretically, take lift the end of the cap and connect it to some other place to "recover" this portion of the lost treble. Works kind of like a crossover, then.
Now, this filter is pretty sensitive to the impedances on either end. If either the source or load Z changes significantly the cutoff frequency of the filter will change also. This is what the buffer is for. It... uh... buffers... isolates the circuit from the outside world. An input buffer makes it so that whether you run it from the low-Z output of a pedal or the high-Z output of a passive guitar pickup the filter still operates in the same range. An output buffer likewise isolates from whatever it's plugged into so you get the same response whether you plug it into a guitar amp or a mixing console.
I don't actually have any experience in modding wah pedals, so can't help much with practicalities, but hopefully I've helped to clarify a little.
Also, have you read The Technology of Wah Pedals? More than you ever wanted to know, I'm sure, but in pretty accessible language.
The filter in a Crybaby wah is actually very similar to the action of guitar tone control. Their both RLC low-pass filters with some resonance. So what happens to the high frequencies? Two things really:
1) Some of the high frequencies are "dropped" across the inductor (the windings of the pickup in a guitar) and basically lost as heat.
2) Some of what's left completes its circuit through the capacitor before it gets to the load. That would be the amp input, the next pedal, whatever the output of the wah plugs to. This is what your friend meant when he said that it's dumped to ground. I don't like that way of describing it, though. You could, theoretically, take lift the end of the cap and connect it to some other place to "recover" this portion of the lost treble. Works kind of like a crossover, then.
Now, this filter is pretty sensitive to the impedances on either end. If either the source or load Z changes significantly the cutoff frequency of the filter will change also. This is what the buffer is for. It... uh... buffers... isolates the circuit from the outside world. An input buffer makes it so that whether you run it from the low-Z output of a pedal or the high-Z output of a passive guitar pickup the filter still operates in the same range. An output buffer likewise isolates from whatever it's plugged into so you get the same response whether you plug it into a guitar amp or a mixing console.
I don't actually have any experience in modding wah pedals, so can't help much with practicalities, but hopefully I've helped to clarify a little.
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Jim Williams
- tinnitus
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My first wah was a Vox back in 1968. I later sold it. Meanwhile, I built a custom 5 octave "moog" style filter with a Q control, 1 octave to 1/30th an octave for a real talking guitar effect. It has bandpass, high pass, low pass and notch switches. The notch is opposite of the wah and you can add resonance at the turn over points.
I also have a regular new Guitar Center Cry Baby I use quite a bit. It has the input buffer, not a problem. All my guitars are active anyway.
I used Wima FKP-2 .01 filtar caps and a yellow Fasel inductor from Italy. Transistors are Toshiba 2SC3329 to remove all the hiss. The 33k tuning resistor was replaced with a trimpot. It's set to around 56k, makes all the difference.
It's more wow wow than wah wah. Rainy day, dream away...
I also have a regular new Guitar Center Cry Baby I use quite a bit. It has the input buffer, not a problem. All my guitars are active anyway.
I used Wima FKP-2 .01 filtar caps and a yellow Fasel inductor from Italy. Transistors are Toshiba 2SC3329 to remove all the hiss. The 33k tuning resistor was replaced with a trimpot. It's set to around 56k, makes all the difference.
It's more wow wow than wah wah. Rainy day, dream away...
Jim Williams
Audio Upgrades
Audio Upgrades
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Snarl 12/8
- cryogenically thawing
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- Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:01 pm
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I thought I'd come back and update this. Usually I just take the advice and run, but I had some success with my wah, so I thought it might be nice to wrap up this thread for posterity.
Anyway, I wound up putting in some extra capacitors and resistors, the so-called, "fatwah" mod. You can google it. I also put in 3 pots, all in series with fixed resistors and a switch to toggle between two capacitors." Basically, aside from the fatwah mod, I can dial the switch and pots to stock values, or adjust away from that.
The three pots were: A 25kOhm in series with a 47kOhm on the "input" resistor. (68k is stock). Turning the pot (towards zero ohms) gives me more input "drive."
A 25KOhm pot in series with the stock 33KOhm resistor that is parallel to the inductor. This lets me dial in the so-called "vocal" mod, or keep it stock. This one is insanely subtle and interacts with the other setting, but I think it's useful.
I also put a 1k pot in series with a 1k fixed resistor in the "mid control" position. (1.5k is stock)
The switch switches between the stock 0.01uF and a 0.022uF cap on the "lower range" position.
Basically, flipping the switch and dialing the midrange know down turn the wah into a really murky thing on guitar that sounds fairly subtle, but cool on bass. The drive is really cool and the vocal thing is subtle, but really helps with definition in some of the more radical settings.
I'm super stoked. I played for half an hour last night after I finished it up. (Drilled the case last night and finally actually "installed" all this stuff that I've been swapping in and out for months.) Half an hour doesn't sound like much, but 3 days ago I had to go to the ER because I cut my left index finger down to the bone. I didn't want to stop, but it started hurting. Plus it was really late for the neighbors.
http://stinkfoot.se/archives/549 <-- this, or pages like it, will show you which is which (vocal mod resistor, etc., etc.) for all these kindof "stock mods" that are out there.
Anyway, I hope this helps someone who wants to tweak their crybaby.
Anyway, I wound up putting in some extra capacitors and resistors, the so-called, "fatwah" mod. You can google it. I also put in 3 pots, all in series with fixed resistors and a switch to toggle between two capacitors." Basically, aside from the fatwah mod, I can dial the switch and pots to stock values, or adjust away from that.
The three pots were: A 25kOhm in series with a 47kOhm on the "input" resistor. (68k is stock). Turning the pot (towards zero ohms) gives me more input "drive."
A 25KOhm pot in series with the stock 33KOhm resistor that is parallel to the inductor. This lets me dial in the so-called "vocal" mod, or keep it stock. This one is insanely subtle and interacts with the other setting, but I think it's useful.
I also put a 1k pot in series with a 1k fixed resistor in the "mid control" position. (1.5k is stock)
The switch switches between the stock 0.01uF and a 0.022uF cap on the "lower range" position.
Basically, flipping the switch and dialing the midrange know down turn the wah into a really murky thing on guitar that sounds fairly subtle, but cool on bass. The drive is really cool and the vocal thing is subtle, but really helps with definition in some of the more radical settings.
I'm super stoked. I played for half an hour last night after I finished it up. (Drilled the case last night and finally actually "installed" all this stuff that I've been swapping in and out for months.) Half an hour doesn't sound like much, but 3 days ago I had to go to the ER because I cut my left index finger down to the bone. I didn't want to stop, but it started hurting. Plus it was really late for the neighbors.
http://stinkfoot.se/archives/549 <-- this, or pages like it, will show you which is which (vocal mod resistor, etc., etc.) for all these kindof "stock mods" that are out there.
Anyway, I hope this helps someone who wants to tweak their crybaby.
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