In a manner of speaking I suppose I am, but that's not my training or job title. I have a masters degree in physics and over a decade of experience with electronic circuits. I've been specialising in guitar, amp, and effects maintenance for the best part of 7 years. I'm really just a guy with a love and and interest, which is backed up with enough firm knowledge and intelligence to discover this stuff for myself.
Perhaps the youtube compression isn't doing the sounds justice, but I can assure you it is significantly more full and bassy than the stock model. To the point in fact that for playing funk, it doesn't quite have the nasal top end to pull it off. Not a problem for my applications mind you.
Performed all of these mods this afternoon (along with the LED and bypass mods from the first video) and I have to say I was surprised by the difference in sound. The sound is more defined through out the entire sweep and a more pronounced mid-range. But I gotta say the best part of all of this is having the LED on-board, makes a world of difference when your playing. Thumbs up Collin, thanks mate.
Not to confuse your data but notably raising the voltage resistor to 68k-100k ,lessening the preset feedback resistor, like on a Marshall to get more juice or a boost from the feedback loop and then setting it as a line filter the leads are gonna be beefier and not as a wah but the famous lead sound from times past, Michael Schenker's tech showed me some tricks as to how his magic lead sounds were possible on his Marshalls and the preset of the wah in a subtle settings on a chrome top wah!
Your explanations are dead on,.. to the ideas that to customize to our wants just identify each parameter and go to work, and you're right to use personal presets and using variable resistors man you nailed the magic that makes it all worth owning a wah to perfect a great filter to different degrees! Thanks!
Hey, Colin! I was wondering if you could do something on gyrator wahs, especially in regard to replacing an inductor with a gyrator? From what I've read, it ought to be relatively easy, and a decent project for beginners like me. However, many DIYers who have tried it have reported more failures than successes when they tried building them. You seem like you'd know in detail what does and doesn't work for this type of wah circuit. Also, I've seen wah pedals, especially manual and auto ones, that are very expensive as more control knobs get added. After reviewing a basic gyrator wah circuit, it seems as if it has quite a lot in common with normal tone controls. I don't see why a wah pedal with one or two more knobs is justified at $500. But my question isn't so much about where all that money goes... How would someone modify a wah to include additional tone tweaking controls and increase flexibility of the wah in hand? This could be coupled with the gyrator wah question, since it seems to me that adjusting a gyrator circuit for varying inductance values, by using one or two pots, would be a lot easier than replacing an inductor or even wiring several up to a switch. What I'm looking to do is get an understanding of what controls besides the notch frequency are possible and how to get them. If there are any other possible but less frequently used l controls, it might be interesting to learn about those as well. One idea of mine is to add all this into a guitar to replace the standard tone controls. I like the idea of lowering the Q, as some wahs can do, as well as adjusting the inductance value, with potentiometers, perhaps even the stacked ones. Anyway, that's enough out of me. I hope you will tackle these questions in a future wah mod video and share with everyone who may be interested. :)
seems like you made it more trebley and a bit more harsh sounding.....the regular wah sounded a more natural IMO. You could probably just buy the 535Q and get more options sound wise. nice vid though
I bought both my Dorje shirts the two times I've seen them live. Over the last year they've teamed up with Phil X and The Drills and toured the UK twice. I'm not sure if they have an online store anywhere so that you can buy merch, but I'd imagine it would be something Rob would be keen to set up, with his love of audience interaction and all.
Nice vid mate and nice tone ! right now im developing my own pcb because my vox v845 wah comes in that shitty smd format that is impossible to mod haha. I was going to put a rotary switch to change the range cap value and the Q resistor mod with a 100k trimer( maybe an external pot to adjust in live).After watching you vid im really considering the feedback resistor mod that you suggest to get more midrange, maybe the bass response resistor mod, also, who knows, love mods and love pedals ! Cheers !
Hola Picatostas! Le hiciste el mod al V845? Imagino que la smd sera la misma que trae el mio y vi que decias que no se podian modificar, y quería saber que habias hecho al final, para ver que le puedo hacer al mio, en principio ponerle un switch para un par de modos de EQ y un pote rollo blend, para mas o menos intensidad del efecto, y no hay mucha info al respecto, asi que la experiencia ajena siempre es valiosa! Ya me contaras, un saludo!
hey neat! where did you learn all this stuff? i have one of these models but it is in the shop way to often so i have retired it and use a 535Q which is nice :)
Fantastic tutorial man, thank you. Wanting to create a High pass filter switch rolling off 400HZ and below, can you please point me in the direction to incorporate that into this pedal?
This video might have saved me 150quid on a new wah, i always hated how the mid range seemed to be missing on my crybaby, will certainly give this a go ;)
Hi ! I'm french and I just discovered your video about differents wah mods. My english is not too bad but I didn't understand exactly what you meaned about the Q resistor (very cloth to black fasel) and about the "increased to 47K ohm". You just took off the resistor, or you replaced it by something else ? Can you explain again please ? I think I will realize that differents changes and this the only one I didn't undestand. So, thanks a lot. See you
Here's a "9V AC Adapter Mod" I did on my old 1980's Dunlop CryBaby Wah Model GCB-95, in case anyone is interested. There are a few things that I needed to sort out before I could get my Wah to work, and without any buzzing or hum. Here's what to do. 1. Use a 9V jack with a plastic housing. Or, if you need to use a metal 9V jack, it must be shielded from the Wah metal case. I had a metal jack, so I did this by using a small rubber O-ring on each side of the jack where it might touch the Wah case. I also put some electrical tape on the threads of the jack where it passed through the metal case of the Wah. Electrical tape should work fine if you don't have any rubber O-rings. 2. Use a battery clip to connect the jack to the 9V battery clip in the Wah case. This is what I used: www.makerlab-electronics.com/product/9v-battery-clip/My Wah needs "Center Negative" power to work, so I soldered the red battery clip wire to the center terminal of the jack, and the black wire to the shield terminal of the jack. Snap the two battery clips together. 3. I plugged a 9V AC Adapter into the jack that I added to my Wah. The first adapter I tried was noisy, so I tried a different one. That one worked fine. I was also able to connect my Wah to a Daisy Chain of my other effects. The Wah is usually best placed after the tuner (if you have one), or as the first pedal in a series. I don't have any plans to use a battery in the future, but if I need to, I can simply unclip the connector and pop in a battery. I'm sure there's a way to leave a battery inside and have it disengage if a 9V power supply is used, but I'm not sure how to wire that up. If these connections didn't work, you might not have shielded the jack successfully. Or you device required the opposite polarity - just reverse the wires at the jack, if needed.
Did all 4 mods are you suggested, only difference was I replaced the voicing resistor with your recommended ohms but put it back into the same place as the old one. I'm getting sound both on and off and the tone on is similar to toe position but there is no change in frequency when moving the peddle. I can verify it worked immediately before attempting this mod so I don't think it's a pot issue and I've checked all my solder points for conductivity. Any idea what could be wrong before I get someone local to look at it or break down and buy a new one... Would be a shame, only picked this one up last week. Thanks
Hey man you should build a mod kit wah!! It,s all hand wired!! Modders dream. It,s a waltz type but it,s buffered and you could wire in another inducter and expand the tonal possibilities, one or the other or both!!
Does it matter if you use the blue colored resistors or do you have to use the tan/brownish colored ones? My local supply shop only had blue ones. Thanks!
I did all these mods but will get a 100k gain resistor tomorrow. But i wonder - which of these do they replace with variable ones in 535q? Drilling a hole for a pot is no big deal. Chasis aint hard to drill, plenty of room inside. Any ideas how to save $$$ on modding a classic one into 535, at least partly?))))
Got my GCB-95 Crybaby sitting here with the cover off, about to replace the Hot Potz II and I figured, "What the hell, I might as well see if there's any simple mods I can do while I have my soldering iron out..." Thanks, Colin! Damn, you look young lol ✌💗🤘
R9 (gain and bass resistor) is not 330K as stated in the video but should be 330R...I followed the instructions and had no volume coming out, took me ages to double check all the values off the schematic but finally figured it out in the end and its sound amazing. Thanks for the video!
I use the Dunlop 535 wah on my bass, i love it but the lows are lacking.. Will this work for me and which mod?..just the bass capacitor?..can you include a link on where i can buy it.
thanks great vid. where did you learn this sh~t ? is there like a pedal mod school somewhere in Scotland ? or did you learn this from electronics books or something ? its amazing how much better and more insane your modded one sounds. great cheers.
I have a masters degree in physics and I have been building electrical circuits and robotics since I was a child. Audio circuits are pretty simple in comparison. A lot of it is just experimentation; change the values and see how it sounds. Being able to trace the circuit and predict what changes need to be made comes down to an understanding of electronics.
Thanks for this! Which one of these mods you reckon wld be most effective for getting closer to the Voodoo Child (Slight Return) intro, as heard on Electric Ladyland? Cheers
I doubt you need any of them. There's hundreds of guitar players that can take any standard wah pedal and sound close enough to Jimi to pass as Jimi. People love to make things way more difficult than they need to be.
Hey haggis, since you have 2 identical wah pedals......return your pedal that you modified here back to what it was. You have the late model circuit board version with the MPSA18 transistors......which are not good transistors. You would want to change the MPSA18's out for BC 109 transistors. The common version is the BC 109c which works well, but the original gain structure for the pedal had the BC 109b versions which are about 100+ hFE less than the BC 109c versions. I have a variety of wah pedals in my collection going back to a 1970/1971 crybaby with the TDK inductor and up through when they went to the board that had the push on connector that they used up through the 1980's & 1990's before the current boards with the plastic input/output jack being board mounted. The transistors of that era of production has transistors labeled with 5117 which is a part number and not the actual number of the transistors from the transistor manufacturer. BUT be advised that the MPSA18's in the modern board have the same 3 leg pinout as the BC 109's and are direct swap. The older boards with the 5117 label transistors are not the same 3 leg pinout, so you need to follow the circuit schematic to get the BC 109 legs in the right holes for it to work. Do the transistor swap first as it totally changes the character of the wah for the good......thus you can do the side by side with the unaltered pedal. THEN you can go on to make the changes you illustrate here....you might not need to do them. The first alteration I would do would be to replace the resistor that in parallel with the inductor. I'd pull one side of the 33K resistor up out of the board and solder a trim pot to the resistor lead and the trim pot should be used as a rheostat ( middle wiper and only one of the remaining 2 lugs) so that you can dial back to have zero added resistance and thus 33K or dial up the added resistance of the rheostat. SO you'd want a 100K trim pot. That way you can find the sweet spot for the wah effect first with the BC 109 transistors.....and then decide if you need to adjust the mids or bass. The next move would be to add a new wah pot. Get rid of the hot potz 100K pot and obtain a BlackTop pot which is 200K. The performance of the wah will be outstanding.
I forgot to mention that you probably don't have to replace the MPSA18 that is in the input buffer section, but I would put in a switch for the input to bypass the buffer and go straight to the 68K input resistor in the normal schematic version of the wah…..that way you can switch between buffer and non buffer...….the original design had no input buffer. Actually the buffer should be after the effect on the output side but it wouldn't be the same buffer circuitry.....there are add on supplemental boards you can purchase or get the schematic for them as they are well known on the net and do not have many parts......the output side needs buffered to behave correctly with other down stream pedals' inputs.....impedance matching
Dude, I have a Dunlop 535Q-B Cry Baby which I'm really happy with but I'd like to do the led mod to it (when the wah function is on the led is on) and when it's off I'd like it to have it act as if it's a volume pedal. How would I do this? Do you know? Thanks.
Allen Toler you would have to work out a way to switch the 4.7uf cap (disconnecting its path to ground) this will disable the wah effect but give a volume sweep. Not sure if this has been done without a separate switch, best of luck
Very informative, i might try that bass & gain mod. Have you tried changing the sweep capacitor? I changed mine from 10 nf to 22 nf, world of difference. I tried 47 and 33 too, sounded novel but not really usable for guitar.
Awesome videos man! I have a question, I have a standard cry baby wah, and when I activate it, the volume increases dramatically. I don't really want to add another pedal to my set up but is there any mods that I could do to lower the volume?
Because it's way more convenient for them to sell different wah signature models,which,esentially,are just classic wah pedals but with different resistors to suit the artist that has his name on the pedal.It's all marketing.
Hey! I was just about to solder a Chase TruTone(?) pot into my VOX. Was thinking about buffer and true bypass vs. volume loss/ etc. AND A F-ING LED TO AVOID LIVE ONSTAGE HUMILIATION 😹🎭🥵 Also: I wish I had known that spraying DeOxy in the pot may have fixed the scratchy old pot. WhoTF Knew
Re: the potentiometers -- I believe Dunlop makes a crybaby that has something similar to that. My crybaby has a bunch of knobs on the sides, at least. I don't use it often, and haven't gotten around to experimenting with them.
Dunlop Cry Baby GCB-95 modification I left the 390 alone and swapped the 68K gain resistor and the33K Q resistor. Also got rid of the shrillness by turning the shaft 2 teeth clockwise.
@CSGuitars Great video! I've been having trouble with a similar wah pedal (Dunlop JH1). It is not producing the "wah" sounds, but acting more like a volume pedal. Any suggestions?
Is there a way to make the pedal itself have more RESISTANCE? I want it to be harder than normal to push the pedal down, and rock it back up. I think this would give me finer control over those lush middle frequencies between fully open and fully closed.
3:09 Bonjour, Video vraiment intéressante merci. Je voudrais modifier ma wah guitare en wah pour guitare basse il faut que je change cette résistance en 330 ohm c’est bien ça ? Merci
Thanks pal, about to do these mods, thanks to your vid I bought a bag of resistors and all the gear I need, never done this before, if I dont come back with an update soon its cos ive electrocuted myself to death.
Depends on what tone you want to make variable. I use trimpots that are a bit larger in value than the resistor it replaces. There are different spots that control either bass or mid. You can easily find these on the web.
Should be an SNL skit called MORE WAH PEDDLE!!! damn you Steve Vai and Kirk Hammett wah used to be cool!!!! So tired of the 90s influence trying to be like Hendrix. Wah died with Hendrix and Eddie Hazel. Sounds cliche now like hey im throwing in wah check it out while a shred derrrr. Not saying you pal but when i head someone abusing a wah peddle i wahnna shove the peddle up their wahole!!
Improved it something incredible? If by incredible, you mean horrible, then yes. It sounds like hot garbage now. All the highs are gone and it just sounds bad.
In a manner of speaking I suppose I am, but that's not my training or job title.
I have a masters degree in physics and over a decade of experience with electronic circuits.
I've been specialising in guitar, amp, and effects maintenance for the best part of 7 years.
I'm really just a guy with a love and and interest, which is backed up with enough firm knowledge and intelligence to discover this stuff for myself.
Don’t be so modest!
An interesting thing you could do would be to add an eq control using variable resisters. I've used those quite a few times to a nice effect.
Perhaps the youtube compression isn't doing the sounds justice, but I can assure you it is significantly more full and bassy than the stock model. To the point in fact that for playing funk, it doesn't quite have the nasal top end to pull it off. Not a problem for my applications mind you.
The modded wah sounds incredible. You are honestly so clever! Thankyou very much Colin, your videos are the best!
Performed all of these mods this afternoon (along with the LED and bypass mods from the first video) and I have to say I was surprised by the difference in sound. The sound is more defined through out the entire sweep and a more pronounced mid-range. But I gotta say the best part of all of this is having the LED on-board, makes a world of difference when your playing. Thumbs up Collin, thanks mate.
Thanks for the step by step info... I made the mods to my Dunlop Crybaby and they worked great. Sounds KILLER now!!!
Not to confuse your data but notably raising the voltage resistor to 68k-100k ,lessening the preset feedback resistor, like on a Marshall to get more juice or a boost from the feedback loop and then setting it as a line filter the leads are gonna be beefier and not as a wah but the famous lead sound from times past, Michael Schenker's tech showed me some tricks as to how his magic lead sounds were possible on his Marshalls and the preset of the wah in a subtle settings on a chrome top wah!
Your explanations are dead on,.. to the ideas that to customize to our wants just identify each parameter and go to work, and you're right to use personal presets and using variable resistors man you nailed the magic that makes it all worth owning a wah to perfect a great filter to different degrees! Thanks!
Hey, Colin! I was wondering if you could do something on gyrator wahs, especially in regard to replacing an inductor with a gyrator? From what I've read, it ought to be relatively easy, and a decent project for beginners like me. However, many DIYers who have tried it have reported more failures than successes when they tried building them. You seem like you'd know in detail what does and doesn't work for this type of wah circuit.
Also, I've seen wah pedals, especially manual and auto ones, that are very expensive as more control knobs get added. After reviewing a basic gyrator wah circuit, it seems as if it has quite a lot in common with normal tone controls. I don't see why a wah pedal with one or two more knobs is justified at $500. But my question isn't so much about where all that money goes...
How would someone modify a wah to include additional tone tweaking controls and increase flexibility of the wah in hand? This could be coupled with the gyrator wah question, since it seems to me that adjusting a gyrator circuit for varying inductance values, by using one or two pots, would be a lot easier than replacing an inductor or even wiring several up to a switch.
What I'm looking to do is get an understanding of what controls besides the notch frequency are possible and how to get them. If there are any other possible but less frequently used l controls, it might be interesting to learn about those as well. One idea of mine is to add all this into a guitar to replace the standard tone controls. I like the idea of lowering the Q, as some wahs can do, as well as adjusting the inductance value, with potentiometers, perhaps even the stacked ones.
Anyway, that's enough out of me. I hope you will tackle these questions in a future wah mod video and share with everyone who may be interested. :)
seems like you made it more trebley and a bit more harsh sounding.....the regular wah sounded a more natural IMO. You could probably just buy the 535Q and get more options sound wise. nice vid though
On theses resistors in the wah that control q, gain ,bass,mid ..... Could a pot be wired in parallel with these to offer a more flexible control?
I bought both my Dorje shirts the two times I've seen them live.
Over the last year they've teamed up with Phil X and The Drills and toured the UK twice.
I'm not sure if they have an online store anywhere so that you can buy merch, but I'd imagine it would be something Rob would be keen to set up, with his love of audience interaction and all.
Nice vid mate and nice tone ! right now im developing my own pcb because my vox v845 wah comes in that shitty smd format that is impossible to mod haha. I was going to put a rotary switch to change the range cap value and the Q resistor mod with a 100k trimer( maybe an external pot to adjust in live).After watching you vid im really considering the feedback resistor mod that you suggest to get more midrange, maybe the bass response resistor mod, also, who knows, love mods and love pedals ! Cheers !
Hola Picatostas! Le hiciste el mod al V845? Imagino que la smd sera la misma que trae el mio y vi que decias que no se podian modificar, y quería saber que habias hecho al final, para ver que le puedo hacer al mio, en principio ponerle un switch para un par de modos de EQ y un pote rollo blend, para mas o menos intensidad del efecto, y no hay mucha info al respecto, asi que la experiencia ajena siempre es valiosa! Ya me contaras, un saludo!
hey neat! where did you learn all this stuff? i have one of these models but it is in the shop way to often so i have retired it and use a 535Q which is nice :)
definitely a difference! nice open sound
A slightly improved setup might be to add variable resistors, so you have the ability to experiment with the sound, rather than guess and check.
What are the ramifications of adding variable resistors? Would you need to replace other capacitors/resistors to have those?
Fantastic tutorial man, thank you. Wanting to create a High pass filter switch rolling off 400HZ and below, can you please point me in the direction to incorporate that into this pedal?
This video might have saved me 150quid on a new wah, i always hated how the mid range seemed to be missing on my crybaby, will certainly give this a go ;)
Hi ! I'm french and I just discovered your video about differents wah mods. My english is not too bad but I didn't understand exactly what you meaned about the Q resistor (very cloth to black fasel) and about the "increased to 47K ohm". You just took off the resistor, or you replaced it by something else ? Can you explain again please ? I think I will realize that differents changes and this the only one I didn't undestand. So, thanks a lot. See you
Here's a "9V AC Adapter Mod" I did on my old 1980's Dunlop CryBaby Wah Model GCB-95, in case anyone is interested.
There are a few things that I needed to sort out before I could get my Wah to work, and without any buzzing or hum. Here's what to do.
1. Use a 9V jack with a plastic housing. Or, if you need to use a metal
9V jack, it must be shielded from the Wah metal case. I had a metal
jack, so I did this by using a small rubber O-ring on each side of the
jack where it might touch the Wah case. I also put some electrical tape
on the threads of the jack where it passed through the metal case of the
Wah. Electrical tape should work fine if you don't have any rubber
O-rings.
2. Use a battery clip to connect the jack to the 9V battery clip in the
Wah case. This is what I used:
www.makerlab-electronics.com/product/9v-battery-clip/My Wah
needs "Center Negative" power to work, so I soldered the red battery
clip wire to the center terminal of the jack, and the black wire to the
shield terminal of the jack. Snap the two battery clips together.
3. I plugged a 9V AC Adapter into the jack that I added to my Wah. The
first adapter I tried was noisy, so I tried a different one. That one
worked fine. I was also able to connect my Wah to a Daisy Chain of my
other effects. The Wah is usually best placed after the tuner (if you
have one), or as the first pedal in a series.
I don't have any plans to use a battery in the future, but if I need to, I can
simply unclip the connector and pop in a battery. I'm sure
there's a way to leave a battery inside and have it disengage if a 9V
power supply is used, but I'm not sure how to wire that up.
If these connections didn't work, you might not have shielded the jack
successfully. Or you device required the opposite polarity - just
reverse the wires at the jack, if needed.
Brilliantly done, mate - that modded wah is superb, going to emulate some of that onto mine :D
Did all 4 mods are you suggested, only difference was I replaced the voicing resistor with your recommended ohms but put it back into the same place as the old one. I'm getting sound both on and off and the tone on is similar to toe position but there is no change in frequency when moving the peddle. I can verify it worked immediately before attempting this mod so I don't think it's a pot issue and I've checked all my solder points for conductivity. Any idea what could be wrong before I get someone local to look at it or break down and buy a new one... Would be a shame, only picked this one up last week. Thanks
Hey man you should build a mod kit wah!! It,s all hand wired!! Modders dream. It,s a waltz type but it,s buffered and you could wire in another inducter and expand the tonal possibilities, one or the other or both!!
I am working on on of these and the information is right to the point. Thank you for making this video. Very Helpful. 👍
Does it matter if you use the blue colored resistors or do you have to use the tan/brownish colored ones? My local supply shop only had blue ones. Thanks!
Is it possible to ruin the board by replacing the resistors with too little or too high resistors?
I did all these mods but will get a 100k gain resistor tomorrow. But i wonder - which of these do they replace with variable ones in 535q? Drilling a hole for a pot is no big deal. Chasis aint hard to drill, plenty of room inside. Any ideas how to save $$$ on modding a classic one into 535, at least partly?))))
change those resistor to a potentiomometer and dig a hole on the wah, so i change the voice of the wah anytime i want. does this thing will work?
What you suggest will work. Watch your pot values.
Got my GCB-95 Crybaby sitting here with the cover off, about to replace the Hot Potz II and I figured, "What the hell, I might as well see if there's any simple mods I can do while I have my soldering iron out..."
Thanks, Colin! Damn, you look young lol ✌💗🤘
R9 (gain and bass resistor) is not 330K as stated in the video but should be 330R...I followed the instructions and had no volume coming out, took me ages to double check all the values off the schematic but finally figured it out in the end and its sound amazing. Thanks for the video!
390r good
I use the Dunlop 535 wah on my bass, i love it but the lows are lacking.. Will this work for me and which mod?..just the bass capacitor?..can you include a link on where i can buy it.
Why not make them variable? Would increase the range or decrease as seen fit for just about any situation.
thanks great vid. where did you learn this sh~t ? is there like a pedal mod school somewhere in Scotland ? or did you learn this from electronics books or something ? its amazing how much better and more insane your modded one sounds. great cheers.
I have a masters degree in physics and I have been building electrical circuits and robotics since I was a child.
Audio circuits are pretty simple in comparison. A lot of it is just experimentation;
change the values and see how it sounds.
Being able to trace the circuit and predict what changes need to be made comes down to an understanding of electronics.
CSGuitars I was totally expecting "I looked it up on UA-cam", not "Masters degree in physics". You really are inspirational :D
, that sounds awesome .. nice job! I modded mine but it's not quite to where this one is
Thanks for this! Which one of these mods you reckon wld be most effective for getting closer to the Voodoo Child (Slight Return) intro, as heard on Electric Ladyland? Cheers
I doubt you need any of them. There's hundreds of guitar players that can take any standard wah pedal and sound close enough to Jimi to pass as Jimi. People love to make things way more difficult than they need to be.
Hey haggis, since you have 2 identical wah pedals......return your pedal that you modified here back to what it was. You have the late model circuit board version with the MPSA18 transistors......which are not good transistors. You would want to change the MPSA18's out for BC 109 transistors. The common version is the BC 109c which works well, but the original gain structure for the pedal had the BC 109b versions which are about 100+ hFE less than the BC 109c versions. I have a variety of wah pedals in my collection going back to a 1970/1971 crybaby with the TDK inductor and up through when they went to the board that had the push on connector that they used up through the 1980's & 1990's before the current boards with the plastic input/output jack being board mounted. The transistors of that era of production has transistors labeled with 5117 which is a part number and not the actual number of the transistors from the transistor manufacturer. BUT be advised that the MPSA18's in the modern board have the same 3 leg pinout as the BC 109's and are direct swap. The older boards with the 5117 label transistors are not the same 3 leg pinout, so you need to follow the circuit schematic to get the BC 109 legs in the right holes for it to work. Do the transistor swap first as it totally changes the character of the wah for the good......thus you can do the side by side with the unaltered pedal. THEN you can go on to make the changes you illustrate here....you might not need to do them. The first alteration I would do would be to replace the resistor that in parallel with the inductor. I'd pull one side of the 33K resistor up out of the board and solder a trim pot to the resistor lead and the trim pot should be used as a rheostat ( middle wiper and only one of the remaining 2 lugs) so that you can dial back to have zero added resistance and thus 33K or dial up the added resistance of the rheostat. SO you'd want a 100K trim pot. That way you can find the sweet spot for the wah effect first with the BC 109 transistors.....and then decide if you need to adjust the mids or bass. The next move would be to add a new wah pot. Get rid of the hot potz 100K pot and obtain a BlackTop pot which is 200K. The performance of the wah will be outstanding.
I forgot to mention that you probably don't have to replace the MPSA18 that is in the input buffer section, but I would put in a switch for the input to bypass the buffer and go straight to the 68K input resistor in the normal schematic version of the wah…..that way you can switch between buffer and non buffer...….the original design had no input buffer. Actually the buffer should be after the effect on the output side but it wouldn't be the same buffer circuitry.....there are add on supplemental boards you can purchase or get the schematic for them as they are well known on the net and do not have many parts......the output side needs buffered to behave correctly with other down stream pedals' inputs.....impedance matching
Badass Dorje t-shirt
Dude, I have a Dunlop 535Q-B Cry Baby which I'm really happy with but I'd like to do the led mod to it (when the wah function is on the led is on) and when it's off I'd like it to have it act as if it's a volume pedal. How would I do this? Do you know? Thanks.
Allen Toler you would have to work out a way to switch the 4.7uf cap (disconnecting its path to ground) this will disable the wah effect but give a volume sweep. Not sure if this has been done without a separate switch, best of luck
thank you for being considerate and wearing socks
Very informative, i might try that bass & gain mod. Have you tried changing the sweep capacitor? I changed mine from 10 nf to 22 nf, world of difference. I tried 47 and 33 too, sounded novel but not really usable for guitar.
Awesome videos man! I have a question, I have a standard cry baby wah, and when I activate it, the volume increases dramatically. I don't really want to add another pedal to my set up but is there any mods that I could do to lower the volume?
Colin, why wouldn't Dunlop do this from the start? It's just changing resistors... Why don't they ship it?
Because it's way more convenient for them to sell different wah signature models,which,esentially,are just classic wah pedals but with different resistors to suit the artist that has his name on the pedal.It's all marketing.
could help me with the diagram modified to "true bypass" a cry baby pedal 535. thanks
Did you use a 2w resistor for just the gain?
Could it be possible to install potentiometer's on it for the mids, bass, treble, gain, ...?
upvote for the socks
Hey! I was just about to solder a Chase TruTone(?) pot into my VOX. Was thinking about buffer and true bypass vs. volume loss/ etc.
AND A F-ING LED TO AVOID LIVE ONSTAGE HUMILIATION 😹🎭🥵
Also: I wish I had known that spraying DeOxy in the pot may have fixed the scratchy old pot. WhoTF Knew
That is the only socks that I can forgive on youtube :D
Sweet video and sweet dorje shirt!
Do you think it's possible to mod a wah into a coloured high pass filter?
You like dorje?? Btw, were can I get dorje merch?
Wah has a np 4.7 cap but I found an old 4 uf non-polarity cap can I swap it in? Difference?
Re: the potentiometers -- I believe Dunlop makes a crybaby that has something similar to that. My crybaby has a bunch of knobs on the sides, at least. I don't use it often, and haven't gotten around to experimenting with them.
Dunlop Cry Baby GCB-95 modification
I left the 390 alone and swapped the 68K gain resistor and the33K Q resistor. Also got rid of the shrillness by turning the shaft 2 teeth clockwise.
@CSGuitars Great video! I've been having trouble with a similar wah pedal (Dunlop JH1). It is not producing the "wah" sounds, but acting more like a volume pedal. Any suggestions?
I have this problem as well, does anyone have ideas?
I was able to get it fixed.... basically the inductor went out. Replaced it in like 5minutes
Is there a way to make the pedal itself have more RESISTANCE? I want it to be harder than normal to push the pedal down, and rock it back up. I think this would give me finer control over those lush middle frequencies between fully open and fully closed.
Tighten screw under the treadle
How similar is the circuitry of a cry baby to a modtone wah?
3:09 Bonjour, Video vraiment intéressante merci. Je voudrais modifier ma wah guitare en wah pour guitare basse il faut que je change cette résistance en 330 ohm c’est bien ça ?
Merci
Brilliant vids - well done.
Now, wheres my soldering iron . . . .
how i can add pots of Q and volume/boost?
cool dorje t-shirt man! :)
Thanks pal, about to do these mods, thanks to your vid I bought a bag of resistors and all the gear I need, never done this before, if I dont come back with an update soon its cos ive electrocuted myself to death.
GibsonLesPaul2273 u dead then?
Maybe choked on a 9v battery while sticking it on his tongue. RiP.
if don t change R input to 78k what you think about that?
6550 finn 78 was good m hoping 100 will be perfect.?.?
best socks on youtube
Well its now set up! Dorje are *awesome*
Cool Sox!!
Cool!!! Congratulations...
love the video keep it up!
what are you? a sound engineer?
What the hell? Where did you put the Q resistor????
1800NoFault it's underneath
Nice vid!
kirk hammett wah has true bypass
kirk hammett master race
Kirk Hammett doesn't care. He never turns it off.
How can I replace a resistor with a pot?
Easy: you wire the middle lug and one of the outer lugs of the pot onto the circuit board and you're done!
Toon De Wachter What value pot do you suggest for a variable tone pot for this pedal?
Depends on what tone you want to make variable. I use trimpots that are a bit larger in value than the resistor it replaces. There are different spots that control either bass or mid. You can easily find these on the web.
I will try the 330 mod on my 1978 thomas bros I have 2 of that resistor 470K I wish I knew what was what
Great video! I like your socks :)
6:17 Kirk Hammett wah
can you do these mods with the crybaby original? aka model GCB-95
Moldy Taco yes, I did it
I find amusing that these you tubers try and convince their viewers, that they know more than the engineers that designed the pedals.
cool socks :)
put another coil in series, ill just say try it.
Hi! Chad Channing!
Haha so true!
hahahah
Cool sox
Great video im going to mod my baby make it cry for real ha
Basically how to turn a crybaby into a Vox Wah
Nice video! also watch my crybaby wah mods!
Should be an SNL skit called MORE WAH PEDDLE!!! damn you Steve Vai and Kirk Hammett wah used to be cool!!!! So tired of the 90s influence trying to be like Hendrix. Wah died with Hendrix and Eddie Hazel. Sounds cliche now like hey im throwing in wah check it out while a shred derrrr. Not saying you pal but when i head someone abusing a wah peddle i wahnna shove the peddle up their wahole!!
Mod Wah is better
Why not just buy a different wah to meet your tonal needs...
Improved it something incredible? If by incredible, you mean horrible, then yes. It sounds like hot garbage now. All the highs are gone and it just sounds bad.
Always breaks my heart a little when I see a gear head playing some garbage ass guitar like a Les Paul :'(