Crybaby Wah Mods

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

I was just browsing around and checking out some wah mods, with no intention to do any. Then I saw some YouTube clips, I saw how easy they looked. I plan on doing a true Bypass mod, adding a LED, maybe changing the inductor (The Fasel inductor made the wah sound awesome on YouTube) and a volume pedal switch mod.

I was wondering if anyone could help me with the Volume/wah switch mod. I'm not gonna get into it yet unless there isn't anybody who can help me.

Anyone else here who's modded their wah?

 

[Mor Paul]

Wah pedals, when I looked at schematics, seemed fairly simple compared to other pedals  :icon_thumright:

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

Wah pedals, when I looked at schematics, seemed fairly simple compared to other pedals  :icon_thumright:

This is why i'm doing the mods.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

This is an oversimplified explanation for a wah, but it is effectively a tone pot you operate with your foot.

 

[bpmorton777]

yeah, it's like a notch filter (bandpass) or parametric eq that lets you shift the freq range while a signal is going through it.  :icon_thumright:

Brian

 

[stubhead]

Knowing that something is "easy" is not the same as being good at soldering micro-electronics. Wiring guitars is easy because most everything is BIG, except the mini-switches and some of the jumpers on a SuperSwitch. You have to be really good at soldering to melt the solder out of a tiny little hole on a circuit board without melting anything else, or frying the board - how BIG is this mod, physically, not mentally (IYKWIM)? It's not the number of steps it takes, it's the size of the things that daunt me personally. 

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

That is exactly right. I'm a beginner at soldering at best, but I think I can pull this off without too much trouble. Anyways, I think I figured out what to do here, so I'll try it this afternoon. There may be some terrible phone mic recordings. :icon_biggrin:

 

[old_metal_head]

If you have some soldering question I may be able to help.

I used to rework thru-hole and SMT PCBs.

 

[jackthehack]

I'll have to open up my cry-baby when I get home. The older ones (ca. 1970's-80's) just had a real simple 2 layer PCB with full sized components that even a hack could solder on without issues, found this on the 'net that looks familiar:

Basically you're just modding the 3 components in red in this schematic, should be a piece of cake and not require any advanced soldering skills:

 

[blue313]

IIRC only the much newer CryBaby's are surface mount, like the CryBaby Classic (which according to Robert Keeley is already true-bypass with a Fasel inductor). 

Most of the others should look exactly like Jack's pic.  Just use less heat and/or a smaller tip on your iron.

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

So I attached an image, is it correct, or did I just pull that out thin air?  

Warning: MS Paint sKilz

Edit: That is a 4.7 uF cap.   I think.  :icon_scratch:

 

[jackthehack]

1.) "CryBaby Classic (which according to Robert Keeley is already true-bypass with a Fasel inductor)." Correctomundo; that's what I have after checking this a.m. I bought it a couple of years ago after wearing out the last one; tried everyone they had at GC and picked that out, never realized it had the Fasel mod till I cracked it open this a.m. - guess the "Fasel" logo on the bottom should have been a clue, but I was just going by sound...
2.) Wana - just changing that capacitor out and adding the switch prolly isn't going to make that much difference, swap the inductor out with a Fasel, you can get one here relatively cheap: http://cgi.ebay.com/FASEL-INDUCTOR-TOROIDAL-RED-FL-02-for-CryBaby-WAH-WAH_W0QQitemZ370270078640QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar_Accessories

 

[Patrick from Davis]

I had a vol/wah pedal and was not to pleased with it.  When I would turn the wah off then the Vol got in the way, I hit it while playing and the signal would drop, and then it would need to be fixed.  It sounds small, but it annoyed me quite a bit.  The other practical problem, was I would adjust it while playing, then have to ruin all of the adjustments to turn on the wah.  I personally like the wah and vol separate because of that.  The true bypass mod is really a must, otherwise you get a weird bandpass filtering when the pedal is off.  The LED worked out to be not that helpful, and remember that you have to be very careful of LED's.  If they are not isolated from the rest of the circuit, they are very noisy.  Changing the inductor will have a large effect on the sound, duh, and would be a fun mod.  Goodluck
Patrick

 

[bpmorton777]

Im with Patrick on this one...the LED aint gonna be much helpfull...you'll know when it's on.  I guess the wha in that picture is a newer version than the one I have, mine has reg switchcraft jacks that are wired up to the board instead of those board mounted jacks.

Brian

 

[jackthehack]

Im with Patrick on this one...the LED aint gonna be much helpfull...you'll know when it's on.  I guess the wha in that picture is a newer version than the one I have, mine has reg switchcraft jacks that are wired up to the board instead of those board mounted jacks.

Brian

That's pretty ancient, think they went to those embedded jacks in the early 90s?

Here's the newest CryBaby Classic surface mount PCB with Fasel mod already effected from factory; note that while PCB in picture is greenish, mine is the same board in off-white...

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

In the case of the LED, i'm not doing it because I have trouble telling when then pedal is on or off (duh  :laughing7, but i'm doing it purely for the looks. A blue LED will look awesome. Unless it causes some sort of volume drop, i'm gonna do it.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

No, the LED will not cause a volume drop, the battery will die slightly faster, but nothing that noticeable.  The switch you are going to want is a 3pdt switch to isolate the LED from the rest of the circuit and pull off the true bypass.  These switches are not the cheapest things in the world, kind of a specialty thing.  You'll also need a 4.7 K or a 3.3K ohm resistor to knock the voltage from the battery down so that you don't let the smoke out of the LED.  The 3.3 K will be brighter, but honestly, those blue LED's are VERY bright.  You can get El Cheap-o resistors for that because it shouldn't have anything to do with the sound path through the pedal.  There are several wiring schematics to do exactly what you are looking to try.  If you need help with them just post, several of us have experience with these annoying to install lil' wiring upgrades...  Of course we will require pictures, but I think you knew that already.
Patrick

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

No, the LED will not cause a volume drop, the battery will die slightly faster, but nothing that noticeable.  The switch you are going to want is a 3pdt switch to isolate the LED from the rest of the circuit and pull off the true bypass.  These switches are not the cheapest things in the world, kind of a specialty thing.  You'll also need a 4.7 K or a 3.3K ohm resistor to knock the voltage from the battery down so that you don't let the smoke out of the LED.  The 3.3 K will be brighter, but honestly, those blue LED's are VERY bright.  You can get El Cheap-o resistors for that because it shouldn't have anything to do with the sound path through the pedal.  There are several wiring schematics to do exactly what you are looking to try.  If you need help with them just post, several of us have experience with these annoying to install lil' wiring upgrades...  Of course we will require pictures, but I think you knew that already.
Patrick

Thanks, I already got the 3dpt and the LED. I can find some resistors in the shed somewhere. I'll go take some pictures now. Although they won't be very good.

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

Picture; no soldering yet.

Spot the led.

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

I would have posted more wiring pics, but:

I would have liked a lower value resistor (I used a 4.7k), but I'd say that's a success. I might get a 3.3 or 2k next week.
Tomorrow I might do the true bypass mod.