This took longer than expected; a wah is a simple thing, but the impact of almost any component in there so important, it just takes a lot of breadboarding, ordering, comparing, tuning, playing,... Given that you are rewarded with YOUR wah (me for sure!) and given the importance of a wah wah in many styles of music it is absolutely worth the money, time and effort, IMHO.
This is MY Wah Wah:
Features:
- True bypass (relay switched with LED indicator) - I chose the relay switching mainly, because it is almost impossible to find switches that don't "click" mechanically (not electrically) when you just touch them (without switching) with the pedal, especially for the heel positions. The momentary switches are almost silent...
- Heel Switch for two different "Q" presets (3k3 or 59k3k (56k+3k3) for R7, relay switched with LED indicator). I have a moderate, very clean and funky wah with the 3k3 selected and an aggressive (yet not too aggressive) wah sound to cut through distorted sounds as well. Hendrix through Vai, if you wish. It is all in there, selecting these was the most crucial part.
- Three wah voicings (10, 15, 22nF for C5, C6, C7)
- Doubles as a volume pedal (you need to cut between C2 and the inductor and make that connection switchable (see image below). Also, you need to connect "Whack A" and the connection between C5 and R5 with 220nF and 4k7 in series (as done in the Mr. CryBaby wah wah). I realized this with a 3P4T rotary switch (3 wah Voicings, 4th position is volume pedal option) rather than the suggested 4P3T rotary switch (which you would use for just the wah voicings)).
- Boost (can be bypassed with a switch)
- Wah can be bypassed as well with a second switch - the pedal will work as a switchable boost
- Stack of dimes inductor from Arteffect pedals
- Carbon comp resistors (they just look nice)
- Hot Potz II pot (These are really excellent!)
- Hand-selected caps including tropical fish replicas from arteffect :-)
- Stock transistors (compared them to Timbo's 2n2925, but liked the stock ones better - really a matter of taste!)
amazeballs... this is insanely cool! wow dude nice job! 8) 8) 8)
Thanks!
Please tell me you've been doing this for 40 years! This is beyond professional! The best thing about DIY is nobody else will build it exactly the way you want it. This is your dream Wah Wah that you could never find in stores. How many tries did the 3D printed PCB holder take? I'm just blown away. Fantastic job.
Steve.
Thanks! I think it turned out well, so far I have build about 10 pedals ;-). Actually, my first post here was in late 2012, the ego driver was my first build (I should open that somewhen to see how I did back than ;-)).
3D-printing is actually not that complicated. Measuring with a caliper, designing it i FreeCAD, printing it at a fablab... the first print was ok already and worked, but was a bit tight. The second print was the one I used. The battery holder is 3D-printed as well, BTW... These easy designs take about 30 minutes to design and about another 30 Minutes to print...
Actually - just found pictures of my first build: http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=6993.0
Yes, the wah looks much better, would not have thought this!
The finished product is very impressive, especially because of all the options you built in and how neatly you achieved them. But I am more impressed with all that you did to make this wah perfect for you.
Wow,
That looks cool, could you do some soundsamples showing the different configurations?
I guess you can make a lot of different configurations.
Thanks - yes, I plan to make some vids or soundfiles soon. I will post them here...
This is awesome!
Nice job. I'm planning on building a Weener wah soon. This will definitely help. Thanks.
Hmm, I think you have something there with the 3D printed PCB holder.
Fantastic work
this is indeed an awesome wah build 8) big mojo factor
Love it! Demo would be awesome :D
Need some help with video recording: I tried to record some videos yesterday and recorded video and audio separately and could not get it in sync. Any reocmmendations for an easy recording software that can record audio and video from separate sources (or re-sync existing video and audio files)?
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Far out man... what a great pedal you have there! Great demos, thanks for sharing these! 8)
Thanks. Glad you like the demos!
Superb build! 8)