wah wah replacement board or schems or parts....

[casey]

does anyone know where i can find a replacement board or
parts for a wah.

i looked at some of them on the web, and they are just too expensive (the whole replacement boards).

the pot is not scratchy, it just seems as if the pedal will
just go out.....with no sound.....

i looked at all of the wiring and such and it all looks good to me....

i have a friend that has a crybaby that does the same thing.

what's up?

[Mike Burgundy]

all replacewment boards available will be relatively expensive. You could build your own, but you could also repair the two dead wahs.
No sound at all or just a bit of a volume change?
Schematics are all over the net - if the inductor is ok, and the pot and switch are as well, you're looking at dirt-cheap parts only.
Have a look here:
http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/wahpedl/wahped.htm
hih

[petemoore]

Jacks mouted into PCBoard?...To be avoided, IMO.
 Newer wahs [drybaby's] use this quick/cheep construction method, which is also [IMO] designed to fail...oops sorry, well when it fails you'll probably agree. I've had/seen many units fail/no [easy of neat] fix on units that use this method.
 The simple act of plugging the cable into the jack is enough to cause stress induced failure at the connection of the jack into the PCB, much less the  pulling it will almost inevatibly be subjected to, expecially if using  a straight plug/cable...it could work 'for a while' if you're very careful with it, not 'road warrior worthy' tho.
 These jack connection problems may be difficult to identify, and replacing with 'worthy' insulated jacks and flexible wires to PCB may also be difficult due to space limitations.

[ErikMiller]

Here's one for $19; that doesn't seem too extortionate to me:

http://www.tubesandmore.com/new/scripts/silverware.exe/moreinfo@d:/dfs/elevclients/cemirror/ELEVATOR.FXP?item=P-ECB-25

[gtrmac]

That's one with the PCB mounted jacks that Pete is referring to and I agree that these can be a problem. It may very well be what's wrong with yours. You could get a replacement board from General guitar Gadgets and rebuild yours.  

I just rebuilt my Vox Wah with a Dunlop Fasel Inductor, BC109B transistors and Panasonic capacitors and I think it sounds really good now.

[cd]

Read "Technology of the Wah" at www.geofex.com, it has all the info you need to design your own wah there.  If inductors are too expensive, try the Colorsound wah, it has no inductor and sounds good (though not the typical vintage Vox sound).

[RedHouse]

I totally disagree with Pete on this.

Those CLIFF/REAN jacks are totally fine to use, and the PCB mounting does not get stressed when inserting plugs.

In 30 years of fixing both effects and Marshall amps (which use the CLIFF/REAN jacks, and take much more abuse than pedals) the only time I've seen failures is when one catches a cord with a foot and ends up giving a lateral-ultra-yank on the plug then that plastic can fail... but note that Switchcraft can fail this way too. (although it is often repairable on a Switchcraft by bending the tip contact back into position)

IMHO you should be looking elsewhere for the cause of your intermittent failures.

[petemoore]

I bought this amp new, great sounding amp.
 Used it for about a year.
 Blew a transformer [I believe because there was a lack of output to speaker continuity].
 Had the output jacks replaced along with the transformer. Didn't fix it. ...Again...Had the amp 'redone' by the company that replaced the items and initially sold me the amp. Didn't fix it. Got tired of that.
 Amp never got over it.
 An otherwise great amp reduced to junk because of PCB mounted jacks ]IMO].
 Got rid of the amp at a used basement gear trade shop.
 A rather expensive lesson in PCB into jack technology.
 Bought a new Fab Tone. Had Fab Tone fixed, [under warranty] had the 'other Fab Tone 'they gave me [under warranty still !!!]...I lost track but the third one kept working till I sold it.  That would total of three different units.
 Had an RP unit...power jack into PCB failed. could work, could fail, takes time for it to 'reload' after power is interuppted.
 Never again...Never Again.
 Warranty is better than no warranty.
 Warranty's [even great ones] totally S___ compared to a unit that works.

[casey]

Here's one for $19; that doesn't seem too extortionate to me:

http://www.tubesandmore.com/new/scripts/silverware.exe/moreinfo@d:/dfs/elevclients/cemirror/ELEVATOR.FXP?item=P-ECB-25

hey eric miller.....thanks for the link, that's exactly what i was looking
for.  

as far as the jacks.....if there is a problem that i see with them,
then i will epoxy them onto the board if i have too.  if i remember
right, the board is not held into casing by the jacks, but by
screws from the board into the body of the wah....  i could also
just replace them with regular switch craft jacks and wire them
to the board.  i'll have to see when i get to his house in little rock.
(he lives 7 hours from me - im in louisiana)

i thought about just replacing the pot and the inductor on it,
but for 19 bucks, i might as well replace the whole board.

yes, ill still have to get a pot, but a new inductor is pricey.
i think im going to do some mods on it too once i get in there....
like switching between different caps and so on.  it'll be cool.

by the way, i've noticed a 470k and a 100k hot potz.....what
would be the difference between them as far as tone?

thanks for all of your help.

God Bless.

[casey]

I bought this amp new, great sounding amp.
 Used it for about a year.
 Blew a transformer [I believe because there was a lack of output to speaker continuity].
 Had the output jacks replaced along with the transformer. Didn't fix it. ...Again...Had the amp 'redone' by the company that replaced the items and initially sold me the amp. Didn't fix it. Got tired of that.
 Amp never got over it.
 An otherwise great amp reduced to junk because of PCB mounted jacks ]IMO].
 Got rid of the amp at a used basement gear trade shop.
 A rather expensive lesson in PCB into jack technology.
s.

hey pete, i know what you are talking about as far as amp wise with
the p.c. mounted jacks, as i used to have to repair the input on crate amps
all of the time due to that type of malfunction.....but after i soldered the mess out of them and glued them in, they didnt come back to me for
that problem anymore.....i say all that to say that your advice is
substantiated if someone is not familiar with that type of construction.

solder connections from a machine is way substandard from the
solder connections of a caring human being......

God Bless....

[Mike Burgundy]

it might be worth it to figure out what's wrong before you buy parts. Didn't you say the pot's ok? Did you measure it?
It IS possible this behaviour is caused by a defective pot, in which case you've bought $19 worth of electronics that still doesn't work (and may or may not sound as good as the original. You don't know).
If the pot is suspect, replace it with a regular 100-250k pot. This is not up to wahwah-abuse, but it will suffice to see if it solves the problem!
Smallbear has alpha pots for $1.25, and real wah-sized ones for 25-30.

[casey]

hey mike,

yeah, i thought about that.......it seems to me as if the pot is ok...
you'll be cruising right along though ..... in
wah delight, and the wah will just cut out.

what's wierd is that it is a newer wah that hasnt seen hardly any road
abuse.

like i said in my first post, my other friend has a cry baby wah,
and his cuts out exactly the same way.....pretty wild stuff.

have ya'll ever seen this or is this just a coincidence?