“The Boutique Deluxe Wah-Wah” AKA Fulltone Clyde Deluxe

[dadude]

I had a Clyde Deluxe in my shop a while back and went under the hood to take a peak. I took notes on what I found but lost them… Until now.

This would a fun project for an ambitious DIY’r to do a layout, PCB, schematic, parts list and dub it “The Boutique Deluxe Wah-Wah” for posting over at GGG. If anyone wanted to do it (I’m swamped or I would), I could gladly help from what I remember and notes.

It’s basically the same circuit as the original Vox Clyde McCoy (check out Phillip’s over at http://fuzzcentral.tripod.com). With a few mods.

1.   They use a variable input resistor for the volume mod (B100k), this combined with their gain mod (below) acts as a booster (actually kind of cool). With the gain increased a bit you can set the volume higher so that going into a lead (with wah) the pedal boosts you signal to cut through the mix.

2.   The gain mod is taken off Q1’s emitter. They run two resistors in series (100ohm, 470ohm) with a 2k trimpot (variable resistor) parallel to the 470ohm to ground. This gain mod can boost the signal quite a bit (from what I remember) and can give it a bit of dirt (sweet) if needed.

3.   For the sweep cap mods they use a single pole three position switch to switch in different sweep caps. This is where I’m a bit foggy. I have the cap values but I don’t remember if they ran them in series. The three values are .02uf, .01uf, .005uf. They have the stock .01uf in the center (‘Jimi’). The .005uf looks a little low to be used for the sweep by itself. I think the .01uf and .005uf combo would be the ‘Shaft’ setting, and the .02uf/.01uf would be the ‘Wacked’. This would make sense as the .01uf was the center position.

4.   C828 transistors for Q1 and Q2. These have a different pinout (ECB) making it harder to sub in trannies. I would use 2N2222 or 2N5088’s as a replacement.

5.   No ‘Q’ or ‘vocal’ mods, just a 33k across the inductor.

6.   They use a standard Carling DPDT x-wing for the stomp switch, I would guess for feel over a 3PDT. How do they get the on/off LED to light up? They use R.G.’s Millenium 1 bypass switch to the ‘T’ using the 2N5484 JFET as suggested.
 
7.   All ½ watt carbon comp resistors, and greeny caps, for that “expensive mojo”.

8.   Onboard power filter/protection with a 10uf electro and 1N4XXX diode.



Build notes:
The volume, three way switch, and Millenium 1 bypass are all on a small daughter board off the main board. This small board is located on the right side (looking from top) of the pedal. The rest of the components are on the main board.

My observations on it are it’s a pretty cool pedal build for a DIY. I like the boost feature. The two cap mods I liked were the ‘Jimi’ and the ‘Wacked’. The wacked was very filter heavy and could be used for some really cool funk stuff and others. The gain mod rocks, I liked the dirt it can get and even at lower settings it had a bit more character than a standard Clyde clone (bigger maybe?).

[R.G.]

They use R.G.’s Millenium 1 bypass switch to the ‘T’ using the 2N5484 JFET as suggested.

Hey that's funny!

When I first came up with the Millenium 1, Mike sent emails trying to convince me that (a) it isn't really true bypass - even though it is (b) only a 3PDT can do it "right" and (c) I'd better not be trying to convince the world not to buy his switches. I managed to get him calmed down and he went a way muttering. It's more than mildly amusing to see them using the Mill 1 now.  If I were an evil guy, I'd send emails to rub it in; but I'm not, so I'll just grin from time to time.

[dadude]

R.G., put that way it is even more amusing.  :lol:  I think they went with the Millenium 1 because those 3PDT seem to switch on/off too easy for a wah, and don't have the same feel as the Carlings in a wah pedal. They also are a little shorter than the Carling DPDT making height adjustments limited for use in a wah.

[Paul Marossy]

those 3PDT seem to switch on/off too easy for a wah, and don't have the same feel as the Carlings in a wah pedal.

I like that myself. I guess I have a light touch...  :wink:

[vanessa]

Has anyone built this yet? I was wondering if the sweep caps in series worked or if they needed to be switched in separately like on the GGG site?

I'm thinking of building this as a perf board, I would bread board this but it might be kinda hard working the wah pot.


 :roll:

[dadude]

I was comparing my notes to the GGG mod wah. I do remember a loud 'pop' between switch selections on the Clyde Deluxe and the fact that they use a single pole three position switch to switch in different sweep caps leads me to believe that they are not in series as they could have used a small on-off-on switch for series. The GGG mod wah notes show a 5n6 cap as a possible choice for one of the sweep cap mods. My guess is the 'Shaft' is the .005uf by itself, the 'Jimi' is the .01uf by itself, and the 'Wacked' is the .02uf by itself.

[cd]

Let's look at this logically for a moment: what happens when you increase and/or decrease the sweep cap (cap on the 2nd transistor's emitter to the inductor)?  Remember that caps in series end up being paralleled in value, and caps in parallel end up being added together in value (opposite from resistors).  .01u by itself with a .005 in parallel ends up being .015u, with a .02u in parallel it ends up being .03u.  So if the caps are paralleled, then the sweep cap in only increased in value; what happens when the sweep cap is increased?  The sweep range moves downwards.  So if the caps can only be increased in value, then the range can only be moved downwards.  If the caps are simply selected (either .005, .01, .02) then you get normal, higher, and lower.  If the caps are made to go in series, then you get a smaller and smaller sweep cap value, which makes the sweep go higher and higher.

So... what is the auditory effect of the switch?  Lower and lower, lower and higher, or higher and higher?  Figure that out and you've got the answer.

[dadude]

Logically it's been a long time since I had it in my shop!  :lol:

Maybe someone on the forum can help us out?

 

[warioblast]

I'm sorry to bump this old thread, but dadude I need to thank you for sharing for those information.
I've just done the gain & volume mod to my wah and I must say it's a KEEPER one. 

[RDV]

Sorry about the OT, but does anyone else have to turn their Millenium1+ equipped pedals on & off a few times to get them working right after turning them on(or applying power)? If I don't do that, sometimes there'll be no effect with the LED on or vise-versa.

TIA

RDV

[R.G.]

The Millenium circuits can be excruciatingly slow to come up. The "high leakage diode" leaks only a few nanoamperes into the parasitic capacitances that it drives. Until those capacitances are loaded up, the thing will show no switching. It depends on the specific parts.

The fade-in on some Mill 1's is actually the rise time of the leakage diode ramping up the gate capacitance of the FET.

[RDV]

I've never had the LED slowly coming on or anything though(which I've heard of before). I might just have a switch problem as I use X-wing switches with my Millenniums. The one in my PT-80 gives me the most trouble(though it settles down if I turn it on & off a few times. I've never even switched that one with my foot before.

RDV

[Ed G.]

4.   C828 transistors for Q1 and Q2. These have a different pinout (ECB) making it harder to sub in trannies. I would use 2N2222 or 2N5088’s as a replacement.

It might be worth the trouble to bend the leads on the tranny to try them out. In my experience, the wah transistors have a bigger effect on the sound than many people seem to acknowledge here. I like a bright, open, non-muddy tone, like my old Thomas Organ Crybaby and the trannys that got closest for me were the 2n4401's.
You ever hear that song by Soundgarden, called "Rusty Cage" where you hear that %^&*ed wah sound and distortion? I can only get that with certain transistors. The 2n4401 to me sounded closest to the "5117" trannys, which I found out X-ref to 2n2925 (got to try those out next)
Also, different transistors work differently in the different positions of the circuit. The first position sets up the volume, tone, gain, etc. The second one affects the sweep.

[formerMember1]

The first position sets up the volume, tone, gain, etc. The second one affects the sweep.

I agree!