hi,
i want to sell my crybaby gcb59 cuz it sounds too bad, but is it possible to mod it and make it sound way better?
The new pedal i'd like to buy is a Vox v847...
What would you guys do, mod the crybaby to a good wah or sell it and buy a vox?
thanx!
PS: looking for AC128 transistors? I have 2 left
I'm not sure what all is in the gcb 59---or do you mean gcb95?
Either way, those crybabys can be modded to sound like any classic crybaby or Vox pedal with some minimal resistor and cap changes. You may like to remove the input buffer and try some different types of transistors. I personally like the sound of my GCB95 as far as crybabys go. I verified that there was no difference between the GCB95 and the other original crybaby I had other than the plastic battery door. Removing the input buffer will go way back to the original original crybaby with the lower input impedance.
The rest of the tranny changes have to do with adding distortion and changing gain and resonance (which makes a big difference). Just look up an old Vox Clyde McCoy or the V847 (are they the same?) schematic and change the components in your crybaby to match.
The other factor in there is the actual inductor that is used. There are a few people out there offering an improved inductor, which from everything that I have read seems to be half the magic of a really good sounding wah.
Here is a page that describes how I modded my wah: http://www.diyguitarist.com/DIYStompboxes/WahMod.htm
The stock GCB95 circuit can be tweaked to sound a whole lot better...
Or, the other alternative is to buy a new board from this guy: http://www.wah-wah.co.uk/