Vox Clyde McCoy Wah, build report,... Any ideas for Hendrix wah tone?

[Pedal love]

Where and what kind of white grease do i get for greasing the pot?  I don't want to keep using it ungreased and ruin the gears.

I get stuff called white lithium grease at Antique electronic supply. A calcium-lithium based grease will do.pl

[Dai H.]

around 100k sounds more correct to me also (Burning of the Midnight Lamp, VC, etc.). Also definitely play with the 470 ohms, and seems like lower gain Trs (maybe just the first one) make the wah effect more effective in the bass range of the pot sweep. Plus try adjusting input cap and freq. cap a bit (I'd say try a little larger).

[formerMember1]

Thanks Dai H and others....

I tried the Fulltone pot, i didn't like it that much in there.  It just didn't have the right feel and sweep or something. I have to still try the hotpotz,  so it is gonna be between the propot or hotzpotz 2.   Also, the 100K Q resistor sounds good for clean tone or slightly overdriven, but it is WAY too strong when used with my Axis Face.  The a lower value Q sounds better with the Axis Face.  BUt still not good.


I tried swapping the 470 for better bass, but that ruined the highend of the wah.

I didn't try changing the caps, but i am gonna.

I guess i should try swapping both.  I will remove them and socket them.  They are polypropylene, and i only have avx boxed metal film, but they should give me the idea of different values,....

Is there any wah mods, that roger mayer did to Jimi's wah?  we will probably never know,....

[formerMember1]

it is funnny how there is so many different wah pedals with completely different tones, even though they are modeled after the 60's wahs.

If you go to musicians friend and search for wahs, there are MP3 samples.  The Budda wah, Vox Clyde, Vox v847,Dunlop crybaby, dunlop calssic, then there is the Fulltone and Teese wahs.  ANd they all sound completely different.  SO it must be possible to get the tone i want by swapping the parts.
I guess wahs are a  hard pedal to build, just changing one little part changes everything.  IN another pedal, there usually is less a difference.

[Dai H.]

I have a GCB-95 housing with a Roger Mayer 9090A kit board that I use for a guinea pig to play around with (since I wasn't very happy with it). Sockets everywhere, lol. The kit came with a rotary switch for the freq. cap so I still have that (since it's useful). And I have one of those 200k Black Top or whatever it was called pots in there at the moment (which I like the sweep of, but it's got this one little part in the rotation that feels gritty I don't like--probably I'm being too picky). I had some servo-pot-looking 100k (measured bit higher) in there before (very very smooth rotation which I liked, seemed to sound good) but it got noisy quickly (I'm thinking maybe it was actually a wirewound but the housing is too solid to be easily disassembled). Last time I was goofing around with it, tried to cop the "Up From the Skies" wah tone but got completely sidetracked--ended up amp tweaking instead...

[Paul Marossy]

it is funnny how there is so many different wah pedals with completely different tones, even though they are modeled after the 60's wahs.

If you go to musicians friend and search for wahs, there are MP3 samples.  The Budda wah, Vox Clyde, Vox v847,Dunlop crybaby, dunlop calssic, then there is the Fulltone and Teese wahs.  ANd they all sound completely different.  SO it must be possible to get the tone i want by swapping the parts.
I guess wahs are a  hard pedal to build, just changing one little part changes everything.  IN another pedal, there usually is less a difference.

Yeah, but are all the sound clips recorded using the same amp, guitar and settings? I bet they aren't, and consequently, all those wahs will not sound that radically different from eachother with all things being equal in terms of comparing apples to apples. In my experience, when modding a wah, the two biggest changes you can make are by changing the values of the sweep cap and the vocal resistor. The inductor and pot do also make some difference, too. I'm still not convinced that a certain inductor over another will produce day and night results, either. The most important thing about the inductor is that it measures close to 500mH. Some wahs are using inductors that measure over 600mH, which does make the wah sound more muddy...

EDIT: BTW, I like that Pro Pot a lot. Hey, that rhymes... 

EDIT #2: What I said in my original post was based on wah circuits that are based on the original wah circuit (like the Clyde McCoy). Something like a Maestro Boomerang is going to naturally sound different because it utilizes a different circuit. Non-inductor wahs aren't even a consideration here.

[formerMember1]

yeah, it is amazing how hard Hendrix's tones are to get.  THe further you get, the more complex you realize it is.


I switched back to the propot.  It is better, but the fulltone had more quack to it.  Helped the pedal sound more like voodo child, but i still didn't like it so i am back to the ProPot.

I settled for around 62K for the vocal mod.  100k was too much, and made it too sharp and quick.  33k is too low, so 50-60k seems good at the moment.  I think it is the amp that makes the sound off.  I don't like how it sounds with the Axis FAce, i am gonna try removing the output buffer and see what happens.

The best wah i heard in person, was this guy who has a local hendrix tribute band in my area, (well had one, they dont play together anymore)
He used a MArshall 50watt superlead half stack, a jimi hendrix custom shop strat, fulltone '69, TS9, and a Vox CLyde McCoy wah, modified by him.  I haven't seen him in a long time, but he had the best wah tone, and closest to Jimi's.  Last time i talked to him,(a year or so) i think he told me he used a Fulltone pot, Fulltone inductor, 100k vocal mod, and Fulltone 3PDT.  He did have the best tone i heard.  He nailed Voodoo Child, and Let the good times roll tones.  Great player too.  He always told me he got the best wah when modifying, a Vox Clyde McCoy reissue, with fulltone parts, and a 100k Q mod.  

Anyway,  I think i am gonna try castledines halo replica, i have the ariel fx one, but i guess casltedines is better since many people have his.

My wah tone isn't bad, but very very very far away from Jimi Hendrix's, more vocal than a crybaby.   I used to get closer with my stock GCB-95 crybaby for voodoo child.

I am gonna try the hotzpotz, but i can't find it. I found one here, but it doesn't work, i should throw out all these non working pots, for some reason i save them.  

thanks

[formerMember1]

yeah i am gonna try changing the sweep cap,  which .01 cap is it.

here is my layout,...   http://fuzzcentral.tripod.com/mccoy/mccoylayout.gif

i think it is the top one, right?

What values should i try for closer to Jimi?

(i am gonna search around too,...)

***EDIT***
jimlam, did you change the input cap or sweep cap to   0.022uf ?
Also, the  "510 ohm thing", you mean the 470ohm resistor in my pedal? 

EDIT2**
never mind jimlam ifigured it out.

thanks

[Paul Marossy]

I believe the top cap is the sweep cap.

[Pedal love]

Is there any wah mods, that roger mayer did to Jimi's wah?  we will probably never know,....

Hendrix used some of Roger's modded wah pedals, but all of Roger's have pre buffer stages. Roger's wah pedals are electronically the most similar to Dunlop Jimi Hendrix wah pedals, but with different values.pl

[formerMember1]

Anyone know what wah hendrix used on Electric Ladyland?  I like the rainy day dream away or midnightlamp, or let the good times roll, or voodoo child.

thanks

PS:Man his wah is really vocal on that album.  Not too harsh, not too bassy, not to sharp, yet vocal like.  It is not fair. 

[formerMember1]

geez loueeze.  :icon_razz:  I was listening to a RMC picture wah over at his site.  My wah sounds the same excat way as his first few picture wah audio samples.  When i use heavy gain/fuzzface it sounds the exact same wah tone.  Unfortunatly i don;t like that high gain one. 

I got it to work better with my Axis FAce,still not the greatest, but better.  I am posting the result in the Axis FAce thread, so i don't get OT.

EDIT***
Hey guys, when i made the ouput buffer, i didn't test the JFET, i just soldered it in. Was i supposed to test it for gain somehow?
I am thinking maybe the wah doesn't sound right because of the buffer.  Could the buffer make it sound really thin, or won't that affect the tone, even though it is plugged straight in the amp?

Because the best way to describe my wah is thin and cheesy. It is way too thin that it is pathetic, it is very far away from even having that tone and "wah" of jimi's or other 60's wahs.

should i remove the output buffer and try it that way?  Or won't that change anything?

[no one ever]

i got a spdt switch to turn the buffer on/off.

62k eh? i'll try that when i drill out my board. this thread is helping me out, i just etched the board for this mc coy yesterday...

[no one ever]

sorry, posting again, but

on the built wah picture on that mccoy page at fuzzcentral (http://fuzzcentral.tripod.com/mccoy.html), what type of .01uf caps are those flanking the .22 uf cap?

[Dai H.]

I thought those were polystyrene(?)

[formerMember1]

what type of .01uf caps are those flanking the .22 uf cap?

the .01 barrel looking things are polystyrene, and the .22uf are avx boxed metal film,

[no one ever]

what type of .01uf caps are those flanking the .22 uf cap?

the .01 barrel looking things are polystyrene, and the .22uf are avx boxed metal film,

weird lookin things, never seen ones like that. boxed metal film? i thought the .22's were tropical fish caps?

[formerMember1]

oh sorry, i didn't look at the picture, i was going by the parts list.  Yeah the those are tropical fish caps, but i never tried them, many people say that the modern avx boxed metal film caps are better,  I was gonna try a few becuase i am desperate to get this thing to sound good, i'll try anything.

The polystyrene caps phillip suggests have really thin leads, i almost broke them off a couple times, i would order an extra one if i was you.

Let me know how you wah turns out,

I tried a lower gain tranny in Q1 i had laying around,(BC108A) and it was warmer,  I am thinking that a BC109C around 400 will be better,  and then do the bass mod to get rid of that extra high end. 

All i know is my wah sucks and i am really disappointed, i was expecting something special,  (probably the worse wah i have ever heard too!!)

In my crybaby classic wah, the fulltone pot sounds better, more vocal, I could get really closer to Jimi with that wah, but not great.

I am thinking now that the propot isn't working that good becuase of the dunlop enclosure, i am gonna try a hotzpotz 2 off smallbear in there.
I also think i should try Fulltone's halo, maybe this Halo isn't good like Vanessa said.

This wah is getting expensive, i aready have over a $160 dollars into it.  ANd now i am gonna buy another pot and inductor and that will be $50.00 more.  Sheeesh!! 

EDIT***
Whoa, that dunlop pot is 25 bucks, i could buy a used wah for that. I thought they were like 6 bucks.

Anyone compare the Fulltone inductor to an ariel fx inductor?  I am thinking that is the problem why it sounds so thin and cheesy.

[no one ever]

  aww... well did you get your parts from mouser? do they have bc109b's there?

[formerMember1]

the bc109b's i think mouser doesn't sell, they sell a replacement part i think.

I guess the bc109B's range in different gains from 288 to 410 or so. 

Do you know what gains original wahs had?