Hi folks,
I was thinking of doing a weener wah project, because i'm after the hendrix tone, but after having done some math, not exact of course, i became aware that the project would cost me more than 100 dollars, because i would buy a ppp enclosure (yeah, i know they're expensive, but i can't find nothing that's way cheaper than that so i think they are worth the extra dollars, aren't they?). The enclosure itself, painted, with the rubber tread and shipping, would cost me about 60 euros (82 dollars)...
The thing is that, i can buy an original gcb-95 crybaby for 87 euros (120 dolars), so my question is, would it be worth to build the weener wah, or would i do better buying the gcb-95? As it is a popular crybaby model, i hope some of you have had experience with one.
Thank you and kind regards
I did get a cheap Vox 747, gutted it and built a Weener into it.
The main draws to building a wah, to me, are:
1) You can use a special inductor. If you buy a new wah and mod it, you don't save that money. The only way to get a wah with a yellow fasel (for instance) is to buy the inductor for $20.
2) You can use a better pot than what comes in the crybaby, something with a custom taper made to work perfectly with a wah. That's another seriously expensive bit of kit, around $20. But it's one of the things that you can put in to be better than the off-the-shelf.
If all you want to do is get a wah and you're not picky about a lot of the parts (especially the two really high-dollar ones), then of course buying a Crybaby or Vox is cheaper. Treadle pedals are one place where DIYers are at a major disadvantage.
You can, however, get out of this cheaper. Buy a broken wah and gut it, for instance.
Yup build your own. Scour your Craigslist and make it known at your local guitar shop you'll pay $XX for a busted wah. Hell contact JoeGagen, he might have a shell, pot, and inductor to sell you. I love the smooth pot, and I've heard some good things about his new Tone Tank. I have one I ordered from him with a proper DPDT dunlop. Seriously though if you can get a $40 USED Crybaby GCB-95(guitar center), Heck they're 79 new... Do the math $40 shell, $25 for pot and inductor $8 for a proper DPDT. You've got a GREAT start. New ones even come with a Red Fasel. I think the board is pretty highly modable on it's own... There's a thread or two I've responded in about mods.
I highly recommend getting a Weener and playing with it though. It's a great platform, and if you socket the right things you'll always be able to go back and play with it as you see fit. Weener with a smooth pot(gagen) and a Purple Devil(out of production) inductor are what's in mine.
Thanks for the replies guys! Well, one of the major problems, is that i'm from europe (which i forgot to mention in the post) and that adds more than 20 dollars in shipping, that was one of the reasons i've asked if it was worth it, because for every other diy pedal, i can get all the parts in musikding and they have cheap shipping, but klaus doesn't sell wah shells, exactly because they are expensive.
Clayford, when you're talking about joegagen pots you mean this ones? http://www.smallbearelec.com/servlet/Detail?no=1430
well, i can get a hellbabe from behringer, an hb01, for 25 euros (34 dollars) with shipping included, but i think those pedals are made out of plastic, so i don't know...
You can also try one of these:
http://www.tubeampdoctor.com/de/shop_Sonderposten/Gehaeuse_Massives_Wah_Wah_Pedal_Gehaeuse_fuer_Selbstbau_und_Bastlerprojekte_1272
As i don't speak german, and the translator is awful, can you tell me what that order includes? is it just the shell and hardware or does it include parts and tread?
I got parts to build a Weener Wah, but before I built one, I took an old "regular" Dunlop CryBaby I had, and did the easy mods on DIY Guitarist:
http://www.diyguitarist.com/DIYStompboxes/WahMod.htm (http://www.diyguitarist.com/DIYStompboxes/WahMod.htm)
after doing the mods, and some comparisons, I also realized I kind of like having a wah with a normal pedal sweep too.
I still haven't got around to building a Weener Wah, though.
I think if I were looking at a new wah, though, I'd consider the Dunlop 535Q, for the bit extra it costs over the regular CryBaby.
Quote from: HailToTheBlues on May 18, 2014, 05:15:11 PM
As i don't speak german, and the translator is awful, can you tell me what that order includes? is it just the shell and hardware or does it include parts and tread?
It's just the enclosure, but it's still not a bad deal. It's about on par with what Smallbear or PPP charge.
yes that's true, but the thing is that their shipping is almost the same, even though they're from an EU country
The order includes everything, i.e. a complete Wah. They just don't garantee that it works. Most reports I have read said that it worked right out of the box anyway.
I've got a used yellow fasel if anyone needs one. I'm in NYC.