My weener needs help

[ch1naski]

C6 is shorted so it is just a jumper. C5 is open so it has nothing in it. I don't really remember why I did it that way. I think it was because the frequency pot was closer to where I was going to put the cap selector anyways so I decided to reduce my wiring a bit. It is pretty much the equivalent of having a capacitor selector in place of C5 if you don't want to do it this way.

And now that I think about it if you really want, I have a spectrum analyzer in my lab at work. I can actually get a frequency response plot of the wah in different positions to see what the frequency content of this weener is. I think would just be overkill though.

Maybe overkill, but I would love to see it:)

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[JakeFuzz]

Ive been meaning to do it anyways for other projects but I just haven't had the time. I just need to wire up two BNC to 1/4" audio cables and it is pretty much plug and play from there. It is a really old SRS so I probably wont be able to get output data (Ive tried and it has a really weird file format I cant use for anything) but I can just take a video of the screen as I sweep positions. It will probably be next weekend. Ill take a look at maybe the harmonic content of a fuzz face or something while I have the thing setup. 

[octa805]

stupid question-what does R5 do exactly?

[ch1naski]

stupid question-what does R5 do exactly?

That's not a stupid question.
Even in rg keen's article,"technology of the wah", under "what affects what" he still has it listed as "still working on this one".


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[joegagan]

R5 is one of the values that is most interdepndant on the rest of the circ being in spec. Generally, lower values sharpen the peaks, going larger fattens / widens them.

In my experience, sharp peaks make interesting wah ( like the early boomerangs or coveted 60s voxes), fat/wide peaks make for more of a sonic schmear, sweeps the frequency but with less distinct character.

In some of my modeling, when other parameters change, i have seen values as low as 700 ohm do a nice job.

[ch1naski]

I've heard your boomerang, it sounds nice. Sort of how I'd like my weener to sound. I'm far from there.

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[octa805]

Tweaked my peak pot hard hard left and it got quite a bit better

A lot more wah effect now but I still can't get the volume up to unity w/o a touch of distortion

R5 does do something weird to it. Takes it into less wah territory but I can't make it do more yet

Closer!

[JakeFuzz]

Did these today using the SR785 in my lab. I had a whole nice introduction to how this thing works and what I was going to be doing but I lost half of my videos during transferring which is super annoying. I have a bunch of other clips looking at the harmonic content of different fuzz and overdrive effects. If anyone is interested they are at my youtube channel. I would post them here but I don't know of a good section to do it in. I do apologize that the number of points in the low frequency range is quite limited so my frequency resolution isn't that great down there. And also I am mistaken when I say the weener is 1dB lower than the wizard in the heel down position. It is actually the other way around!   

[ch1naski]

Thanks Jake. Subscribed to your YouTube channel now.

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[octa805]

zombie thread!

Finally got around to playing with this again.

Did some minor resistor changes. Nothing life changing.

Hooked the external pot back up again. Still strongest wah effect on bass side.

Did a bunch of side by testing with my other wahs. Realized it was actually good, just not loud enough somehow. Everytime I tried dial up the funky trimpot I have in R5 to get more out of Q1 it would just get distorted.

Finally pulled Q1 and swapped it out with a no-name random transistor from my radio shack grab bag...

HEYO! Thing sounded like a monster. I'm not sure if my first tranny was not socketing right or what but dude, it's great now. Loud, throbbing, red wah (I resisted the temptation to write weener there).

Need to dial it in a bit more of course but it even sounds great w/ the external pot now too.

full bass side is weird and so thick. paired with a rat or fuzz it's just thickness

treble side is powerful now as well. probably need to move my sweep pot around now to compensate but man, just a real satisfying turnaround out of nowhere. Hope it gets even better

[ch1naski]

zombie thread!

Finally got around to playing with this again.

Did some minor resistor changes. Nothing life changing.

Hooked the external pot back up again. Still strongest wah effect on bass side.

Did a bunch of side by testing with my other wahs. Realized it was actually good, just not loud enough somehow. Everytime I tried dial up the funky trimpot I have in R5 to get more out of Q1 it would just get distorted.

Finally pulled Q1 and swapped it out with a no-name random transistor from my radio shack grab bag...

HEYO! Thing sounded like a monster. I'm not sure if my first tranny was not socketing right or what but dude, it's great now. Loud, throbbing, red wah (I resisted the temptation to write weener there).

Need to dial it in a bit more of course but it even sounds great w/ the external pot now too.

full bass side is weird and so thick. paired with a rat or fuzz it's just thickness

treble side is powerful now as well. probably need to move my sweep pot around now to compensate but man, just a real satisfying turnaround out of nowhere. Hope it gets even better

Right on!
I became so frustrated with mine that I started other projects to feed the addiction in the meantime. Q1, huh?
I've got tons of transistors around here now, I'm gonna see what gives.

I've been noticing issues with sockets on some other projects...I've taken to tinning the leads on the component if it has tiny leads....seems to help seat them better.

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[octa805]

Now with a crappy clip!

Had some fun playing terribly with my wah & rat

http://youtu.be/2KOZ7dDIRQE

[JakeFuzz]

Damn that opening sound is intensely deep. It sounds more extreme than mine; excellent job. Ill have to try a higher gain transistor in Q1 and see if that makes it sound cooler. 

[joegagan]

i dig the deep sound of that clip octa!

[octa805]

Wow! Thanks guys! That I'd ever get a compliment from 2 guys that know SOOOO much more than me about wahs is amazing. I bow down to you both and thanks for all the help.

That opening clip is the freq pot turned all the way to the bass side. Faaaaat!