Another good score from my compulsive days on kijiji was this used Crybaby wah unit in mint condition. Like most Crybabys, this one suffered from pretty wicked tone suckage when bypassed due to the Dunlops antiquated choice of footswitch. Get with the times, guys! The 60s are over.
I tried out a replacement switch that is a tiny little momentary unit that puts in the wah the moment you lift the toe up. I've found that your standard garden variety stomp switch doesn't have the same kind of resistance against your pressing when used inside a wah enclosure like this. Something about the physics of the foot-rocker means you're pressing that switch with way more force than you might if that same switch were on the outside of a Fuzz Face, for instance. One thing Dunlop got right with their original switches is that they are quite difficult to press by themselves, so they feel pretty comfortable inside a wah shell. Anyhow, I wanted another solution, so I went with this little thing. I may live to regret it.
In addition, I've changed the values of a couple resistors in this circuit. The 390R has been replaced with a 330R for some addtional gain. R15 has gone from being 68K to being a pot, in conjuction with a couple added resistors to go from 33K to around 80K. This is basically a gain knob, which is helpful in counteracting the volume drop that comes with true bypass. I like a wah to be boosted a little when you kick it on, to help you cut through the mix during those wacky solos.
Lastly, I subbed in the stack-of-dimes inductor from my original Crybaby unit whose guts I had lying around in a drawer. That thing sounded super sweet before I cannibalized it. Dang.
Fall 2014
I tried out a replacement switch that is a tiny little momentary unit that puts in the wah the moment you lift the toe up. I've found that your standard garden variety stomp switch doesn't have the same kind of resistance against your pressing when used inside a wah enclosure like this. Something about the physics of the foot-rocker means you're pressing that switch with way more force than you might if that same switch were on the outside of a Fuzz Face, for instance. One thing Dunlop got right with their original switches is that they are quite difficult to press by themselves, so they feel pretty comfortable inside a wah shell. Anyhow, I wanted another solution, so I went with this little thing. I may live to regret it.
In addition, I've changed the values of a couple resistors in this circuit. The 390R has been replaced with a 330R for some addtional gain. R15 has gone from being 68K to being a pot, in conjuction with a couple added resistors to go from 33K to around 80K. This is basically a gain knob, which is helpful in counteracting the volume drop that comes with true bypass. I like a wah to be boosted a little when you kick it on, to help you cut through the mix during those wacky solos.
Lastly, I subbed in the stack-of-dimes inductor from my original Crybaby unit whose guts I had lying around in a drawer. That thing sounded super sweet before I cannibalized it. Dang.
Fall 2014
The new knob and switch in plain view.
The blue resistor is the replacement 330R. The "stack-of-dimes" inductor is sitting at the top between the two jacks. Note the wires leading away from where R15 used to be.
I wanted to use a B50K for the gain knob, but I didn't have one lying around so I simulated one using a B100K pot and a resistor going across the lugs. The 33K resistor is there in series with it ensuring a minimum resistance. The lugs on the footswitch were very small and delicate, so I etched a breakout board to mount onto the switch to aid in wiring. Lucky for me, the pedal looks good on the outside!
