Thomas Organ Wah Score!

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Thomas Organ Wah Score!

Nice clean looking wah on the inside Christian...Cool to have adjustments on the pcb for "gain"...."volume".....and "Q" I prefer to keep everything on the insides of my wahs these days...External mounted pots can break and they move on adjustment...Your wah looks to have trimmers for gain and Q....Sometimes I install a midrange trimmer,but I've found I always go back to the midrange set resistance I like..Looks like the stock trannies(MPSA18) that Vox/Modern Dunlops use?

Thanks John!

One of the trimmers is labeled "Bass and Gain" and the other is labeled "sweep".

Like I said, the funny part is I've never once even tweaked them...it nailed the sound I hear in my head right out of the gate!

I'd have to look to be suyre but the trannys are 2N5232As I think...

I tried not to tell Kevin too much about specific parts...I just wanted the sond to be right and the gain to be right, it needed to have a fuzz buffer and I wanted it to be non true bypass...past that I didn't sweat too much in terms of details.

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Thomas Organ Wah Score!

Thanks John!

One of the trimmers is labeled "Bass and Gain" and the other is labeled "sweep".

Like I said, the funny part is I've never once even tweaked them...it nailed the sound I hear in my head right out of the gate!

I'd have to look to be suyre but the trannys are 2N5232As I think...

I tried not to tell Kevin too much about specific parts...I just wanted the sond to be right and the gain to be right, it needed to have a fuzz buffer and I wanted it to be non true bypass...past that I didn't sweat too much in terms of details.

It's funny....as you increase the overall gain of the wah,you also increase the bass and the overall volume of the wah....The one trim pot is right beside the inductor...I'm guessing that actually changes the Q adjustment values for the inductor...The other trimmer sits right where the Q1 gain set resistor normally sits...And yes the 5232s would make sense and are less gainier trannies..I like the BC109Bs also.

Mike Fuller actually uses a 100k adjustable pot on the outside of his wahs...This replaces the usual 68k resistor normally seen in that spot...I Like my wahs to have at least unity gain when switched on,but I actually prefer a slight boost with the wah engaged...Increasing gain or lowering the 68k resistor value normally creates the proper unity gain differences...I hate stepping on anything that lowers the volume throughout the chain to the amp....The EH Small Stone is bad about this..

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Thomas Organ Wah Score!

I hear ya on all counts!

The great thing about the Wilson is that it is above unity, has that slight little boost but it stays clean and pure but it's not all clippy like my Teese Picture wah was.

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Thomas Organ Wah Score!

I hear ya on all counts!

The great thing about the Wilson is that it is above unity, has that slight little boost but it stays clean and pure but it's not all clippy like my Teese Picture wah was.

For the money,the teese pw just wasn't all that...Maybe I had a bad one? ;o)

[xxxplorer]

Re: Thomas Organ Wah Score!

fwiw I had 4 teese wahs, and sold all 4. I wanna try some Wilson stuff someday! Especially his freaker wah!

[RickyduRock]

Re: Thomas Organ Wah Score!

I have the same wah here and I think they're not from early 70s, and maybe even from 70s. Same structure, TDK inductor, same jacks, same pot.
Mine came with a paper label tied to a wire saying "84" and at the board you can read 84 too. My guess is that those things were made in the 80s.
I changed those jacks because they were loose and scretchy. The pot worked fine for months but now its crappy. I measured it with a multimeter and found some "dead" spots in the the pot course.
Changed the 4uF electrolytic cap with a modern 4.7 bipolar electrolytic cap.
Made it true bypass with a xingling DPDT (enforced with some heavy glue).
Voice resistor 100k instead of 33k.
Input resistor 33k instead of 68k to balance off and on volumes.

Since I bought it from a guy in ebay (4 years ago) it sounded too mid-treble to me. The sweep were so short, lacking that "ooouwha" sound. Never used this wah so much since then because I really didn't like the sound. When rocked to the treble position, this thing was so treble and harsh that I could hear radio stations. Also, when loud, at treble position the amp was noisy and microphonic. Just impossible to use.

Some months back I founded a "Led Zeppelin Tribute Band" that forced me to start using it again. After too much reading on the internet I decided to try some BC109B transistors in place of "5117" that it has originally. Bought 2 of them from a site and got it soldered (with some terminal re-arrangements because of different pinout).

The diference was day and night, heaven and hell, water and wine, **** and virginity, wherever you like. I'm shure you know what I mean.
All that bass and that "oouwhaa" sound it's there now. With pedal back I can even do some palm mute things. With the pedal forwarded, the treble is almost the same when it is in bypass mode.

All I need to do now is to search for a good pot.
Almost everything I found on ebay was fake Taiwanese Alpha "ICAR" taper pots.

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Thomas Organ Wah Score!

I have the same wah here and I think they're not from early 70s, and maybe even from 70s. Same structure, TDK inductor, same jacks, same pot.
Mine came with a paper label tied to a wire saying "84" and at the board you can read 84 too. My guess is that those things were made in the 80s.
I changed those jacks because they were loose and scretchy. The pot worked fine for months but now its crappy. I measured it with a multimeter and found some "dead" spots in the the pot course.
Changed the 4uF electrolytic cap with a modern 4.7 bipolar electrolytic cap.
Made it true bypass with a xingling DPDT (enforced with some heavy glue).
Voice resistor 100k instead of 33k.
Input resistor 33k instead of 68k to balance off and on volumes.

Since I bought it from a guy in ebay (4 years ago) it sounded too mid-treble to me. The sweep were so short, lacking that "ooouwha" sound. Never used this wah so much since then because I really didn't like the sound. When rocked to the treble position, this thing was so treble and harsh that I could hear radio stations. Also, when loud, at treble position the amp was noisy and microphonic. Just impossible to use.

Some months back I founded a "Led Zeppelin Tribute Band" that forced me to start using it again. After too much reading on the internet I decided to try some BC109B transistors in place of "5117" that it has originally. Bought 2 of them from a site and got it soldered (with some terminal re-arrangements because of different pinout).

The diference was day and night, heaven and hell, water and wine, **** and virginity, wherever you like. I'm shure you know what I mean.
All that bass and that "oouwhaa" sound it's there now. With pedal back I can even do some palm mute things. With the pedal forwarded, the treble is almost the same when it is in bypass mode.

All I need to do now is to search for a good pot.
Almost everything I found on ebay was fake Taiwanese Alpha "ICAR" taper pots.

I think the Thomas Organ wahs are from the 70's but I guess I'd have to research that for sure.....You can't always go by those stickers...I want to say that Dunlop came into the picture into the 80s though...This would be after the Thomas Organ series.But you may be very well right.

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Thomas Organ Wah Score!

Found this quote from Teese/AnalogMike about the Thomas Organ wahs.....Seems 83 was the last year for the series..I wanna say that most if not all of the Thomas Organs I've seen and have modded,were 70s models...

What is the fasel inductor?

A) To the best of my knowledge fasel refers to the appearance and

conjectured make up. A way of discerning them. According to Thomas they

used one company to make all their inductors from 1958 to 1981.

Porr-Wagner probably made all the inductors, except the TDK, as TDK was

not listed in the VOX/THOMAS Vendor Files. TDK was introduced in roughly

1968 and used up to the close of Thomas in 1983. They still sold old

stock through 1983 when the rights were purchased by Jim Dunlop.

[bungalowbill]

Re: Thomas Organ Wah Score!

Here is a cool sight..it is translated, so some of the text seems weird.

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.geocities.jp/e08120/wahwah/wah.html&ei=HrCyS8HVM4uINszI8f0D&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAgQ7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhttp://www.geocities.jp/e08120/wahwah/wah.html%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Thomas Organ Wah Score!

Here is a cool sight..it is translated, so some of the text seems weird.

http://translate.google.com/translat...%3Den%26sa%3DG

Awesome site! Thanks Joe.Looking at the pictures and the info,the wah I bought is a 1972 model year or there abouts..Mine looks like the Crybaby second from the right..

[RickyduRock]

Re: Thomas Organ Wah Score!

Awesome site! Thanks Joe.Looking at the pictures and the info,the wah I bought is a 1972 model year or there abouts..Mine looks like the Crybaby second from the right..

Really awesome site. Lots of good information. I'm starting to think they are really 70's (lol). The next thing I'll do is to sand off some metal from the back to make the range wider.

Strat,
What is your wah serial number, lets compare.

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Thomas Organ Wah Score!

Really awesome site. Lots of good information. I'm starting to think they are really 70's (lol). The next thing I'll do is to sand off some metal from the back to make the range wider.

Strat,
What is your wah serial number, lets compare.

I don't have the wah yet.....LOL

From the pictures on that website,my wah looks to be a 1972....Cool(The year I started playing)....

I still say that the 80s was all about the Dunlop wahs...

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Thomas Organ Wah Score!

Really awesome site. Lots of good information. I'm starting to think they are really 70's (lol). The next thing I'll do is to sand off some metal from the back to make the range wider.

Strat,
What is your wah serial number, lets compare.

The Thomas Organ Company was heavily involved with VOX from 1964-1972 and imported and assembled instruments and products, including the wah-wah pedal. Thomas Organ labeled their wah-wah Cry Baby to distinguish from the wah-wah VOX together with JMI (Vox's European distributor) offered. Thomas Organ assembled their wah-wah pedals in the U.S., first in Sepulveda, California, later in Chicago, Illinois. It seems that Thomas Organ used different components thoughout their production, but most of their Cry Babies contain either the 03 "Stack of Dimes" or the TDK 5103 cube inductor

[RickyduRock]

Re: Thomas Organ Wah Score!

What do you think about this pot?

http://cgi.ebay.com/NOS-Rare-Vintage-Dunlop-Clarostat-Hot-Potz-1-Wah-Pot_W0QQitemZ280482921164QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20100324?IMSfp=TL100324145004r33794

It looks a lot like the original.

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Thomas Organ Wah Score!

Thanks for the link BungalowJoe
All those old things are quite cool to read about.