Wah Wah repair tips:

[Lewguitar]

I need a little help!

A friend found a Dunlap Crybaby in the trash dumpster and I've been trying to get it up and running for him.

The main problem seemed to be a bad battery connector. I repaired that and the pedal worked perfectly for a while and now get's that loud hissing thing so many broken wahs do!

You know: you stomp on it to turn it on and it does it wah wah thing, but hisses and crackles like crazy...very noisy!

Is that the oscilator going bad or a bad cap leaking DC or what?

It's an intermitant problem...at first it worked perfectly but now it's hissy as all get out when when I turn it on, tho it still wahs.

Thanks! Lew

 

[Bludave]

Re: Wah Wah repair tips:

Lew, sounds like it could be the pot. I have an old one from the Thomas organ Co., and am having similar problems. I plan on sending it to John who said he will be able to take care of it for me. In other situations I have opened up the pot and cleaned it up real well, and it has solve that hiss. Hope this helps. DS

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Wah Wah repair tips:

Thanks Dave! The pot is sealed but spraying the heck out of it with some contact cleaner seemed to get a little inside it and clear it up a little. It did help.

Still, I think there's something else up with this pedal. It's working perfectly right now, but there seems to be something loose or microphonic because all of a sudden it'll start hissing and yowling.

I can smack it :smack: and it'll stop the yowling.

What the heck...it was free!

I'll putz with it a bit more...maybe remove the pot and give it a good cleaning.

Lew

 

[proxy]

Re: Wah Wah repair tips:

sounds like a bad connection if thats the case. I would rewire everything coming off the circuit board. I think you could also buy a new pot for like 3 bucks, i wouldn't be surprised if most the problem is from the pot and wacking it makes me think something is falling into place so therefore something being loose.

 

[midnite_man]

Re: Wah Wah repair tips:

Lew, check the input/output jacks also. Wiggle the cables around a little when it's on to see if there might be something loose or grounding out there. I've experienced that problem with my Vox wah. I'm not sure it could be a bad pot if it stops hissing momentarily when you smack it. That sounds like a loose connection somewhere.
I swapped my original pot out when it went bad with a Dunlop Hot Potz II. They're completely sealed up to avoid dust getting in, and sound pretty good to me.
A new wah pot costs considerably more than $3. More like around $20 w/shipping.

 

[visinedrip]

Re: Wah Wah repair tips:

If you can't get it fixed maybe try pawning it and using the cash towards a new one.