What parts to upgrade wah pedal?

astrozombie

KatyPerryologist
Here's what I'm thinking so far: jacks, switch and inductor.

I'm getting some a switchcraft jacks. These should be mono right?

I'm getting a true bypass switch. Any brand recommended?

I'm leaning towards a more "classic" vox wah sound. I understand that these used the red fasel inductors. Any info on this?

Thanks again!


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Re: What parts to upgrade wah pedal?

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Re: What parts to upgrade wah pedal?

I'm getting some a switchcraft jacks. These should be mono right?

You'll want to look at what you are replacing. A lot of pedals use a stereo jack for switching power in a clever arrangement that depends on a mono cable shorting the ring and sleeve when inserted into a stereo jack.
 
Re: What parts to upgrade wah pedal?

What are you trying to accomplish with your upgrades?

I like the vox 847 sound but want the pedal to be a little higher performance. The true bypass switch would clear up my tone a bit, the inductor would give me a more classic sound and the jacks are more reliable.


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Re: What parts to upgrade wah pedal?

The stock jacks are not problematic, true bypass might be worth it, and depending on the inductor, you may be barking up the wrong tree. You need to know exactly what sound you really want out of it. Just upgrading stuff for the sake of upgrading might never end.
 
Re: What parts to upgrade wah pedal?

You'd need one stereo jack and one mono jack. The stereo is for the instrument side, so that the battery isn't being used until a mono phone jack (a.k.a most guitar cables) is inserted which connects the ring to the sleeve; i.e. completing the circuit for the battery.

Red or yellow Fasel inductors are generally the most popular and associated with being "classic". You can do a Google search yourself for information on the "Red vs. Yellow" inductor.

Almost any 3PDT stomp switch you find will ultimately come from the same factory (or factories) in China. StewMac, while expensive, usually is reliable when it comes to quality control on such switches. Or you could just get a cheaper lot on eBay but get a few switches and test for the most solid switch.

Now that you have your answer, I'm going to share my opinion and say you're stressing over little things that don't really matter all that much. I consider Vox wahs to be solid units straight out of the box, true bypass isn't all that it is made out to be, and the different inductors are more of a minor wah feel/response attribute than an overall sound attribute. I'd only suggest modifying the wah if you actually want significant changes such as a different Q factor or wah frequency peak range. If it is a newer wah anyways, the buffer is actually helpful and true bypass is unnecessary unless you're running it into a fuzz pedal or you want an LED light for the wah. If you still want to make these changes, then by all means proceed.

EDIT: Also, actually check inside your wah to see what is actually in there. Vox and Dunlop have made so many changes to their wahs over the years that it is best to see what you have before even buying any parts. For example, when I bought my standard Dunlop Crybaby it came stock with a red Fasel inductor. Quite a few people had actually bought wahs, wanted to upgrade them after reading that they HAD to have a red Fasel inductor and became unhappy with their wah, only to buy a new inductor, open their wah, and find out their wah already had the red Fasel inductor all along! I think a lot of it is the placebo effect, and we get so caught up with tone-chasers on internet forums that we forget to just use whatever gear we have to its full potential.
 
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Re: What parts to upgrade wah pedal?

You'd need one stereo jack and one mono jack. The stereo is for the instrument side, so that the battery isn't being used until a mono phone jack (a.k.a most guitar cables) is inserted which connects the ring to the sleeve; i.e. completing the circuit for the battery.

Red or yellow Fasel inductors are generally the most popular and associated with being "classic". You can do a Google search yourself for information on the "Red vs. Yellow" inductor.

Almost any 3PDT stomp switch you find will ultimately come from the same factory (or factories) in China. StewMac, while expensive, usually is reliable when it comes to quality control on such switches. Or you could just get a cheaper lot on eBay but get a few switches and test for the most solid switch.

Now that you have your answer, I'm going to share my opinion and say you're stressing over little things that don't really matter all that much. I consider Vox wahs to be solid units straight out of the box, true bypass isn't all that it is made out to be, and the different inductors are more of a minor wah feel/response attribute than an overall sound attribute. I'd only suggest modifying the wah if you actually want significant changes such as a different Q factor or wah frequency peak range. If it is a newer wah anyways, the buffer is actually helpful and true bypass is unnecessary unless you're running it into a fuzz pedal or you want an LED light for the wah. If you still want to make these changes, then by all means proceed.

EDIT: Also, actually check inside your wah to see what is actually in there. Vox and Dunlop have made so many changes to their wahs over the years that it is best to see what you have before even buying any parts. For example, when I bought my standard Dunlop Crybaby it came stock with a red Fasel inductor. Quite a few people had actually bought wahs, wanted to upgrade them after reading that they HAD to have a red Fasel inductor and became unhappy with their wah, only to buy a new inductor, open their wah, and find out their wah already had the red Fasel inductor all along! I think a lot of it is the placebo effect, and we get so caught up with tone-chasers on internet forums that we forget to just use whatever gear we have to its full potential.

I get you.

I opened it up... No fasel inductor in sight. Just a VOX one. I do use a fuzz pedal, right now I have a good buffer on my board.

Right now there are a couple of pedals on my board:

Fuzz face, vox 847 wah, phase 90, long DT-10 tuner.

I bought the dt10 because of its fantastic buffer. It's a great tuner that is built very solid and is top quality.

I used to have a hall of fame that I sold and forgot that I was using as a buffer at the end of my effects chain. As a result is only have the korg and wah acting as buffers, neither is the first in the chain because i need to plug straight into the fuzz face.

So this is the chain: fuzz, tuner, wah, phase.

I figure I could put the tuner at the end and take advantage of the buffer that way, but it still leaves me scratching my head when it comes to the wah's buffer and my next pedal, the tube screamer.



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Re: What parts to upgrade wah pedal?

IMO, you need to go loopy.

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Re: What parts to upgrade wah pedal?

this is kind of overkill. I just need an unbuffered signal going into my fuzz face.

I have an old big muff lying around. I'm going to salvage the parts from that.

Don't ruin a good pedal to do these modifications. The total sum of parts cannot possibly be more than $1 if you have a decent electronic components store around you. Take apart broken speakers etc before taking apart working pedals.
 
Re: What parts to upgrade wah pedal?

Don't ruin a good pedal to do these modifications. The total sum of parts cannot possibly be more than $1 if you have a decent electronic components store around you. Take apart broken speakers etc before taking apart working pedals.

I'm replacing the inductor and the switch. I bought a red fasel.

It's a simple soldering job. It'll turn out great.


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Re: What parts to upgrade wah pedal?

Don't ruin a good pedal to do these modifications. The total sum of parts cannot possibly be more than $1 if you have a decent electronic components store around you. Take apart broken speakers etc before taking apart working pedals.

I'm sorry I misunderstood. The big muff doesn't work. I lent it to a friend who fried it by mistake.


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Re: What parts to upgrade wah pedal?

Oh, that makes more sense. Once you're done with the wah pedal, upgrade the friend next. :D

No, it wasn't his fault, he had it on his board and he used to TREASURE that pedalboard. It just stopped working. I opened it up and replaced a few non-major components but it never worked again. I think it burned out somehow.
 
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