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Post subject: Crybaby Wah Mods
Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 12:49 am
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Roadie
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I have done several mods to my crybaby pedal, I was wondering if anybody had any other mods to suggest, I have a red and yellow fasel installed to a DPDT 3 way mini toggle, in the center position there is no inductor active and the pedal functions almost as a volume pedal, more of a swell pedal as the volume doesnt drop completely in the heel position, I have a 100k linear potentiometer wired to the q resistor, I have 3 variable resistors installed on the board, a 470ohm on the bass/gain resitor. a 4.7k on the midrange, and a 100k on the input gain, I also have removed the buffer and installed a 3PDT with an LED and true bypass, I have a 6 way rotary switch connected to the sweep cap with a .22uf, a .068uf, .033uf, .022uf, .015uf. and the stock .01uf, this gives a wide range of sweep possibilities, I am waiting on a 100k ICAR taper pot, Not sure what this will do yet,. Just thought I wanted to try it, I think I have covered most of the bases with these mods, I can't think of much else to do, I might want to try a whipple inductor at some point because there isn't really any audible difference between the red and yellow fasel inductors, any tips would be helpful Image


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Post subject: Re: Crybaby Wah Mods
Posted: Sun Dec 29, 2013 7:30 pm
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I have an old Thomas Organ Cry Baby. I did the true bypass mod and I also replaced the switched input jack with a nonswitched jack and I installed a mini toggle switch under pedal to turn off the battery.

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Post subject: Re: Crybaby Wah Mods
Posted: Sun Dec 29, 2013 7:58 pm
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orvilleowner wrote:
I have an old Thomas Organ Cry Baby. I did the true bypass mod and I also replaced the switched input jack with a nonswitched jack and I installed a mini toggle switch under pedal to turn off the battery.
I'm not familiar with the old Thomas pedals, a toggle to switch off the battery ? does your pedal drain the battery even when all the cables are disconnected ? I did come across one other mod for my pedal, I installed a 5k potentiometer in series with the ground lug of the wah pot to fine tune the toe down treble frequency, I am looking to make this pedal as versatile as possible, myabe at some point I could install a fuzz circuit somewhere in there to make it a fuzz wah, I installed the ICAR taper pot and was a lil disappointed, the sweep was weakened by the ICAR so I put the original pot back in, the rotary witch with the 6 different sweep caps is nice, it's like having 6 wahs in one,


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Post subject: Re: Crybaby Wah Mods
Posted: Sun Dec 29, 2013 8:22 pm
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Kreature wrote:
does your pedal drain the battery even when all the cables are disconnected ?


No, it wouldn't drain, but I didn't want to have to disconnect the cables to avoid battery drain.

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Post subject: Re: Crybaby Wah Mods
Posted: Sun Dec 29, 2013 10:31 pm
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orvilleowner wrote:
No, it wouldn't drain, but I didn't want to have to disconnect the cables to avoid battery drain.
I see, well there is another way to do that, if you added an LED indicator it would let you know when the pedal is active or not, it is only draining your better when the effect is on, I got bored earlier tonight and added another mini toggle to wire in the stock inductor as a 3rd option, with one pole free I could install a 4th inductor but that seems like overkill at this point, The red and the yellow fasel sound exactly the same, there is no difference at all (at least the ones I have sound identical which is a bummer) still I have them both wired in, so I have the option of 3 inductors to choose from, and the additional option of running either Fasel in parallel with the stock inductor, it gives a thinner sound (less bass response) I tried wiring the 2 Fasels in series but i didn't like the results,. at this point I'm not sure what else would be of any benefit as far as mods, I guess I need to look for another project, in addition to guitar I enjoy soldering and rigging up electronics, I actually have cell phone (lithium ion batteries) powering all my effects pedals, 3 cell phone batteries wired in series comes close to 9v, a lil underpowered but they all work just fine, charging these home made battery packs can be a lil tricky because if they get overcharged they will burst into flames, I have been using these for several years and haven't had any problems, but at the same time I would not recommend doing this because it can be dangerous


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Post subject: Re: Crybaby Wah Mods
Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2013 6:26 am
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Where is the advantage of using 3 underpowered lipos over a single 9v? I use lipo batteries in an airsoft gun, and you're right if you don't know what you're doing much damage can be caused.

I've got a danelectro trip-l-wah which has 3 wah frequencies built in as stock. I love it, meant I could always get the right sound regardless of which guitar I was using. Using the treble wah setting meant I could make a neck humbucker sound like a tele Bridge pup with the wah on.

And it looks like a zebra print 50's caddie.


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Post subject: Re: Crybaby Wah Mods
Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2013 7:23 am
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I'm using lithium ion batteries, not lithium polymer, lipo batteries are easier to catch fire than li-ion, but both can be dangerous, but thats besides the point, the advantage is that I have not had to buy a single battery in 4 years, they are slightly underpowering the pedal but there is no difference in tone, it sounds the same if I use a 9v battery. I don't know much about danelectro pedals, but I am quite happy with the results I have achieved with these mods, I have 6 different sweep cap values on a rotary switch, a fine tune knob on the treble or toe down part of the sweep, and 3 inductors, I haven't done the exact math but I am guessing that I have at least 20 different wah options between all the mods, really I enjoy the modding of the pedal more than anything, I am a recreational guitarist, I do not play for anything other than my own enjoyment, and I rather enjoy tinkering with small electronic devices, nothing with enough amps and voltage to hurt myself, all these mods were not necessary but I am enjoying the process of making this particular pedal as versatile as possible, then when I get bored of it I suppose I will move on to something a lil more difficult, at some point I would like to learn to design my own effects circuits


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Post subject: Re: Crybaby Wah Mods
Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2013 9:30 am
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Kreature wrote:
I'm using lithium ion batteries, not lithium polymer, lipo batteries are easier to catch fire than li-ion, but both can be dangerous, but thats besides the point


It's also misinformed. Lithium Polymer is just one variety of Lithium-Ion. It is a Lithium-Ion mixed with polymers (plastic). The main advantage that it can be molded into shapes that a non-polymer Li-Ion battery can't.
It's not uncommon to see Lithium Polymer batteries marked as Li-Ion, as they are, in fact, Lithium-Ion batteries.

As for which one is more dangerous, the polymer ones can be molded into shapes that make them more likely to overheat and catch fire in the first place. But if both types ignite, the non-polymer one will have a more violent reaction - there's less inert material to slow the chain reaction.

Speaking of Lithium-Ion batteries and pedals...
The problem I have with pedals like the Red Witch series which uses Lithium Ion batteries, is that they use proprietary batteries. It's consumerism at its worst - the life span is only a couple of years, and you have to buy replacement batteries from one company. What if the pedal dies while touring? Or the company goes belly up? You'd have to replace an otherwise working product to buy a new one. No thanks, it won't happen, no matter how good the pedals otherwise are. If it won't last, I won't buy it. Those that take standard 9Vs, I know I will be able to get batteries for even 30 years down the road.


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Post subject: Re: Crybaby Wah Mods
Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2013 9:51 am
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arth1 wrote:
It's also misinformed. Lithium Polymer is just one variety of Lithium-Ion. It is a Lithium-Ion mixed with polymers (plastic). The main advantage that it can be molded into shapes that a non-polymer Li-Ion battery can't.
It's not uncommon to see Lithium Polymer batteries marked as Li-Ion, as they are, in fact, Lithium-Ion batteries.

As for which one is more dangerous, the polymer ones can be molded into shapes that make them more likely to overheat and catch fire in the first place. But if both types ignite, the non-polymer one will have a more violent reaction - there's less inert material to slow the chain reaction.
Ok well I stand corrected, anyway I wasn't speaking of lithium ion in a proprietary pedal design sense, I have several old cell phone batteries and several cells from a laptop battery, I wire them together in series wrap em up in electrical tape and install a 9v battery clip, they clip in just like a regular 9v battery would, I have a charger that I use to charge them that also uses a 9v battery clip, I charge them slowly and monitor the voltage via a digital multimeter as to not over charge them. I leave them on charge about 30 minutes and then let them rest for about an hour then put them back on charge another 30 minutes and repeat until they are charged fully to prevent overheating. this has been working well for over 4 years, another thing I might add is if you have a pedal that uses a special battery and can no longer obtain that battery all you would need is the correct voltage and do a lil mod on the pedal. find the + and the common for the power input and wire a battery clip directly to the board to power said pedal, I have a digitech rp80 that I got at a pawn shop for 15$ it's not the best pedal out there but it was well worth $15, it uses 6 AA batteries, and it eats through them fast, for this pedal I installed a lithium ion battery pack to a 9v battery clip, installed a toggle switch that breaks the + connection to the board and another 9v battery clip to complete the circuit, the 2 battery clips come together in the battery compartment and make for easy charging and the battery pack lasts a good week or more with moderate use, I never claim to be an expert, I just like rigging things up, I am aware of the dangers and as I said before I do not recommend anybody do these types of things, thus far I have been lucky and haven't had a battery catch fire, but it very well could happen, and it could turn out badly, I am aware


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Post subject: Re: Crybaby Wah Mods
Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2013 12:14 pm
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The mods you made, Kreature, are making me want to buy a new wah to try some of them out. The rotary switch mod looks cool. Would you still use that range of caps?

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Post subject: Re: Crybaby Wah Mods
Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2013 12:39 pm
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Kreature wrote:
arth1 wrote:
It's also misinformed. Lithium Polymer is just one variety of Lithium-Ion. It is a Lithium-Ion mixed with polymers (plastic). The main advantage that it can be molded into shapes that a non-polymer Li-Ion battery can't.
It's not uncommon to see Lithium Polymer batteries marked as Li-Ion, as they are, in fact, Lithium-Ion batteries.

As for which one is more dangerous, the polymer ones can be molded into shapes that make them more likely to overheat and catch fire in the first place. But if both types ignite, the non-polymer one will have a more violent reaction - there's less inert material to slow the chain reaction.
Ok well I stand corrected, anyway I wasn't speaking of lithium ion in a proprietary pedal design sense, I have several old cell phone batteries and several cells from a laptop battery, I wire them together in series wrap em up in electrical tape and install a 9v battery clip, they clip in just like a regular 9v battery would, I have a charger that I use to charge them that also uses a 9v battery clip, I charge them slowly and monitor the voltage via a digital multimeter as to not over charge them. I leave them on charge about 30 minutes and then let them rest for about an hour then put them back on charge another 30 minutes and repeat until they are charged fully to prevent overheating. this has been working well for over 4 years, another thing I might add is if you have a pedal that uses a special battery and can no longer obtain that battery all you would need is the correct voltage and do a lil mod on the pedal. find the + and the common for the power input and wire a battery clip directly to the board to power said pedal, I have a digitech rp80 that I got at a pawn shop for 15$ it's not the best pedal out there but it was well worth $15, it uses 6 AA batteries, and it eats through them fast, for this pedal I installed a lithium ion battery pack to a 9v battery clip, installed a toggle switch that breaks the + connection to the board and another 9v battery clip to complete the circuit, the 2 battery clips come together in the battery compartment and make for easy charging and the battery pack lasts a good week or more with moderate use, I never claim to be an expert, I just like rigging things up, I am aware of the dangers and as I said before I do not recommend anybody do these types of things, thus far I have been lucky and haven't had a battery catch fire, but it very well could happen, and it could turn out badly, I am aware

Why not just use rechargeable 9v lithium batt. The pick at top post looks like a 9v batt installed. Plug in unplug test plug in , unplug test :shock: why? Maybe reading wrong!

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Post subject: Re: Crybaby Wah Mods
Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2013 5:35 pm
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cvilleira wrote:
Why not just use rechargeable 9v lithium batt. The pick at top post looks like a 9v batt installed. Plug in unplug test plug in , unplug test :shock: why? Maybe reading wrong!
you are correct about the battery in the picture being a 9v battery, it's a 9v Energizer rechargable, I use it as well, just doesn't last as long between recharging,


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Post subject: Re: Crybaby Wah Mods
Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2013 5:42 pm
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orvilleowner wrote:
The mods you made, Kreature, are making me want to buy a new wah to try some of them out. The rotary switch mod looks cool. Would you still use that range of caps?
those are just the caps I had readily available, I took apart an old 9 inch color TV from 1987 and took all the caps and resistors off the board, it was worth more in parts than the 5$ I paid for it at a thrift store, the .22uf is very dark almost unusable except for a heavily distorted growling effect, only useful in some situations, I tend to use the .01 or the .022uf the most, the .068 works great for bass guitar, I could probably find more useful values at some point, and it's pretty easy to swap them out, I'm always experimenting, a friend of mine gave me the pedal for free because he didn't like that it was a tone sucker when in bypass mode, I have been using it alot more since I did the mods, cause I didn't really care for it in stock form either, I say go for it, it's a fun hobby and has kept me entertained for the last couple weeks, still I think there has to be something else I can do to this pedal, suggestions are still welcome


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Post subject: Re: Crybaby Wah Mods
Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2013 7:28 pm
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Kreature wrote:
cvilleira wrote:
Why not just use rechargeable 9v lithium batt. The pick at top post looks like a 9v batt installed. Plug in unplug test plug in , unplug test :shock: why? Maybe reading wrong!
you are correct about the battery in the picture being a 9v battery, it's a 9v Energizer rechargable, I use it as well, just doesn't last as long between recharging,


I tried the Energizer batteries (sold at CVS), but found them rather lacking. Same with their AAs and AAAs - they just don't last very long, and get super-hot when charging, to the point that I worry.
Their alkalines are great, but the rechargeables, not so much. They forgot to add the bunny juice, I think.

I now use some Powerex (Maha) NiMh 9.6V batteries, and I'm impressed with how well they last. Of course, being NiMh, every few months I have to do a full discharge/recharge cycle which takes a full day(!), but otherwise they work pretty well. It's the only rechargeable battery I've found that can drive my TC Rottweiler overdrive pedal for more than an hour.


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Post subject: Re: Crybaby Wah Mods
Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2013 9:46 pm
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arth1 wrote:
They forgot to add the bunny juice, I think.
haha good one, I agree, the energizer rechargable does not last long. seems to drain even faster after I added an LED to my pedal, anyway does anybody have any thoughts on Carbon Comp vs. Metal Film Resistors ? I read somewhere that Metal Film is supposed to be a cleaner sound, I'm not sure I can hear any difference but since I have a whole bunch of metal film resistors I switched all the resistors in my wah pedal to metal film, I forgot to make audio clips before and after to A/B them, but it seems to work just the same so I think I'll just leave the metal film resistors in there.


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