WaH wAh PeDaLs!

[guitargully]

Whats's inside a wah wah pedal? Last time i asked what was inside a foot switch i was answered with some surprisingly simple answers, and after a run to home depot and 2.65 for a switch, along with some scrap steel i had laying around, i saved 16 bucks on a foot switch to change the channel on my amp. And now i sorta want a wah wah pedal.. i have no idea whats inside one or how it works.. so any help would be appreciated. thanks.

[fender4]

I think most passive wahs are just a potentiometer and a tone control circuit. The motion of the foot pedal turns the pot and changes the tone.

I've never looked inside one, but I think that's it. Could be a pretty easy/fun project. There might some DIY guitar sites out there with schematics for a wah circuit...check with google.

Good luck!

f4

[Centauri]

The Waa sound is produced by sweeping a notch filter - this significantly cuts a small band of frequencies, and is much more savage than a tone control circuit. most commercial designs are quite simple, but do use an inductor which may take some sourcing. Have a look at http://www.musicianstechcentral.com/schmatic.html

Cheers

[tschrama]

http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folder...edl/wahped.htm

[Bunger Mulkin]

A wahwah 'sounds like' a bandpass filter, with a Q of around 2-5. Some are, some are resonant lowpass filters, and at least one was a parametric peak filter. What matters is the resonant peak sweeping up and down in frequency, and the amount of bass and/or treble that also leak through are a matter of taste. The 'classic' wah is a weird lowpass filter with an inductor (adds a little distortion and character) and a capacitance multiplier controlled by a pot.

There are oodles of schematics all over the internet, commercial devices and homebrew - google 'guitar effects schematics', for example. They all sound different.

[guitargully]

after looking at many schems from those links, it apears that most wah pedals and distortion circuts have transistors.. i'm pretty new to electronics, especially audio stuff, and was wondering how much transistors are (ones suitable for wah pedals and distortion circuts) and another noobie question: On a schem when there's a (example) "+9v" or "-9v".. does it matter how many watts the power source will supply.. (as long as theres enough..err.. is it possible to over power somthing?) Yea sorry.. i'm a noobie..

[crown300]

AIR, most wah-wahs (and other) pedels ran off a 9V battery that was inside the pedel. This in turn required very low curent levels, probally in the 10 to 20 mA range, or lower. Transistors were used as that was cheaper to maunfacture. This was long before low voltage op-amps - or even op-amps that were affordable.

[guitargully]

alright thanks, but how much are transistors.. just a broad price range would be good.. thanks

[Centauri]

In the range 20 to 50 cents each - certainly won't break the bank !

Cheers

[guitargully]

dah! sorry.. i was thinking they were closer to tube prices for w/e reason... yup that prooves it.. i'm a noob