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popping in wah frequency selector

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5/12/2000 5:02 AM

popping in wah frequency selector

wow... new forum... very nice aron!

anyway i have this problem thats been bugging me for the last 6 months.

i've modded my wah with a 6 way rotary switch (make before break type) to select capacitors wired up like in RG's technology of the Wah
I've put in 1M resistors over all the end of the caps to ground but i still get loud POPs.

i can't think of other ways to do it.

HELP!

5/13/2000 8:32 PM

Hi Edwin,

"I've put in 1M resistors over all the end of the caps to ground but i still get loud POPs."

That has the right intention but it's not the correct way to do it here. The best method is to connect the 1M resistors between consecutive contacts of the switch. You might want to add a further 1M resistor from the smallest cap (the switch side) to the common switch contact as well.

Tell us how it goes.

Regards
Rob

5/16/2000 4:16 AM
edwinT	thanks rob for your suggestion. i'll try it out tonight and let you know! cheers!

5/22/2000 4:54 AM
edwinT	hi rob, thanks for your help! its done! yippee! i did exactly what you've suggested and the pop is gone... almost... but is very much better. however i may have noticed some tonal change. maybe swapping the 1M with a higher resistance ones may help. This should be documented!

5/22/2000 8:42 AM

Hey no problems Edwin, thanks for posting the results.

I had a fairly close look at the effect of the resistors. You may very well hear a small difference when the wha is at the "low frequency" end of the pedal, virtually no change occurs at the mid to high end. Increasing the resistors to 3.3M to 4.7M will more or less stop this problem. Going too high may actually make those small clicks louder.

Interestingly enough, the resistors actually smooth out the radical Q variations of the original unit - some people may actually prefer it! Despite ones preferences, I would increase the added resistor values to keep the original tone, unless of course you prefer the new tone.

You can compare the effect of the resistors as follows: Choose a cap, say the original 10n, get a switch and switch the resistors that go each side of that cap in and out. This way you can hear the difference in a convenient manner.

I can think of a couple of other ways to do it, all have their little quirks and one way needs another cap (1UF or so).

Regards
Rob

5/23/2000 4:53 AM
edwinT	thanks for the further info rob. I'll definitely try out the higher resistance to see if it makes a better difference. cheers!

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