Dunlop - Cry Baby GCB-95: how to improve it for cheap

Bside2234 · Post by **Bside2234** » 21 Jul 2009, 19:54

The diode would be for the power supply.

devastator · Post by **devastator** » 21 Jul 2009, 21:12

yes, it is.

devastator · Post by **devastator** » 22 Jul 2009, 12:39

Well I think in a first time I'll change the caps for greenie and the transistors.

And after that, add trimpot to control mids, Q, gain and maybe a roto switch to change the wah sound.

CHEEZOR · Post by **CHEEZOR** » 23 Jul 2009, 06:25

After reading this whole post from beginning to end I thought I would throw out my 2 cents...

I was really interested in modding my wah pedal about a year or two ago. Thats what got me into modding pedals actually. I started with buying the Whipple inductor after hearing the awesome demo on youtube and reading all the reviews and doing tons of internet research. When I got it I hooked it up to an otherwise stock crybaby and put a switch to change between the stock inductor and the Whipple. I heard absolutely NO difference. I was very suprised that some of you think so highly of it... Maybe there is something different with my wah than yours... I own a bunch of Vox and Dunlop wahs and I have modded a few of them since the first one. I left the Whipple in that first wah because I paid $20 bucks for it. lol But some of the other wahs that I have modded sound just as good and some sound better. (Which is weird since the parts should all be the same.)

Long story short: I dont think that the inductor has a huge affect on the tone. The biggest difference I noticed was changing the sweep cap. I do that and change a few resistors and the pedal sounds pretty good. I still am planning on trying different transistors someday. Another example of no difference in sound between inductors I have is when I tried A/Bing my Thomas Organ with the "stack of dimes" inductor vs a Thomas Organ with the TDK inductor. I heard absolutely no difference. (Both pedals were stock.) The owner later had me mod his Thomas Organ because he liked the sound of the mods I had done to my GCB-95.

My advice for people modding this pedal for the first time: Try all the CHEAP mods first! Then if you still arent satisfied, move on the more expensive parts...

This is just my opinion of what I heard. But I doubt even those who heard a difference will disagree that the inexpensive parts (resistors and capacitors - have yet to try transistors) make the biggest change in overall tone. So try those first!

Good Luck to all the people about to mod their pedal and thanks to everyone who has contributed to this post!

Bside2234 · Post by **Bside2234** » 23 Jul 2009, 14:43

Really? No difference in inductors? I had a crybaby that I put a red, yellow, and stock in. All on their own switch and I could hear a difference between them and I can't hear the differences between a lot of things (too many years of playing without earplugs) like cables, caps, etc.

I wonder if an inconsistency in manufacturing has an affect on the difference people hear. They are supposed to be at 500mH but I have measured a lot of them far lower than that and far higher. I suppose if you had one that measured close to 400mH and threw one that was 500mH or higher in there, you would notice the difference. On that note, maybe if you had one that WAS 500mH and replaced it with one that was 500mH, the difference would be very subtle to none.

I do agree that the "cheaper" mods can make a bigger difference and I've noticed that once I've modified a few wah's, swapping out the inductor makes even less of a tonal change.

Paul Marossy · Post by **Paul Marossy** » 23 Jul 2009, 16:03

CHEEZOR wrote:After reading this whole post from beginning to end I thought I would throw out my 2 cents...
Long story short: I dont think that the inductor has a huge affect on the tone. The biggest difference I noticed was changing the sweep cap. I do that and change a few resistors and the pedal sounds pretty good. I still am planning on trying different transistors someday. Another example of no difference in sound between inductors I have is when I tried A/Bing my Thomas Organ with the "stack of dimes" inductor vs a Thomas Organ with the TDK inductor. I heard absolutely no difference. (Both pedals were stock.) The owner later had me mod his Thomas Organ because he liked the sound of the mods I had done to my GCB-95.

My experience, too. The sweep cap has the biggest affect on things, IMO.

I know, I'm a heretic, but one of my best sounding wahs is my old Dunlop with the "dreaded" TDK5103 inductor in it - the one everyone says sounds like crap sounds very good. At least this one I have does.

I think in the older wahs the variability between components in terms of tolerances affects the tone the most. For some of them, everything comes together, and for others it just doesn't.

The only thing the inductor does in a wah circuit is to make it a resonant circuit. I still maintain that there's really no magic in the inductor itself.

diggum12 · Post by **diggum12** » 23 Jul 2009, 16:24

Well then here's my $.02 too. (What's that bring us up to today? $.08?

)

Anyway, I've found each and every wah is a balancing act. There's way more variance in two side by side from the same batch than meets the eye.

Certain things will impact the way an inductor sounds. With the stock GCB-95 buffer intact, all the inductors kinda sound the same to me. For Dunlop, that's a great thing because you have more consistency between pedals. I've found some of the stock Dunlop inductors can sound incredibly good, and identical ones sound awful. My advice on inductors is to ignore if they say Fasel, Whipple, or Dunlop, and just swap until you find the one you like.

That being said, that great sounding inductor in your newly modified Crybaby "A" will not necessarily sound great in Crybaby "B" because of tolerances, pot variables, etc.

I know the wah on my board now just had this awfully narrow sweet spot that went from "woof" to "whee" too easily. After tinkering with it for weeks, I gave up. Then I remembered an old broken wah that I loved the sweep on. Slapped that pot in (an identical Hot Potz II, btw) and voila! All that tinkering wasn't the issue after all, it was the pot!

So yeah, the simple mods are the best. It's the romance of finding the ones that work that causes your heartache.

No single wah mod is worthless. No single wah mod is the holy grail. They all *can* contribute to your liking, but they don't necessarily.

(I'm nearly done, really) IMHO, EVERY wah is about the users taste. Case in point: What's dunlop up to now? 18 models?

Paul Marossy · Post by **Paul Marossy** » 23 Jul 2009, 20:24

diggum12 wrote:Well then here's my $.02 too. (What's that bring us up to today? $.08? )

Anyway, I've found each and every wah is a balancing act. There's way more variance in two side by side from the same batch than meets the eye.

Certain things will impact the way an inductor sounds. With the stock GCB-95 buffer intact, all the inductors kinda sound the same to me. For Dunlop, that's a great thing because you have more consistency between pedals. I've found some of the stock Dunlop inductors can sound incredibly good, and identical ones sound awful. My advice on inductors is to ignore if they say Fasel, Whipple, or Dunlop, and just swap until you find the one you like.

That being said, that great sounding inductor in your newly modified Crybaby "A" will not necessarily sound great in Crybaby "B" because of tolerances, pot variables, etc.

I know the wah on my board now just had this awfully narrow sweet spot that went from "woof" to "whee" too easily. After tinkering with it for weeks, I gave up. Then I remembered an old broken wah that I loved the sweep on. Slapped that pot in (an identical Hot Potz II, btw) and voila! All that tinkering wasn't the issue after all, it was the pot!

So yeah, the simple mods are the best. It's the romance of finding the ones that work that causes your heartache.

No single wah mod is worthless. No single wah mod is the holy grail. They all *can* contribute to your liking, but they don't necessarily.

(I'm nearly done, really) IMHO, EVERY wah is about the users taste. Case in point: What's dunlop up to now? 18 models?

You hit the nail on the head, AFAIAC.

bbrunskill · Post by **bbrunskill** » 16 Aug 2009, 09:18

I have a old Dunlop that I've been fixing up. I installed a new Axis wah PCB and the only part left from the old crybaby is the inductor. It makes a nice thick wah sound, but the frequency doesn't change when I move the rocker. I've tested the pot (Small Bear) and it works. Any ideas where to look for a solution?

devastator · Post by **devastator** » 19 Aug 2009, 13:42

I modded mine. Sounds good but it's noisy in spite of mods. I changed the transistor for 2N3904 (I tried BC550C too) I've put trimpot for "mid" (2K5), Q (100K) and "gain" (500ohm at first transistor emetter).

Any idea to kill that noise ? ("hum" at bass posistion and "hiss" I treble)

I incorporated a jfet buffer like I read at "fuzzcentral.com" .

McElroy0717 · Post by **McElroy0717** » 27 Sep 2009, 09:36

Sorry if this is too easy but, How would I wire a switch to go between two inductors? I searched but didn't see anything.
Thanks!
-Rob

Bside2234 · Post by **Bside2234** » 27 Sep 2009, 14:59

McElroy0717 wrote:Sorry if this is too easy but, How would I wire a switch to go between two inductors? I searched but didn't see anything.
Thanks!
-Rob

Do you want them in parallel or series?

McElroy0717 · Post by **McElroy0717** » 27 Sep 2009, 17:30

Bside2234 wrote:
McElroy0717 wrote:Sorry if this is too easy but, How would I wire a switch to go between two inductors? I searched but didn't see anything.
Thanks!
-Rob
Do you want them in parallel or series?

I honestly have no idea. I like the Kelley mod where the yellow Fasel is the primary and the red is switched in and out. I believe parallel.
Thanks

Bside2234 · Post by **Bside2234** » 27 Sep 2009, 17:48

Put the Yellow fasel on the board where the stock inductor is. Run one wire from one leg or solder pad of the yellow inductor to one of the legs of the red fasel. Put the other leg of the red fasel to the outer lug of a spst switch. Run a wire from the middle lug of the switch to the other leg or solder pad of the yellow inductor.

Honestly, I have found that it doesn't matter too much what the second inductor on the switch is. I personally like the red better than the yellow so I would put the red on the board and just use the stock inductor for the one on the switch and not waste money on a second fasel.

McElroy0717 · Post by **McElroy0717** » 27 Sep 2009, 18:01

Fast response! Thanks very much!

monkmiles · Post by **monkmiles** » 04 Nov 2009, 18:34

I have a Crybaby GCB-96 that is already trued bypassed, has a Q voicing range knob, and a switch to change between two capacitors which affect the tone (more bass, regular).

I'm going to attempt two things to it and would like some opinions on both:

1) Replace the stock inductor with a fasal. Any recommendations/opinions between the red or yellow?

2) Replace the 33k resistor for the "vocal" mod. What resistor should I replace it with? 68k? 47k?

CHEEZOR · Post by **CHEEZOR** » 06 Nov 2009, 21:47

monkmiles wrote:I have a Crybaby GCB-96 that is already trued bypassed, has a Q voicing range knob, and a switch to change between two capacitors which affect the tone (more bass, regular).

I'm going to attempt two things to it and would like some opinions on both:

1) Replace the stock inductor with a fasal. Any recommendations/opinions between the red or yellow?

2) Replace the 33k resistor for the "vocal" mod. What resistor should I replace it with? 68k? 47k?

That probably depends on what kind of sound you want. Im sure people's opinions vary greatly.

Bside2234 · Post by **Bside2234** » 06 Nov 2009, 21:58

monkmiles wrote:
2) Replace the 33k resistor for the "vocal" mod. What resistor should I replace it with? 68k? 47k?

Why would you do the vocal mod when you already have a Q control that is an adjustable vocal mod?

monkmiles · Post by **monkmiles** » 06 Nov 2009, 22:09

Bside2234 wrote:
monkmiles wrote:
2) Replace the 33k resistor for the "vocal" mod. What resistor should I replace it with? 68k? 47k?
Why would you do the vocal mod when you already have a Q control that is an adjustable vocal mod?

Yea, nevermind that. I'm a pedal modding newbie!

I didn't realize the pot was attached there until I opened it up.

I did place an order for another pot...found out the one installed on it was only 50k, I'm trying a 250k like someone else here did with success. Then I'm also replacing the inductor to a yellow fasel. And update the caps to the switch to .01uf and .022uf. Not sure what's on the switch now, but it sounds too bassy so I'm guessing it was more than .022uf.

mugician · Post by **mugician** » 02 Dec 2009, 06:28

This is a great thread. Lots of nice info in here. For instance, I just learned that a hand-me-down wah from a guitarist friend of mine was made before 1990... DANG, my wah is old.