Baba
04-12-2004, 06:15 AM
Disclaimer: I have no affiliation whatsoever with the maker of this product or the company itself, other than I named a past band "Area 51"!
So, lately, I had been dissapointed with the sound of my Original crybaby wah. I installed a DPDT switch, and while I was really happy with the 'true bypass' aspect of the pedal, the actual wah sound didn't floor me (pun intended). I had asked around TGP for opinions, and the Teese and Fulltone wahs got alot of nods, but since I only use the pedal 2-3 times a night, I couldn't see spending that kind of money for a 'novelty' effect, the guitar and amp are most important to me.
So I went on ebay to look for used Fulltone and/or Teese wahs and came across an auction entered by this company:
Area 51 Tube Audio Designs (http://www.area51tubeaudiodesigns.com/index.htm)
Check out the site and read all about the 'Vintage Italian Wah Kit'. I'm not a pro at soldering/wiring, so I sent my crybaby to him to install the kit for me, and got it back quickly. He communicated very well, and was real excited to hear my opinion on it when I got it back.
Saturday night was the first gig with it. It's great! One of the cool things is that he uses switchcraft jacks, and they're mounted to the chassis, not the PCB. The kit also has the famed 'Fasel Inductor' (I don't even know what that is), and a DPDT switch. Whatever is in there, it sounds damn good. As he put it on his site, very 'vocal'. The crybaby stock seemed to just 'hint' at the wah sound, mine now really gives you the wah, kind of makes my mouth move when I use it. It's got that 'growl', and doesn't drop in db's when in use. Of course, while warming up, I just HAD to try a little Voodoo Chile! That's about as close as I can describe the tone of this pedal now, just think of that song, and to my ears, it's right there. I love it.
I have never used a Teese or a Fulltone, so I can't compare it to one of those, but as a less expensive alternative (if you already have a stock one), you can make an ordinary Dunlop/Vox wah sound REALLY good with this kit.
So, lately, I had been dissapointed with the sound of my Original crybaby wah. I installed a DPDT switch, and while I was really happy with the 'true bypass' aspect of the pedal, the actual wah sound didn't floor me (pun intended). I had asked around TGP for opinions, and the Teese and Fulltone wahs got alot of nods, but since I only use the pedal 2-3 times a night, I couldn't see spending that kind of money for a 'novelty' effect, the guitar and amp are most important to me.
So I went on ebay to look for used Fulltone and/or Teese wahs and came across an auction entered by this company:
Area 51 Tube Audio Designs (http://www.area51tubeaudiodesigns.com/index.htm)
Check out the site and read all about the 'Vintage Italian Wah Kit'. I'm not a pro at soldering/wiring, so I sent my crybaby to him to install the kit for me, and got it back quickly. He communicated very well, and was real excited to hear my opinion on it when I got it back.
Saturday night was the first gig with it. It's great! One of the cool things is that he uses switchcraft jacks, and they're mounted to the chassis, not the PCB. The kit also has the famed 'Fasel Inductor' (I don't even know what that is), and a DPDT switch. Whatever is in there, it sounds damn good. As he put it on his site, very 'vocal'. The crybaby stock seemed to just 'hint' at the wah sound, mine now really gives you the wah, kind of makes my mouth move when I use it. It's got that 'growl', and doesn't drop in db's when in use. Of course, while warming up, I just HAD to try a little Voodoo Chile! That's about as close as I can describe the tone of this pedal now, just think of that song, and to my ears, it's right there. I love it.
I have never used a Teese or a Fulltone, so I can't compare it to one of those, but as a less expensive alternative (if you already have a stock one), you can make an ordinary Dunlop/Vox wah sound REALLY good with this kit.