Build Your Own Clone Message Board

Hello everbody.

I got a envelope/fixed wah kit as a present sometime ago. ive got the pedal up and working but im not sure if its working properly.

Its gonna be real hard to explain the problem as im from Sweden but ill make a try.

All buttons work and i can change the parameters with the buttons. But it feels to me that somethings wrong..
It seems to have a kind of gate/limiter function and if i pluck the guitar/bass strings at a "normal" speed the "quack" dont have the time to "return" and it just sounds thin. It just seems to in reverse or something

The bypass work.
The led light works.

Have you tried adjusting the SENSITIVITY knob? That sets how much the filter will open in response to picking strength. It sounds like you have the SENS up too far...

You saying that we swedes cannot talk engelska eller?
Var i sverige är du, om du inte får den att funka kan jag ta en titt på den, om du vill förstås!

_________________

Yup - that is normal. The pedal responds to note volume. To get an obvious wah wah effect on every note you have to play quite cleanly and damp the notes when you want a big wah on the next note. If you thrash away and let all the notes run together the filter opens up but never gets a chance to close.

You have to get used to how the knobs affect the sound. The 'Range' knob (really its filter Q) makes the filter sharper so if you turn that to maximum it will sound thinner when the filter is open - set that knob to half way (12 o'clock). The Attack and Sensitivity knobs interact - when you turn up the Attack you need to increase the Sensitivity a little. For a normal wah set the Attack to around one third (9 o'clock). The Sensitivity knob will probably need to be between half way and two thirds (maybe 3 o'clock). If the wah opens up too far and stays thin, turn the Sensitivity down a bit.

If you ever use the Manual control knob I'd recommend changing it for an anti-log 100K (C100Klog). The kit ships with the wrong type of pot and as a result the Manual knob does nothing until just past half way, then all the control happens very quickly. As it is it is more of an on / off control and is pretty useless. You might also want to increase R16 10K to 22K to move the manual range down a bit.

Thanks for the advice everybody!

I have a ehx qtron and i probably got spoiled with the easy use of that one.

For me, playing bass, it seems the pedal drops a bit i volume regardless of the three knobs positions. I seem to get highest volume when the envelop is closing, Like a big WOOOOHHH

I will have a hard time using this in a band, i belive.
A blend function would do this pedal good in my opinion

Ok, thanks again!

Aaaah .. bass ... right. Not sure how well that pedal will work with a bass. If you have an electric guitar it might be worth trying the pedal out with that and just getting used to it. Although the filter has a wide sweep it may not be 'centered' for bass, also you may be loosing some low end if the input and output coupling caps aren't big enough. And the envelope time constant may not be the best for bass. You get the volume boost as the filter sweeps down because it is, after all, a resonant filter. Turning the 'Range' knob (filter Q or resonance is a better description of that control) will reduce the prominence of the WOOOH.

You will of course need to have the bass set for a more treble 'solo' voicing. It may just be that you need to get used to dialling this pedal in - the sensitivity knob can need a bit of fine adjustment.

Using a compressor in front of the Envelope Filter can help reduce its sensitivity and gives a slightly different character.

Personally I really like this pedal because it is so touch responsive and dynamic, but it is true that the filter can easily open right the way up and produce this quite treble thin sound on sustained notes. This can sound OK on a guitar but I guess it wouldn't work so well with a bass.

Thanks for the reply!

The investigation will proceed...