Wah clipping issue ( RMC3)

Started by Helping Friendly, November 24, 2013, 02:38:50 PM

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Helping Friendly

Hey dudes,
So after alot of time and tweaking I have got my wah sounding perfect except for a slight clipping issue when I dig into the strings. I have been through alot with this wah including inductor swaps and pot swaps. I installed the whipple inductor which was nice but in the end I went back to teese's inductor. The worst thing about the "current" RMC3 FL's is the pot. Mr. Teese is actually not 100% happy with the current pots according to him. But please keep that info private. I sent the wah to him recently for a tune up and asked him to install an original HotPot 1. Long story short it did not fit by a hair so he installed one of his NOS icar pots and it made a world of difference. I then later, out of curiosity, filed down the opening to install the Hotpot and it is very similar to his NOS pot.  Both are a huge improvement. So I am currently running the wah at 16v which I think it sounds the best. My setting are in the pic below.

So my question is, is there anyway to get rid of the slight clipping I get when I lay into the strings? I know guys like Happy and Sour are pretty good with modifications and such. I just want the same impact I get from the wah but needs to be cleaned up a little. If post pics of the guts maybe someone can help? I don't know if there is and input and output buffer, but maybe eliminating one would help? Maybe a lower gain trannie? I'm certain something could be done to help with the clipping. Please help!

I can post sound clips if interested?

sour d

Not sure what you mean by "clipping" here. A sound clip or video would be cool.
Phiga bolt or Resurrection phishy hollowbody>bc rich emp 45 5 loop switcher. LOOP1: Emma discumbobulator>RMC joe walsh wah>'82 ts9>silver mod od9>ross compressor. LOOP2: add mid '80's proco rat LOOP3: add whammyII> digitech ex7. LOOP4: add microverb X2> dm2000> boomerang> digitech JML2. LOOP5: guitar into amp. '76 fender twin or a '64 fender deluxe

Happyorange27

Yep a sound clip please.  I'll assume you are actually getting some distortion when you say clipping.  Is it more of a problem when you play through an OD or distortion pedal too?  If this is the case then you want to probably increase the size of the input resistor.  68K isn't a bad place to start.  Swap with some other values until you get a good volume without to much clipping/distorting.  I don't like my wah to be too loud since it does put the TS-9s too hard sometimes.

Also there is a Q resistor, usually 33K.  This shapes the narrowness and height of your Q; your volume hump.  If your value is too high then you could have a high, narrow, thin hump.  Play with that if you want secondarily.

Inductors are very colorful too.  I actually don't use a whipple right now since I wanted a darker, mellower wah.

Whipple is coming out with a new pot that can withstand 1 million cycles.  It's a sweet pot indeed.  I just helped him design the gear for it.  The pot has a custom taper as well.  Keep an eye out for it.
A.O. Hollowbody>Whammy II>MC-404 CAE Wah>Polytune Mini>Whipple Baby Tooth Fuzz>TS9 early 80's>TS9 Analogman Silver>Bone Squeeze Compressor>Wilson Effects Haze Deluxe>Fish N Chips Eq>Flashback Delay>gigfx chopper>Jamman Stereo>Fender Blues Jr. III w/ Billm mods & Cannabis Rex

Helping Friendly

Yea, what I mean by clipping is distorting. I want a clean wah tone. I will get up some clips after the holiday as well. I have been talking to Dan over at Area51 electronics and he offers a "growl control mod" on his wahs. I actually might send it over to him to get a thorough inspection to see if anything can be done. I know it is impossible to completely eliminate "dirt" coming through when you have alot of "low end" dialed in on an inductor based circuit as I do, but we think there is a chance of a small improvement, which I am happy with even that. I will mos def keep you posted and get up some clips. This thing already sounds amazing as is so I can't wait to let you guys hear. May take a week long so be patent  ;)

Thanks for the advice Happy.. I will definitely look into all of your input!

fulltone1989

Don't want to come off sounding like a dink, but did you email Teese at all about it?
Guitars: Gibson ES-339 and LP studio w/ grovers and WCR Fillmores. Simon and Patrick Showcase Rosewood CW, PRS SE Semi Hollow w/ mods, modded Ibanez MC300NT
Amps: Groove Tubes Soul-O 45, Fuchs ODS 50 mod - EVM12L, Emi RW&B, and Weber Cali cabs
Ardx20 w/ Amaze0 in the loop.

TheSeeker

Hey friendly, don't mean to sabotage your post but I was just wondering if you ever got those picks?  I tried to pm you, but it send your inbox was full.
PRS SE Semi-Hollow>Korg Tuner>Whammy ii>TS-9 Silver>TS-9 Silver>Ross Compressor>Delay>Ditto>Microverb>CAE Black Cat Vibe>Fender HRD (Weber Blue Dog)