Crybaby as volume pedal mod?

I want to open up my Crybaby (the old Hendrix model) and true bypass it and add an LED, I know those are pretty standard mods.

The one thing I'm also wondering about, that seems unlikely - is there a way to install a switch that would convert it to a volume pedal? I imagine the pot in there doesn't quite work in a way that this is possible, but does anyone see a way around that?

I ran into some info on this when I was modding my Crybaby for true bypass.

This isn't it (http://www.wah-wah.co.uk/index.html), but it addresses the issue. It sounds like it's not great news for you.

On the other hand, I prefer a volume pedal with a looser sweep though. The wah action on Crybabys is too stiff for the subtle control I'd like. It's fine for the stab-stab-stab wah action though.

I found this info , as mentioned, the wah will not feel the same as a dedicated volume pedal , Ernie Ball for example, and it may not have as long a sweep either, but it's an easy and reversable mod, and with some engineering you could have both wah and volume, (not at the same time)

Wah-Volume pedal mod
Lifting the earth connection of the 4.7µF capacitor will cancel the wah effect and leave you with a volume pedal. The '70s Jen Wah-Volume pedal switches in a 4K7 resistor and 0.22µF cap in series across the 0.01µF "sweep cap".


If you run a simple on/off switch (the kind you'd find in a very simple circuit) between the capacitor and the earth, you can toggle between volume and wah pedal- the only difficult bit would be in mounting the switch on the steel enclosure.

not to get too far OT, but i've been baffled as to why somebody (besides Morley) doesn't come out with a decent volume/wah ... i had one in the early '70s (Boomerang, maybe?) that worked pretty well given the trade-offs. i'm sure it would be considered a tone-sucker today, but maybe with true bypass ... ???

Yeah... my Vol/Wah was a Rogue... Talk about a Tone Sucker. I'd be interested to see a mock up schematic with a SPDT switch... hint... hint...

You know, it sounds like the problems with the Crybaby (other than the feel) are:

1. The sweep, which does not cover the full range of the pot, resulting in a volume pedal that would either be not fully on, or not fully off.
2. The volume mod seems to adversely affect the wah function.

Well, a 3PDT stomp switch could easily switch the leads of the pot from a full-on wah setup to a full-on volume setup, so that should take care of number 2. After that, it seems like it's just a matter of engineering the pedal to use the full sweep of the pot. Since Dunlop actually markets a volume pedal, it seems like this is entirely possible. If this is truly the case, then it seems like the way to go might be to build a wah into that volume pedal, which being that it shares a similar case with the wah, shouldn't be a problem.

Ben is right. Typical Wah's when converted have a sweep issue. Not enough room from heel to toe, or not a good swell, or too fast a change. My Ernie Ball has more range and a better taper for Volume pedal uses.

I had modded my Crybaby with a switch for Volume or Wah and instead changed it to a bass/guitar switch... it was just not that good of a Volume pedal.

As far as true bypass that is easy. Search Google for wah mods. If you want an LED that doesn't cause noise issues, you will need a 3PDT switch. If you just want true bypass without an LED a DPDT switch will work fine. You will need to remove the buffer, if yours has one.

As far as adding a Volume/Wah switch, it will simply lift the ground on one capacitor as mentions. A mini SPDT should do it.