CAE MC404 Wah factory trim pot settings

  • Thread starter Thread starter Frehley12
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Frehley12

Frehley12

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I picked up one used and would like to see a pic of the factory trim pot settings. Thanks!
 
I had a quick look online and found this photo.

I think where the black marker is, is where the original settings were.
 

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I love this wah so much that I bought a new one also for another pedal board. I adjusted the used one to match the new one. I'll have to open it up and see how it compares to the pics above. Thanks!

Also the newer ones do not have the white rubber gasket around the bottom plate. I wonder why?
 

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I love mine. Have you guys messed with the settings yet?
 
Frehley12 said:
New? Are the pots same as my pic posted
Click to expand...
Not new. But about a year old. The individual I bought it from did not use it much. He bought it new. The on / off switch is still completely stiff and not broken in.

I asked him if he adjusted the internal trim pots and he did not know they existed. So I believe they are as they came from the factory.

Not sure if the same as your photo ? There is no direction pointer on the pots in my pedal.
I marked mine with a permanent marker pointing strait up. So I can go back to where it started.

I did notice the gain trim pot was completely off / zero. The two q were about 1/3 the rotation from off.

It is different than your photo. Next time I open it I will post a photo.

Different from the diagram I posted that came from Dunlop.
 
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JackBootedThug said:
I love mine. Have you guys messed with the settings yet?
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Not yet internal.
What about you ?

I have a 535q that I picked up in the late 1990's. I still mess with the settings on it every time I use it. Different rigs / different sound I am after at the time.

The boost knob at least with my Les Paul I liked a 9/11/2 o'clock. 11 o'clock was my favorite. Works great for pushing the sound into a fatter throaty voice. Smooths out the feel.

As for the Red / Yellow.... Both sound different than my 535q and like all three sounds. Red is really nice with the saturated stuff. Yellow with its wider more vintage voice is more what I am familiar with.

Really versatile and easy to use.
 
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stephen sawall said:
Not yet internal.
What about you ?

I have a 535 q that I picked up in the late 1990's. I still mess with the settings on it every time I use it. Different rigs / different sound I am after at the time.

The boost knob at least with my Les Paul I liked a 9/11/2 o'clock. 11 o'clock was my favorite. Works great for pushing the sound into a fatter throaty voice. Smooths out the feel.

As for the Red / Yellow.... Both sound different than my 535q and like all three sounds. Red is really nice with the saturated stuff. Yellow with its wider more vintage voice is more what I am familiar with.

Really versatile and easy to use.
Click to expand...
Yes the internals…once again I fail at digital communication…lol
 
The main thing I like about this wah is its quiet. On or off. Does not affect my signal negatively at all. And it’s the first thing in my long, and very convoluted cabling scheme with two halfstacks and a multi effect unit…
 
I only have a few hours with it. Only one amp so far. My Orange OR50.

I need more time with it to really become familiar. So far I really like it. Easy one of the better wah I have experienced.

I think I will plug in my THD Univalve next. Go for the power amp overdrive thing and see where that takes me.
 
Frehley12 said:
I love this wah so much that I bought a new one also for another pedal board. I adjusted the used one to match the new one. I'll have to open it up and see how it compares to the pics above. Thanks!

Also the newer ones do not have the white rubber gasket around the bottom plate. I wonder why?
Click to expand...
17029545642966186096688116359272.jpg

As you can see it is slightly different. Mostly the gain pot.
I put the black marks pointing "north" so I can get back here easy.
 
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I hesitate to post this. As I only spent a few hours with it. I messed around with the internal trim pots. I had my Orange OR50 set for point of breakup.

As for the q I put them back where I started pretty much. Too high gets thin. Too low it acts more like a volume pedal. There was a relatively small range I found useful. I recommend very little if any changes.

As for the gain I did turn it up slightly. It was off. From 7 o'clock to 9. Off sounded a bit more vintage. Slightly up it woke up. It became more modern. A slight color change. As you continue going up it starts overdrive the amp more and soon distortion.
 
Thanks. Almost identical except for the gain pot like you said. I'll try your settings on one and see if I like it more.

Does yours have the white/cream rubber gasket on the bottom? I like the look of it but it kind of gets in the way of my cable jack.
 
I very much prefer it closer to the settings in your photo. The gain slightly up as I mentioned before sounds much better to me. I have mine slightly less than yours.

Yours is in what I see as the normal range. If you change it I would do very small changes. If you go off too much it just sounds odd. But who knows ? Maybe that is what someone might want.
 
Lol! I was just about to open one up and try your settings, but since you tried mine and like it, I'm just going to leave them alone. I don't use the boost and that seems to be the bigger difference in our pot settings.

I also have a Buddy Guy wah. Been with me for years. The BG also has 2 voices, but no internal trim pots to adjust. Compared to the CAE, the BG is slightly deeper in both voices.
 
I like the boost a lot. It helps get that throaty girth voice.

I recommend trying it in the 9 and 11 o'clock range. Up about 1 o'clock it saturates.

I'm using all 4 combinations of red, yellow boost on or off.

Because I'm after a more modern sound currently I'm using the red more. With the amp set for moderate crunch the boost on it really sings or thick heavy rhythm chunk.

The yellow is better for the funk and cleaner stuff.

More a tone control than to get the wa sound.
 
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