Cocked Wah ? Zappa style mods

[psychic_driver]

Lately I've been experimenting with using a parametric eq + a tape echo style delay with that grainy sort of boost to get cool & cutting lead sounds ... Then the malicious algorithm shows me this modded Zappa guitar with the preamp boost & wah style mid sweep built in.



Anybody play with cocked wah style sounds or pedals ?

I really like the idea of having the eq control in the guitar so it is easily sweepable on the fly & is much smaller and less bumpable than a traditional wah. Any of y'all rig talkers ever had similar schemes of gutting a pedal & putting it into your guitar ?

Seems extremely impractical to do all the extra work of routing out the guitar & modding the electronics when the same can be accomplished in a stomp box ... But I am possessed by the idea of improvising & experimenting, cranking my knobs on the fly without having to fuck with pedals on the floor

 

[Hiwatts-n-Gibsons]

This is what Dweezil uses live, which I know from talking with him after a ZPZ concert.

I've owned this, and two different Systech Harmonic Energizers which are what it's based on. I like the OG's more due to their insane +55db output and more extreme sounds, but if the Zappa cocked wah sound is what you're after this box will do it 100%.

If you're handy with a router. Lol

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/L...96T1HK5GX9d66jF1jsnFGtZ_TVQcNUFYaAj8CEALw_wcB

 

[BeZo]

I use the Fractal FX8. I set up an EQ in the loop of both amps to be a band pass filter to give me a cocked wah sound. I only use it for an intro, but I mess with it occasionally when the band free jams. I might use it more. We'll see.

 

[Solarflares]

Frank Zappa really was a guitar monster.
He would have these long breaks away from guitar, then go on tour, and gradually hotten up - to the point he would record amazing solos and use them on recordings back in the studio.
Not only that, but he would edit the solos to a time-stamp, using a razor blade and glue, with bits of tape everywhere - and then write a backing track in 19/16 for the band to play, in synch with the time-stamp.
Naturally with Frank, this would be a section, or out, of a complete piece possibly already written. Possibly not.
However the guitar seems to always convey well Joe’s mental state through the story over 3 albums - which on this track is Frank’s musical interpretation of Joe’s gang-rape by record executives in prison. It’s sheer genius.


Solo at 3.25. Fuck the neighbours.

 

[griff10672]

I've seen a few vids of Dweezil really showing Frank's modded SG ....

it's got some shit going on .. that's for sure ...

I would mess around with a cocked wah style pedal ..... cause that's basically what's in that guitar ... IMO anyway ...

The Dunlop Q-Zone is a really good one ....... I've built a few of them ... and have one on my board

 

[Floyd Eye]

I've seen a few vids of Dweezil really showing Frank's modded SG ....

it's got some shit going on .. that's for sure ...

I would mess around with a cocked wah style pedal ..... cause that's basically what's in that guitar ... IMO anyway ...

The Dunlop Q-Zone is a really good one ....... I've built a few of them ... and have one on my board

I used to have one. It worked great. I sold it because it is a one trick pony.

 

[psychic_driver]

I've seen a few vids of Dweezil really showing Frank's modded SG ....

it's got some shit going on .. that's for sure ...

I would mess around with a cocked wah style pedal ..... cause that's basically what's in that guitar ... IMO anyway ...

The Dunlop Q-Zone is a really good one ....... I've built a few of them ... and have one on my board

Yea right now I use a paraEQ to boost mid frequencies & a tape delay for the volume boost & some texture for lead parts ... Works great but I can't easily adjust the volume boost or mid frequency mid song

In your professional opinion would modding a guitar like that cocked wah les paul be as "simple" as taking the q zone circuit board out of its enclosure, wiring it up to the guitar electronics & adding a battery compartment ?
Would the guitar then be unplayable if there was not a battery connected ?
Or would the job require deeper mods to the pedal circuit/guitar guts ?

I am not learned on the electronic side of things & having the cocked wah in the guitar is a semi retarded pipe dream ... But god damn it would be fun to be able to manipulate the mid frequencies & the amount of boost while playing ... More colors to paint with while jamming & improvising

 

[Solarflares]

Yea right now I use a paraEQ to boost mid frequencies & a tape delay for the volume boost & some texture for lead parts ... Works great but I can't easily adjust the volume boost or mid frequency mid song

In your professional opinion would modding a guitar like that cocked wah les paul be as "simple" as taking the q zone circuit board out of its enclosure, wiring it up to the guitar electronics & adding a battery compartment ?
Would the guitar then be unplayable if there was not a battery connected ?
Or would the job require deeper mods to the pedal circuit/guitar guts ?

I am not learned on the electronic side of things & having the cocked wah in the guitar is a semi retarded pipe dream ... But god damn it would be fun to be able to manipulate the mid frequencies & the amount of boost while playing ... More colors to paint with while jamming & improvising

The EMG SPC active circuit is very compact, and provides 20dB of wide-Q mids around 1.6Khz - to emulate the honk of a humbucker when using single-coils. It works well. Easy to adjust very quickly.
No reason why you couldn’t have extra pots for frequency and Q, and jack the gain to 50dB. But the guitar starts to get a bit cluttered at that point. With the extra gain, you will probably want compact 24V lithium batteries, to have any appreciable battery life. But you could supply 24V to the guitar through a stereo Jack cable.
Frank had Rex Bogue doing his guitars, and later Thomas Nordegg. So anything was possible, with money.
A 100% blend pot would enable the guitar to be used without a battery, but then we have 4 extra pots on the guitar.
If you can sit down and create onstage like Frank then fine, but it wouldn’t be an instrument to throw around a stage, in my opinion. Plus, with that mid-gain, and heavy monitor presence - you might just blow your eardrums out accidentally.

 

[griff10672]

Yea right now I use a paraEQ to boost mid frequencies & a tape delay for the volume boost & some texture for lead parts ... Works great but I can't easily adjust the volume boost or mid frequency mid song

In your professional opinion would modding a guitar like that cocked wah les paul be as "simple" as taking the q zone circuit board out of its enclosure, wiring it up to the guitar electronics & adding a battery compartment ?
Would the guitar then be unplayable if there was not a battery connected ?
Or would the job require deeper mods to the pedal circuit/guitar guts ?

I am not learned on the electronic side of things & having the cocked wah in the guitar is a semi retarded pipe dream ... But god damn it would be fun to be able to manipulate the mid frequencies & the amount of boost while playing ... More colors to paint with while jamming & improvising

I could layout a PCB that would fit right into the existing space ..... does your LP already have a PCB ? for the pots ?

you could actually put a whole wah in and just have the tredle pot installed like a regular pot ... so you could set the wah where ever you wanted with a knob instead of your foot ...

there's a few ways and things I would try ... a wah can run off a 9volt ... so can't a Qzone .. ... neither are big circuits .... and if you keep as many components as you can in the SMD format .... you can really get them smaller ....

the biggest problem with doing either is how are you going to control any of it ??

you going to install three more pots ?? you'll need an on/off .... etc ...

 

[Music&Chaos]

If you want a cocked wah tone at the touch of your fingers - I have some caps you can install so that when you roll off all the way on your tone, you sit at that frequency. Called the 'Eldred Mod' and you need a PIO .0047 cap for it to sound right - which I happen to have a stock of lol

 

[psychic_driver]

I could layout a PCB that would fit right into the existing space ..... does your LP already have a PCB ? for the pots ?

you could actually put a whole wah in and just have the tredle pot installed like a regular pot ... so you could set the wah where ever you wanted with a knob instead of your foot ...

there's a few ways and things I would try ... a wah can run off a 9volt ... so can't a Qzone .. ... neither are big circuits .... and if you keep as many components as you can in the SMD format .... you can really get them smaller ....

the biggest problem with doing either is how are you going to control any of it ??

you going to install three more pots ?? you'll need an on/off .... etc ...

O shit buncha good ideas ...

I like the idea of putting a whole wah into the guitar that's clever ... Adding a bunch of knobs is not something I'd want to do. It looks like Zappa's LP had five knobs & an on/off switch - that seems like a manageable amount.

One of the volume knobs could be wired up as global volume for both pups ... A wah circuit or a 2 knob q zone (volume & wah sweep only, leave the q knob set to a normal wah range) could be put in the guitar, running off a 9volt or stereo cable ... That would leave 5 knobs on the guitar plus a small on/off toggle

My LP does not currently have any PCB - its a traditional model from 2009. Handwired electronics the old school way

 

[psychic_driver]

you could actually put a whole wah in and just have the tredle pot installed like a regular pot ... so you could set the wah where ever you wanted with a knob instead of your foot ...

you going to install three more pots ?? you'll need an on/off .... etc ...

It would be dope to be able to cut the mids as well as boost them ... If the q zone volume pot had a neutral position with minimal effect on tone - one way boosts & turning the other way cuts

 

[psychic_driver]

If you want a cocked wah tone at the touch of your fingers - I have some caps you can install so that when you roll off all the way on your tone, you sit at that frequency. Called the 'Eldred Mod' and you need a PIO .0047 cap for it to sound right - which I happen to have a stock of lol

Eldred mod sounds cool for a barkin honkin tele but I play sludgy droning doom & black metal ... Gain on the amp is always dimes. Wah mid boost makes the guitar scream & grind & cut ... Doubt a different capacitor with no boost would be able to get the same effect ...

I often play my LP in the middle position with the tone knob on the neck pickup at 0 and the bridge tone on 10. This gives a mild "cocked wah" kinda thing, similar to the eldrige

 

[The~Kid]

Wouldn't it make sense to just use a wah pedal and leave it in a position on a sweep that feels best.....

Not sure but yeah

 

[griff10672]

what I would do .... is send you a Q Zone ...... let you play it and come up with your perfect setting ....

then I would just measure the pots( which are variable resistors in case you didn't know ) where you have them ..... and use regular resistors to match the values ..... then just have a simple small on /off button

to take it further you would have to pick your poison ..... as far as knobs ....

you could actually use trim pots instead of regular pots .... so you could keep all the variables .... but they would be inside the guitar .... or you could keep the two most important to you and drill into a perfectly good Les Paul for two more pots ... or one .... etc

if I used SMD parts for as much of the components as possible ... I could probably fab the PCB to the size of a matchbook

 

[Solarflares]

Let’s not forget dual-ganged pots, and pots with rotary switches.

 

[Music&Chaos]

Eldred mod sounds cool for a barkin honkin tele but I play sludgy droning doom & black metal ... Gain on the amp is always dimes. Wah mid boost makes the guitar scream & grind & cut ... Doubt a different capacitor with no boost would be able to get the same effect ...

I often play my LP in the middle position with the tone knob on the neck pickup at 0 and the bridge tone on 10. This gives a mild "cocked wah" kinda thing, similar to the eldrige

The mid cut is the mid cut, no matter the genre. I don't have mine installed on a tele. I found this out myself playing with various caps in my own guitars and all sorts that hit the bench. The volume does sound like it increases due to the mid bump/cocked wah sound presented but not crazy. There are other cap values like .015 which work really well for that wah sound as well on a bridge pickup.

Definitely not a substitute for a boost though completely agree. Funnily, I also dig that middle position setting! Yeah, its all fun to tweak and mess around with.

Magnets are also fun and can change the EQ of a pickup pretty seriously.

Good stuff.

 

[psychic_driver]

what I would do .... is send you a Q Zone ...... let you play it and come up with your perfect setting ....

you could actually use trim pots instead of regular pots .... so you could keep all the variables .... but they would be inside the guitar .... or you could keep the two most important to you and drill into a perfectly good Les Paul for two more pots ...

Fuck yea. Do you have any the q zones you made in stock ? How much would you charge for one ?

My thought is to put a trim pot onto the q knob in the guitar - leave it at a sweet spot but changeable if need be. Next wire up the existing bridge volume knob to be a master volume for both pickups

Then drill into my perfectly good les paul twice - for an on/off switch & add a knob for the mid sweep (see my shitty diagram)

Wouldn't it make sense to just use a wah pedal and leave it in a position on a sweep that feels best.....

Lol this absolutely makes the most sense. Modding the guitar with a built in wah is not practical at all. I am interested in enjoying my life & playing a cool modded les paul like Zappa, not doing things that "make sense" or are "cost effective"

 

[psychic_driver]

Let’s not forget dual-ganged pots, and pots with rotary switches.

Dang would it be possible to replace both tone knobs with push/pull pots & wire the bridge tone to also be q zone volume & neck tone to be mid sweep control ??

Then I would only need to drill into my perfectly good once to add the on/off switch

 

[griff10672]

Dang would it be possible to replace both tone knobs with push/pull pots & wire the bridge tone to also be q zone volume & neck tone to be mid sweep control ??

Then I would only need to drill into my perfectly good once to add the on/off switch

You could probably do it all with push pulls