The Whipple is compatible with many different wah pedals: Crybaby, Vox, Fulltone, Meastro, Teese, Budda, and more.
Recommended Tool List:
- Screw Driver
- Pliers
- Socket wrench (if you have newer crybaby)
- Solder Iron
- Solder
- De-solder tool (vacuum pump or de-solder braid)
- Cup of tea or coffee
Note: (Radio Shack sells a complete soldering kit that is great and comes with every thing you need; soldering iron, solder, pliers, cutters, a poker thing, etc and it costs like $20. You can’t beat that. If you are just getting into DIY you don’t need to spend $150 on a soldering iron. Get the thing from Radio Shack. If you find yourself spending every free moment building with your soldering iron, then you should get a better one. Please take your time, do not break your wah. If you have never done anything like this before, you really should. It is alot of fun and will open up a whole world of new possibilities for you as a guitarist. You might find yourself changing out pickups or even fixing a broken cord or even a broken battery snap on that $300 super-blaster-boost. Or even building your own super-blaster-boost for $40. If you need help email me or if you know of someone that can help you, get them to help. Also, if you really cannot or do not have time, to install the Whipple, you can mail either your board or the whole Wah (which will cost a bit more in shipping) and I will install it for you for a small fee. Email me at dandy_job@yahoo.com.
Step 1: Remove the old inductor:You will need to open the bottom of the wah, typically there are four rubber feet on the bottom of the wah with little screws. They can be taken off with a Phillips head screw driver or just your fingers. Once you have your wah open there are two options. Some pedals have the jacks attached to the board; some don’t. If your pedal does not have the jacks attached (older crybabies, most older wahs, new boutique wahs) all you need to do is remove the screws that hold the board to the chassis. If your pedal does have the jacks attached to the board (newer crybabies) you will need to either take a pair of pliers or even better a socket wrench and remove the nuts on the jacks in order to pull the board out. You do not need to completely remove the board in order to work on it. You just need to be able to get to other side of the board where the solder attachments are. Now that you can see both sides of the board, find the solder joints that attached the old inductor (usually looks like can, although there are many variations). Heat up the joints with a solder iron and remove the old solder with a vacuum pump or de-solder braid. If you do a good job that sucker will just fall out. Sometime, especially if there are four joints, it is helpful to heat up one side (two pins at a time) and then the other side, and slowly work out the old inductor. Ok, you have got the old inductor out. Sip, the coffee, or tea.
Step 2: Installing the WHIPPLE.Get familiar with the WHIPPLE. Take a good look at it. And look at the bottom. You will see some pins and numbers. These numbers will help you to attach the correct pins. The numbers read 1, 8, then 4, 5. 1 and 8 are the hot pins, these are the ones that need to be attached to the circuit. 4 and 5 do not serve any electrical function. If you have a board that has holes in it to accommodate all the pins you can solder them as a mechanical attachment. In most cases 4 and 5 can simply be bend down and out of the way. There is also a pin that is part of the clamp that holds everything together. That pin can be bent out the way also. Now there are two options. The old inductor will have either two or four pins. If there were two pins, that is easy; attach 1 and 8 to the board just like the old inductor. If the old inductor had 4 pins it is a little more tricky. You will need to look at the traces on the board and determine the best way to orient the WHIPPLE so it completes the circuit. Another way to say this is, Pin 1 and 8 will bridge the gap between the traces, (it is a beautifully thing). In many cases the WHIPPLE’s pin spacing will not match up with the old inductor’s pins. Do not worry! There are two easy ways to fix this.
A. The Super easy way is to attach one of the pins to the board and then run a short jumper wire to the other pin. This is where a needle nose pliers come in handy.
B. If you want to get a bit more advanced you could run two jumper from the board and then bend the jumper wires so they match perfectly with the WHIPPLE, and then solder everything together.
EXTRA CREDIT: IF you wanted to get Super PRO! you could use your drill press with a 3/64′” drill bit and drill out 4 holes in the board that match up with the WHIPPLE’s pins, and then run jumpers as needed. I’m not big fan of drilling extra holes because unless you really know what you are doing you are probably going to break something. You get the idea. At this point the inductor is attached. Stretch, Sip. If you want to experiment with putting in the resistor kit you could try it now OR if you to want hear what the new inductor sounds like with the stock resistors go on to step 3.
Step 3: Putting it back together.Put the board the board back in the wah and screw in the board, and/or board and jacks. Close up the bottom.
SOUND CHECK: Plug in your new WHIPPLE wah and have at it. You will notice and improved fidelity in the sound, warmer highs, richer clearer lows, vocal mids, and an overall more expressive musical sound. If your wah pedal sounds like a volume pedal, you have the inductor installed incorrectly. Check all your joints, and make sure you have it oriented correctly. If you can’t figure out what the problem is email me at dandy_job@yahoo.com.
RESISTOR KIT: If you want to experiment further try installing the resistors and listen to how they change the tone. The instructions for those mods are located on this web site: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/s.castledine/greenfuz/wah.html It is my goal to bring you the Best Wah inductor money can buy, backed with the best customer service out there. Feel free to send me an email and let me know how your project turned out. If you are having any questions or concerns please let me know.
All the Best,
Michael