Prostheta Posted March 18, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2023 As for the taper, I haven't actually read any commentary on that. Do you have any references that I can absorb....? At the moment I don't know exactly what to think about the implications of an odd taper curve, whether it's a flaw or an aspect. I'd like to think it's a matter of "feel" (something I depend on with wahs when hitting a specific note sustain point) but that depends on which direction the curve is if it's an S. I do think that this can be controlled to some degree by adding in an adjustable brightness pot for L2 to reduce the maximum point and one in series with LDR2 to increase the minimum. These would be both opto board mounted, so fit in with my vision of a modular design. As an aside, talking about tapers, the modern Morleys (20/20s?) use a nylon wire strung through the case to drive a linear slide potentiometer. I can't say how much I have an immediate dislike for this sort of arrangement....physical mechanisms seem so poor and prone to fault. The silly imaginative side of me is thinking about alternative optical arrangements now....I thought about magnets for a while, however they're similar to optical in that they decay in range as a square of distance. The pedal moving a mirror or a diffusion card might be an interesting thought experiment. The contact-free passive mechanism of optical is just too cool of an idea, and I guess that is part of my attraction to the BH2 circuit....maybe the use of very-directional LEDs rather than old-style bulbs contribute to any weird taper phenomenon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 19, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2023 I put in an order to prototype a standalone optical board. Once this is proofed, I'll maybe add in a couple of trimmer pots to tweak the pedal position curve a little if that seems useful. (Fusion 360 board render) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 23, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2023 Alrighty, so we have this specimen of a Morley Power Wah, a rev1 board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 23, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2023 So it seems to be that the older Morley Power Wah was more or less identical in function to the subsequent revisions, and the rev.1 board is populatable to make it into a bad Horsie 1 switchless wah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 23, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2023 The main things I looked for with this unit are the locations of the pedal mechanism bolts for retrofit optical board alignment purposes and also the optical silhouette card. These are in spec, so I can pretty much gut this unit regardless of what the original PCB was designed for. Interestingly, the LDR has 350 written directly next to it....whether this is some sort of nominal test value isn't known....measuring it in circuit produces over 2MOhm in darkness and 500Ohms or so when an LED flashlight is shone on it. This may be different with a red LED as the peak sensitivity may lay in that band, producing say....350R. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 23, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2023 The board also corresponds very well with an actual BH1 board. It's very interesting to me to see both the incremental and the significant changes made between the BH1 and BH2 wahs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted March 24, 2023 Report Share Posted March 24, 2023 greatly enjoyable thread. Quite a while ago... I had built what I'm calling the "automawah". It had a switchable boost, freq rotary, switchable in and out buffer, switchable auto-wah, and a switch that would turn it back into a volume pedal. I also did an led plexiglass base... and swirl painted the thing. So many controls on it... I could never keep it straight what was what! I've had a morley and they are really great. they have a feel that is all their own and it's quite nice. I look fwd to seeing how this turns out (demo?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiKro Posted March 25, 2023 Report Share Posted March 25, 2023 I have not really thought about a wah pedal since about 1973. LOL!!!!! I had a used Vox wah I bought in 1972.. Wish I still had that one now hidden away. mk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 25, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2023 Those are the ones I love. In principle the output of this optical board should be able to replace the pot in these circuits, making a Morley format switchless optical Vox wah possible. The harmonics of those older models are sweet, especially when you grab sustain on notes. They bloom, which has become a big part of my preferred playing style. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 5, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2023 Small update. This is how the optical board looks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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