Budda BudWah differences....

[TheGrooveking]

I had read in a few different older threads that there has been different versions on the BudWahs, so I pulled out my Budwah I bought back in 1999 and then my 2007 and compared. The only difference I could find is the color or the circuit board. Red versus Green soldermask and the addition of a battery door and a 3 pole footswitch. Does any of your Budwahs look different internally?

TheGrooveking

1999 on the left, 2007 on the right:

1999 on the left and 2007 on the right:

1999 on the left and 2007 on the right:

 

[Angle Loss]

I use a Picture Wah now, but had two Budwahs before. I had an early black label one that sounded pretty lame and generic. The second (and I believe later) one I had about 4 years ago with the purple logo, had a really nice sound to it. Far better than the first one. I don't know if yours sound different, but mine sure did.

 

[Dickie Fredericks]

I must be somewhere in the middle because mine has no battery door but the logo on the front is the same as your 2007

Yeah, Killer wah!

 

[RDM]

And I'm in the middle of the middle. I have the battery door, the newer logo, the green PCB and the blue switch.

 

[LesPaulPlayer]

I had read in a few different older threads that there has been different versions on the BudWahs, so I pulled out my Budwah I bought back in 1999 and then my 2007 and compared. The only difference I could find is the color or the circuit board. Red versus Green soldermask and the addition of a battery door and a 3 pole footswitch. Does any of your Budwahs look different internally?

The first Bud-Wah was actually a modified Dunlop Crybaby GCB-95.

The first purple Bud-Wah with a custom Budda-designed PCB came in 1997.

Then a new PCB was designed to accommodate a side-mounted kick-switch for the Bud-Wah+ (volume swell feature). You can see the unused area on your green and red innard shots.

Here are pictures of the above explanations.

 

[LesPaulPlayer]

GrooveKing-

Do your two Bud-Wahs sound the same?

 

[Angle Loss]

GrooveKing-

Do your two Bud-Wahs sound the same?

I can't speak for him, but my two sure did sound different. Hated the earlier one! The later (purple label) one sounded very nice.

 

[TheGrooveking]

No, I dig the older one more than the newer one. I went through the circuitboards and confirmed that every component was the identical value. It must me manufacturing tolerances, the old 5 or 10%.

One factor to apply, I am playing these primarily with a G&L Legacy or Fender Fat Telecaster in this rig. I found I dig the newer one, which seems a little brighter sounding when playing humbucking based guitars, i.e. PRS, Les Paul, etc.

TheGrooveking

 

[Angle Loss]

My first was probably one of the first to come out, several years before your early one, Grooveking. The second one was smoother and more vocal sounding.

 

[LesPaulPlayer]

The consensus is that Budda Wah pedals are not consistent. I've had 5 myself and they have all sounded different from one another. Some have more lows. Some are brighter. I had one that had a really narrow sweep with poor lows and really bright, thin treble. No amount of pot adjusting could solve its problem. I had Jeff at Budda take a look at it. He replaced the inductor but it still wasn't there.

My current one is a new model with the battery door and colored front logo. It sounds the best of the bunch.

Kind of like the old Vox Clyde McCoy wahs. Inconsistent from one to the next.

 

[TheGrooveking]

After playing them both some more, I've changed my mind, I like the older better, the newer one is a little more nasally sounding.

I was wondering, how many of you guys have had a couple of other brand same model wahs? The reason I ask is I have three Fulltone CLYDE's and they are not identical either. This leads me to believe that the inductors have a broader than a few percent range on tolerance and using that as a factor across how many parts, you can see that there is a whole spectrum of different tones and the same settings on the same model possible. Kind of sounds like guitars, ones even made side by side on the line sound different.

TheGrooveking

 

[jamison162]

Any electrical audio device is susceptible to inconsistency due to component tolerances alone. Not to mention each individual inductor....which like pickups, are different even though they are wound the same. They're never (well, not usually) gonna sound identical.