[B]Dr. Q Question[/B]

[myuhlz]

Hello fx dudes, I just purchased a EH Dr. Q and it seems that I cannot achieve that classic WAH sound. When I boost the range I hear the sound of moving air. Is it normal? or should I get it to a technician?.

Thanks.

[JanusZarate]

Heheh... "moving air"...

What you're hearing is "white noise", common to many pedals. Some pedals are worse than others in terms of white noise, and as you play with more pedals, you'll come to notice that. An experienced repair person can probably modify it, but it's always tricky to get rid of most white noise without changing the sound of the pedal.

If you can't get the wah sound you're looking for out of a Dr. Q, try the Mini Q-Tron or Micro Q-Tron instead - they'll probably be more up your alley, and they sound great. It's usually not worth modding most pedals, IMO - you're better off trying another of the hundreds of autowah and envelope filter pedals out there

The Dr. Q isn't too popular among bassists, for one reason or another. I have yet to try one myself, but I'm not really motivated to try it.

[TheMutt]

I've got the Dr. Q (full-size, not nano), and out of the box it's not that great of a pedal. The sound that you are hearing is a wide-open filter. It's not that great on bass since you don't push out high enough frequencies to pass through the filter, giving you that nasty whooshing sound. I modified the trimpot on mine, and now I have some useful sounds that I can use while still being able to get that quack that the Dr. Q is known for. You would need to pop off the knob, unscrew the potentiometer nut from the pedal housing, and remove the screws from the bottom so that you can get to the circuit board. There should be a white trimpot that you can change with a small common head screwdriver. With mine, I turned it slightly counter-clockwise and played through it while checking settings from the main potentiometer before closing the thing up. You may want to give that a shot, or get a QTron or variation thereof if you're not too comfortable with popping open your pedals. The QTron can get some very cool sounds, but I just can't get it to quack exactly like the Dr. Q does. Hope this helps!

[myuhlz]

Thanks for your replys dudez. With the white noise thing I had to sacrifice lots of highs to get rid of. That's a cheap solution. But after buying the Dr. & re-$tring my bass I do not have much choice till next month. For the WAH sound... well I guess it's not the Dr. Qs thing... Maybe that will make it even more personal ...
Thanks again people.

Seeya.