Morley PWF issue

MysterMunky · #1 12-28-2010, 01:23 PM

Hello TB'ers!

I recently acquired a Tel-Ray era Power Wah Fuzz. Upon hooking it up I was less than blown away. The fuzz is just unusably nasty and when the wah is engaged, the signal is nonexistent in the heel position. I tried running a Bass muff and a little big muff into it in all combinations, (bbm and lbm before the wah, one before and one after and both after.) all with the same less than stunning results. The only way I could get the signal retention when the wah was on was to have the fuzz on the pedal on and the BBM after the PWF in dry mode.

Now, I know this pedal can be amazing. After seeing all the youtube videos on this pedal, I know something is wrong with mine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM24CHIiBQs

Any ideas?

blastjv · #2 12-28-2010, 01:50 PM

One thing to note is that in the heel down position (at least on my PWB, not sure if this is a fact for the PWF), the wah is sweeping down near 20Hz which is not a range that most bass rigs can produce. I actually put some rubber stoppers under the heel of mine to limit movement that low (the first inch or so is useless). Also, the wah is less spectacular without the Boost. I think the Wah in yours is the same, but without the ability to boost. Maybe that's why the best you've found so far is while using the Fuzz (as a pseudo-boost?).

Morley has the old manuals online. Check them out, they're helpful.

-JV

MysterMunky · #3 12-28-2010, 03:20 PM

Thanks for your reply! I appreciate it.

It seems that the only way to get decent sound is to have the fuzz on and a BBM afterwards. Is this pedal really that limited? I don't want to have to use the fuzz circuit and post wah fuzz all the time. How can I get a good clean signal with the wah coloring my tone without the built in fuzz acting as a boost? I don't want to have to run it A/B with my clean...

blastjv · #4 12-28-2010, 03:42 PM

Maybe with a boost in front of it?

-JV

ampegfuzz · #5 12-28-2010, 04:46 PM

I own a Tel Ray PWF and have no issues with the wah. I don't need a boost because if i put a boost in front of it it would kill someone. Running dirt after the pedal is ok but before is the trick.

MysterMunky · #6 12-28-2010, 05:25 PM

Hey ampegfuzz!

When you have the wah in the heel position, with the wah on, what is your sound like? On mine, with dirt in front, I have almost no sound coming out. I have to engage the fuzz on the Morley to get some sound to come out in the heel position. So far the only usable sound I get is dirt before and after the PWF w/o the fuzz on the pedal itself.

sunbeast · #7 12-28-2010, 11:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blastjv

One thing to note is that in the heel down position (at least on my PWB, not sure if this is a fact for the PWF), the wah is sweeping down near 20Hz which is not a range that most bass rigs can produce. I actually put some rubber stoppers under the heel of mine to limit movement that low (the first inch or so is useless). Also, the wah is less spectacular without the Boost. I think the Wah in yours is the same, but without the ability to boost. Maybe that's why the best you've found so far is while using the Fuzz (as a pseudo-boost?).

Morley has the old manuals online. Check them out, they're helpful.

-JV

+1 to this. On my 70s Morley Power Wah Boost, the wah is incredibly weak without the boost engaged. With the boost engaged, it is freaking huge and nasty (in a great way). I've never owned the PWF, but one of my old guitar player housemates did, and I recall it being incredibly shrill sounding to me at the time with the fuzz engaged. I never actually tried his pedal with bass, but given that my PWB is not incredibly shrill with guitar, I imagine it was mostly just the character of the fuzz. I like to run an OD before and a fuzz after the PWB personally, though either way works!

It is possible that the little cloth sheet that blocks light on the inside of your pedal isn't functioning correctly too- little changes in that mechanism can really change the sweep of the pedal in my experience...

ampegfuzz · #8 12-29-2010, 05:45 AM

Maybe if time and willingness permits Santa Ampegfuzz will bring some late xmas gifts as way of some clips

MysterMunky · #9 12-29-2010, 09:54 AM

Oh Boy! It would be a Festivus Miracle!

ampegfuzz · #10 12-29-2010, 01:25 PM

My noodle

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...ongID=10053153

I started clean, then wah started in the lower part of it then noodled, fuzz on, wah off fuzz still on, fuzz in wah, clean again. I'm very A.D.D. so like i said this is just a quick and dirty recording. The fuzz i used is a ZVEX Woolly Mammoth, which buy they way slays with this wah. Did the recording with a cheap vocal mic and no effects into garage band. It was only compressed when sent to mp3 form. P.S. This recording may hurt you comp speakers so start with the volume low just in case

enjoy.

MysterMunky · #11 12-29-2010, 02:28 PM

That sound kills man! Morley/Z.Vexx Destruction combo!!! Sounds awesome, thank you for posting clips!! Thats that Morley sound!! Now I need to figure out who can fix my pedal to sound like this beast!

Know of any pedal repair people that resurrect mine? Morley isn't answering and Analogman doesn't work on Power Wahs.

ampegfuzz · #12 12-29-2010, 02:50 PM

To note: played my home built PJ in BEAD>WM>PWF> 74SVT/810e> crappy vocal mic> emu 0404> Garageband

bovine mind · #13 12-29-2010, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sunbeast

It is possible that the little cloth sheet that blocks light on the inside of your pedal isn't functioning correctly too- little changes in that mechanism can really change the sweep of the pedal in my experience...

Yeah, check this, mine breaks down all the time as result.

MysterMunky · #14 12-30-2010, 02:37 PM

What is the cloth supposed to look like on the inside? Can someone please post pics?

ampegfuzz · #15 12-30-2010, 05:51 PM

Their is a guy who opens one up on you tube ill see if i can find it.

EDIT: BOOM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eHFHU4Knw4

MysterMunky · #16 12-31-2010, 11:04 AM

Thanks for the video!

I opened up the case and I noticed that the black material surrounding the LDR has collapsed. Is there something that I can safely shove under it to bring it back up? Should I just replace it? And if so with what?

ampegfuzz · #17 12-31-2010, 12:31 PM

pics? of yours that is would help. I or someone may be able to suggest something.

Stu L. · #18 12-31-2010, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MysterMunky

That sound kills man! Morley/Z.Vexx Destruction combo!!! Sounds awesome, thank you for posting clips!! Thats that Morley sound!! Now I need to figure out who can fix my pedal to sound like this beast!

Know of any pedal repair people that resurrect mine? Morley isn't answering and Analogman doesn't work on Power Wahs.

Sorry I couldn't help. Hope you get it working soon!

MysterMunky · #19 12-31-2010, 02:34 PM

ill try to get pics up this afternoon. I rigged the cover over the LDRs so that it stays up. Now, I'm working on getting the flap from the footpedal glued down into the metal casing. Turns out that that piece was loose. I think the combination of the LDR cover and this unglued flap may be the culprit. After I rigged up the LDR cover, it sounded tons better. Also, the LDRs were super low, so I pushed them up similar to the position in the video above.

MysterMunky · #20 01-01-2011, 06:22 PM

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...MorleyPWF1.jpg
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...MorleyPWF2.jpg
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...MorleyPWF5.jpg
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...MorleyPWF4.jpg

All that needed to be done was to rig up the cover of the LDRs and retape the material attached to the footpedal. The hood was held up with a tenor sax reed and some electrical tape (pic PWF4). The material that covers the light was taped down with electrical tape (pics PWF2 and PWF5)

I repositioned the LDRs to get better lighting. Also, the previous owner taped some reflective material to the cover itself to reflect more light.

This pedal is a beast!!!! The wah is everything that it should be and now the fuzz sounds great too!

Thank you everyone!