Changing the Inductor in the Dunlop GCB-95 CryBaby
By Paul Marossy
Last Updated 01/28/06
For new wah pedals, the re-issue Fasel inductors seem to be all the rage these days. I decided to get a red one to try in one of my GCB-95 CryBabys. Below is a picture of the GCB-95 Rev. G circuit board. The black cylindrical object is the stock inductor. This will have to be removed from the PCB and replaced with our new Fasel inductor.
Removing the existing inductor is a relatively simple process. Disconnect the wiring harness
from the PCB, paying careful attention to the orientation of the plug. Remove the PCB from the
casing and turn it over. In the picture below, there are four points around the hole in the PCB that
will need to be desoldered. I carefully use desoldering braid from RadioShack for removing the
solder. Be careful not to overheat the PCB as it could become damaged.
After the stock inductor has been removed, you will notice that the stock inductor has four
pins and the Fasel inductor only two. Not to worry, the stock inductor has two redundant pins.
When soldering in the new inductor make sure that the pins are not soldered to the same track on the PCB
or it will not work. When you're done, it should look like the picture below.
The whole operation should take 15 minutes or less. If you do this mod,
don't expect a huge change in the sound - it's more of a subtle change. It's a relatively cheap mod to do as the
Fasel inductor only costs $18 or so. The point of this article is not to recommend/discourage the use of a Fasel inductor - the inductors
in wahs are a highly subjective topic and are subject to personal taste. The bottom line is that there are a lot
more factors to consider besides just the inductor when modding a wah pedal. I have some real good sounding wahs that use the
stock inductor and this is because the inductor's main purpose in a wah pedal is to make it a resonant circuit. I think too much weight is given to
the actual inductor used, and in my experience you can use just about any 300-600mH inductor by tweaking the resistor in parallel with it to get a
good sound. A lot of this is just hype created because of the good sound of the old Clyde McCoy wahs and some of the original 70s Fasel equipped wahs. There
is some merit to this, but you have to look at all of the parts of the circuit as a whole - it's a combination of factors, not just
one single component. That's what makes those old wahs sound the way that
they do.
For more info on modding the GCB-95, check out my