Ibanez WD7 Weeping Demon is NOT true bypass

[waylay00]

I've been reading around here about the WD7 Weeping Demon Wah (Which I have). I've seen many state that it is true bypass. After reading the manual, yes it says it is true bypass, but this is actually a lie.

If you know how true bypass works, you know that even without power, the signal will still be transferred through the pedal (no batteries or AC adapter). Well after unplugging my WD7 from the AC adapter and making sure there were no batteries in it, I plugged it into the signal chain and sure enough, no signal was passed through. Therefore the WD7 cannot be true bypass.

I really don't understand the hype about this pedal either. It just doesn't have a good classic wah sound, even after adjusting it. Maybe it's just me, but it will be up for sale shortly.

Edit - after researching this topic to a greater degree, I found this article that further debunks this statement.
http://www.stinkfoot.se/andreas/diy/...es/bypass3.htm

[carlos grijalva]

noob question, what is a true bypass?

[giannifive]

I figured as much with the WD7. Most modern pedals have an input buffer circuit that increases the input impedance, as a cost-saving measure in lieu of true bypass. The input buffer on my Boss DS-1 is pretty good, though. I can't tell the difference between the DS-1 physically out of the signal path and the signal through the DS-1 turned off. My Crybaby is a different story, though. I've been meaning to mod it for true bypass for a while. Your post has inspired me to do that. Thanks!

[Gex]

and here I was, thinking my GCB-95F was true bypass, like an idiot.

But, it functions without a battery in bypass mode. . .like a TB pedal. And it does have a pretty nice bypass system. ALOT Less coloring than my Morley Bad Horsie, or my Maxon OD-808 in bypass mode.

*sigh*

I wonder if my Peterson Strobostomp is really TB too. . . . .hmm. . I hope so.

[giannifive]

Yo, just wired up my Crybaby for true bypass. I can actually keep it in the signal chain now without tone-sucking! While I was at it I changed the capacitor on the input high-pass filter to a higher value so it lets in more lows. It's sounds really fat now! With that and the Q control I added previously, I think the only thing left to add is a range selector.

Thanks again for the inspirational post

[Ant1981]

Hey how can i mod my cry baby then to make it sound better and what will it actually do for the sound?

[ChopTart]

true bypass is where the pedal is wired so that when the effect is turned off, there's no signal modulation whatsoever, it works as if it was just running through the cable. It's supposed to be pretty expensive to include, which is ibanez' reason for sticking with electronic bypass

[waylay00]

Originally Posted by giannifive

Yo, just wired up my Crybaby for true bypass. I can actually keep it in the signal chain now without tone-sucking! While I was at it I changed the capacitor on the input high-pass filter to a higher value so it lets in more lows. It's sounds really fat now! With that and the Q control I added previously, I think the only thing left to add is a range selector.

Thanks again for the inspirational post

Lol, didn't know a few words of mine could have so much inspiration. Congrats on the true bypass Crybaby.

[carlos grijalva]

Originally Posted by ChopTart

true bypass is where the pedal is wired so that when the effect is turned off, there's no signal modulation whatsoever, it works as if it was just running through the cable. It's supposed to be pretty expensive to include, which is ibanez' reason for sticking with electronic bypass

Oh thanks!

[giannifive]

Originally Posted by Ant1981

Hey how can i mod my cry baby then to make it sound better and what will it actually do for the sound?

There are a ton of mods you can do. The best is probably wiring it for true bypass, which just requires a DPDT switch. You can also add a Q control. It's basically a potentiometer in place of the resistor in parallel with the inductor. You can tweak the knob to make the wah sound more vocal (higher Q) or more subtle (lower Q). There's a mod for a mid-boost. There's one to make it sound fatter. There's a bunch of stuff you can do. Check out these links:

http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folder...edl/wahped.htm

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/s.castl...enfuz/wah.html

http://users.chariot.net.au/~gmarts/fx-wah.htm

http://www.diyguitarist.com/DIYStompboxes/WahMod.htm

http://www.stinkfoot.se/andreas/diy/mods/dunlop.htm