So my wife says she needs an auto wah…

To which my first reaction is to say, in my best thundering voice, “No wife of mine will be sounding like Jerry Garcia!”. Of course I suppress this urge with practiced aplomb. Six years of marriage and I can pin my tongue between my molars with only a slight grimace.

Anyway, at this point I’m over joyed. I explain that I have a plethora of choices! I run down stairs eager to show that all of the time and the “few dollars here and there” spent on my hobby have not gone to waste.

Now I’m looking at a box full of circuit boards bristling with wires, pots and switches. There must be 50, maybe 60, maybe more. Really it’s two boxes, one is more full than the other, which is not overflowing so I can’t call it “full”.

I find a Neutron, Silly Feline (Funny Cat) and an FSH-1 (Tonepad). None of these ever made it into a box for various reasons. After some thought and a little more excavation, I come up with another FSH-1 (UStomp) and a Mc Meat (Meatball) that was in box on a shelf.

Of course at this point I realize that none of these are fully functional. The Mc Meat never got wired up. Though I had made a box. I think, after assembling the PCB and getting the box together, the amount of wiring made me dizzy and I put it aside and forgot about it.

I decide the Neutron has pedigree and start there. Didn’t Stevie Wonder use one of these on Superstition? Can’t get more funky than that. I made this one along time ago. It might even predate my marriage. The PCB says 2002. Can you have vintage DIY? I built this back when MAX1044 was exotic. Probably this is the first version of R.G.s PCB. I notice the current version of the PCB is a little different than the one I have. After a few tests I realize the Direction switch is not working. After much probing and testing it appears that the Band and High pass outputs go dead when it’s in Up mode. Hmmm, better try one of the others.

The FSH-1, Tonepad first version, is working a little better. The filter is sounding really good. Of course, guess what, the direction switch isn’t working? maybe I have a problem with 6 terminal devices? Otherwise the added controls for Attack and Decay make for a great effect. Hmmm… has possibilities.

Then again, both of these need a wallwart power supply. Might be best to give my wife something self contained that runs on a single 9v. So I start looking at the Funny Cat, R.G. version. The PCB board says 2003. This might predate my marriage also. Any way, this appears to be working but the sound might be what my wife was thinking of.

Of course the other FSH-1, UStomp version,  is less functional than the other.

At this point I’m already planning build a Nurse Quacky. of course I think I better check with my wife to see when she needs this auto wah…

Glad to meet you all my name is Mitchell and I have a problem… Just kidding. Of course I can rationalize it all but I won’t bore you with that. I just bring this up here because I was sure you would all understand.