DIY Wah, or DIWAH?

Checks notes Back in April of 2023 I built a Colorsound Inductorless Wah clone, without any real plan beyond building it. Afterwards I thought that maybe I would come across a dead wah pedal and just put my circuit in that housing. The reality is, if this scenario were to ever present itself, I would most likely just repair the original circuit, leaving my own circuit to remain homeless. So what is a DIY wah clone circuit supposed to do? Go to Aliexpress, of course! Aluminum wah enclosures are all over the place on that website, and during their holiday sales I decided it was time for me to go ahead and bite the bullet on buying one.

Now, I currently have my brother's BBE Ben-Wah in for repairs, so I can compare this enclosure to a genuine wah. Alright, I hear you snickering at the fact I just called the BBE a genuine wah. I know, I know. Anyway, the BBE is MUCH heavier, and feels much more substantial than this enclosure. My only concern is the longevity of this aluminum. The 1590B and 125B style cases are fine, because they're smaller, but this one being bigger gives me a bit of concern for how many wahs this pedal will let out before it wahs no more from stepping on it too much. Time will tell!

As you might have noticed I had to do a little modification due to my supplies. Most wahs use an internal power jack, as where all mine are external, but it works. The treadle tensioner is an oldschool design, but it also seems to work. Instructions on this are really tough to find, but if you're curious look up Mammoth Electronic's tutorial on their 4SWAH enclosure. Pssssst. It's the same thing! Shhhhhhh. Keep that between us. In 2023 I built the Colorsound inductorless, as well as a Bespeco Weeper clone. This one will be the Colorsound and when the Weeper will get a home is beyond me. If you do decided to buy one of these from Aliexpress please note that sometimes they're missing parts. The parts with mine came thrown into the box, and probably fell out of the cracks in the box in transit. Just a buyer beware situation. Overall, not a bad deal for a DIY wah pedal.