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Colorsound WahWah Supremo.Anybody seen/heard one? (W/ pics)

Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 12:14 pm
by germanium mash
Hello all... been a while since I last posted.

I have been wrestling with which model Colorsound fuzz wah I preferred for a while and then decided to upgrade the rest of my FX chain around that.( killing time/ in the playing doldrums while waiting for a certain blue F-zz S--nd... :captain:
Then I saw a Colorsound Wahwah Supremo come up for sale in the UK a while back.
Like this;

Image

Image

And I thought, "I'll have that one instead".
(After the seller had agreed to accept a bid from OS)

So I bought it for an OK price ( I think it was), considering the label was peeling off the front and one of the switches was advertised as "being broken"...
(more on the switches later).
It looked a bit rougher than these two pics from the auction may appear to show,when I first got it in the mail. I have a few more pics if anyone cares to see the transformation back to clean, fully working status... :party:

I was just wondering if someone may know if there were very many of these made,or for how many years Colorsound made them?
( I wasn't sure if I should put this in the 'Just Porn' thread but it's kind-of unobtainium-grade out here in the Antipodes,at least.)
Thanks... :cheers:

Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 2:18 pm
by Nick
wow congrats! was wondering where that one ended up!
apparently the Supremo is two wah-wah circuits in series so it should sound very interesting :tu:

Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 2:34 pm
by DiscoFreq
Yes, that was a good price, the cheapest Supremo I saw in the last 3-4 years :)

Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 5:06 pm
by TheWarmth
Please do post pics of the cleaned up and repaired unit! I'd like to see how it turned out. What are your thoughts on the tone?

Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 5:21 pm
by get_with_it
I remember it well - two wahs - which work in opposite directions .
So it can wah - it can haw - or both at the same time .
Thats a real Larry Macari idea - i can just imagine him bringing it to the table and being really excited about it !!!

hope you get it up to speed - would like to hear that again.

As for numbers made etc - not loads , it was when business was starting to die a bit , and the majority in the expensive chrome case .

good luck with it

Re: Colorsound WahWah Supremo.Anybody seen/heard one? (W/ pi

Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 10:22 pm
by Graham
Mine is the "normal" grey not chrome but (I think - it's a bit buried) is missing its front label. They were definitely only built in small numbers. Mine is an interesting enough sounding pedal but nothing to shout about - saying that my memory gets worse all the time so tomorrow I'll dig mine out and give it a spin - add some more.

On fuzz wahs - I have been solidly into CS fuzz wahs all my playing life (i.e since they were new!) and have dozens (probably) and I am still a sucker for them - But for me the very best of them all is the 3 knob version as it just gives you so may more options - Yes I have particular examples of the regular wide bodied yellow WFS that are sublime - similarly a few of the 3rd party branded ones are wonderful - I have a CMI that is mega - also I could pick out a really good wah fuzz straight - and probably a fine wide bodied "blue" -another cool Carlsboro - I think what I'm saying is that - from a perspective of owning multiples of all the regular versions, it's a bit like fuzz faces in that you get good, great and brilliant with the occasional dog - sometimes you'll find one that is genuinely outstanding and those are simply amazing.. Unfortunately the switching arrangements often left a bit to be desired - and they also have a nasty habit of getting a bit "noisier" with age. Not that you can't get them fixed up - but then you reduce value on resale particularly if the pot or switch has been replaced.

What I can say is that the 3 knob versions I have (currently around 3 or 4 yellows a grey and a chrome or two) are pretty uniformly great sounding pedals and the added flexibility lets you dial in the sound you really want - OK on some of the less fancy models you get a trimmer to play with - I have rarely bothered myself - all in all the 3 knobbers do it for me - maybe their being a different fuzz build (they use the exact same board as found in all the 3 vertically set 3rd party "Fuzz Units" B&M, GB, CSL etc) means they develop less problems as they get older - maybe its just that those boards were a few years later built??

Anyway - my distillation of owning and playing many of them including what must have been just about every version of them since the 70's (saying that I got an oddity the other month I'd not had before box and all - a "Trucker Side" I think it was called, had a wah but not the combo -- Basically sounds like all the rest but must have been built in small numbers!!


Graham

:mrgreen:

Re:

Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 9:06 am
by germanium mash
TheWarmth wrote:Please do post pics of the cleaned up and repaired unit! I'd like to see how it turned out. What are your thoughts on the tone?
Thanks for the responses everyone.

I'll add more pics but I've got to reduce the file sizes first.
As for sound, it's pretty much like Ant (or Steve? described) A twin-wah circuit ,but I'm not 100% sure if the reverse button works on both single and twin-inductor circuits. It certainly is a pretty unique sounding thing (in my experience). I've seen one of the twin inductor sounds described in a review as "sounding like a ring mod with a light phase plus a wah"...

And that's not too far from the truth. Or maybe an envelope follower with a wah?
If you've heard a Roland Funny Cat on a medium/quiet setting, it's that kind of soft 'swishing' sound that shifts with the wah sweep. It can sound like a subtle flange/ phasing effect at times too. ( I've also been experimenting with the Supremo & a Z.Vex Ringtone ring-mod I got for cheap too.) :freakout:
I haven't identified a 'haw' sound yet (As such), but there are three good, distinct usable sounds here,including that great classic Colorsound wah. At least two of those sounds are something it's only just possible to have with some recent twin-inductor wah circuits... but this pedal covers some sonic territory & edges that the old EH fuzzwahs and Talking Pedal/Queen synth pedals don't visit,or it just sounds a little more musical to my old ears... And the three 'sounds' are all footswitchable :tu: . I like the (apparent) scarcity of it too,it's probably the rarest thing I'll buy for a while.
Although I'd freak out if it died. ( Short story, it all works...)
Pics and more info coming...

Re: Colorsound WahWah Supremo.Anybody seen/heard one? (W/ pi

Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 10:29 am
by germanium mash
Back to the pedal... got over here OK in the usual Royal Mail double quick-time.

Down to the dirty stuff... Pedals bottom is missing the battery cover and the rubber tread strips, but I knew that already. Haven't included a shot of the bottom plate, it's in pretty sad shape.

Image

Internals of pedal are covered in what looks to be decomposed foam 'dust'. I had thought this was dust & dirt from a garage/shed jam-space going by the auction pics...But no, there's tape on the bottom plate where the foam used to be (to hold the battery in place I guess?). :hmm:

Started to realise it would be easier to properly clean up the pedal case if I pulled it apart ,when I noticed that a battery had leaked and there was a little more bad corrosion on the inside of the pedal than I had planned on. Not badly rusted, but it needed proper cleaning up / & treatment pretty quick...

Image

Re: Colorsound WahWah Supremo.Anybody seen/heard one? (W/ pi

Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 11:28 am
by germanium mash
So, I was committed to pulling it apart anyway, and I took the rocker treadle off the top.

Image

And then I had a look at the third button, on the side of the Supremo for changing the sweep of the second inductor. The black plastic cap over the top of the switch was fouling on the chrome 'tower' nut which has a lip on the top, presumably to keep the second 'switch cap' on. I'm not sure that switch cap that was on the pedal is stock.It would not slide up and down on that tall chrome external cylinder? :hmm:
But the switch seems to pop on & off with no problems without the black plastic 'second' cap. Faintly encouraging...
You can see the accumulated dirt & dust under the rocker from four decades or so of use and/or neglect(?). Then, I continued disassembling the pedal.
All the switches & wiring looked to be stock and the board and all connections came out easily.

Image

Then the task of 'cleaning' began, during which I didn't take any other pics. So you'll just have to make do with a written description of the carnage. :shocked2:
The vast majority of the foam 'debris' were removed from the board with a paint brush and light compressed air plus a quick, gentle wipe over the wiring with a clean rag. The bottom plate had the minor kink bent out straight as good as it could be again, and the old tape was taken off as well. The paint is still blistered on the bottom plate and it now has small round aftermarket rubber 'feet' and it still has no battery cover.
I couldn't make out a date code anywhere on the pot.
The case itself was a bit more labour-intensive and tedious to get cleaned up. Knocked the loose crap and the fluff out of the case interior first. Scraped off a little bit of blistered chrome plate, and gave the one or two tiny spots of through-corrosion on the case exterior a good working over. The polishing process was an arcane combination of processes & rituals occurring over roughly five nights... Steel wool,cloth,Scotchbrite, a couple of strangely pungent unguents for the brightening of metals and ,errrm... :scared: even some (clean) toilet paper were all used to renew the shine of the dull & dusty old chrome Supremo. :whistle:
The peeling label from the front had been carefully pulled off, and would be trimmed up and reglued back on later before the Wahwah Supremo was reassembled...

Re: Colorsound WahWah Supremo.Anybody seen/heard one? (W/ pi

Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 5:01 pm
by germanium mash
Graham wrote:Mine is the "normal" grey not chrome but (I think - it's a bit buried) is missing its front label. They were definitely only built in small numbers. Mine is an interesting enough sounding pedal but nothing to shout about - saying that my memory gets worse all the time so tomorrow I'll dig mine out and give it a spin - add some more.

On fuzz wahs - I have been solidly into CS fuzz wahs all my playing life (i.e since they were new!) and have dozens (probably) and I am still a sucker for them - But for me the very best of them all is the 3 knob version as it just gives you so may more options - Yes I have particular examples of the regular wide bodied yellow WFS that are sublime - similarly a few of the 3rd party branded ones are wonderful - I have a CMI that is mega - also I could pick out a really good wah fuzz straight - and probably a fine wide bodied "blue" -another cool Carlsboro - I think what I'm saying is that - from a perspective of owning multiples of all the regular versions, it's a bit like fuzz faces in that you get good, great and brilliant with the occasional dog - sometimes you'll find one that is genuinely outstanding and those are simply amazing.. Unfortunately the switching arrangements often left a bit to be desired - and they also have a nasty habit of getting a bit "noisier" with age. Not that you can't get them fixed up - but then you reduce value on resale particularly if the pot or switch has been replaced.

What I can say is that the 3 knob versions I have (currently around 3 or 4 yellows a grey and a chrome or two) are pretty uniformly great sounding pedals and the added flexibility lets you dial in the sound you really want - OK on some of the less fancy models you get a trimmer to play with - I have rarely bothered myself - all in all the 3 knobbers do it for me - maybe their being a different fuzz build (they use the exact same board as found in all the 3 vertically set 3rd party "Fuzz Units" B&M, GB, CSL etc) means they develop less problems as they get older - maybe its just that those boards were a few years later built??

Anyway - my distillation of owning and playing many of them including what must have been just about every version of them since the 70's (saying that I got an oddity the other month I'd not had before box and all - a "Trucker Side" I think it was called, had a wah but not the combo -- Basically sounds like all the rest but must have been built in small numbers!!


Graham
:mrgreen:
Hi Graham, I think I've seen pics of some of your "little stash" of gear...
Were you doing a book on Colorsound too,or something like that?
I've mostly had a few Fuzz+Wahs and Fuzz-Wah-Straight, four of those in total... A seventies and an eighties Fuzz-Wah-Straight ,and two different versions of the orange Fuzz+Wah. Plus a really early grey wah (or wah/swell?)
I just sold the latest modified F+W after I bought the Supremo.
I had a wide-case yellow Fuzz Wah Swell that I sold too. It had the three trimmer fuzz circuit similar to the boards in the seventies Vox Fuzz Wah Swell, but the mini-trimmers and the fuzz circuit were all on the one circuit board( with the wah circuit).
A friend of mine has a couple of vintage BMPs,Univox Super Fuzzes, and more than a few Mk3 TBs and Supas... And I'm not really into that sound so much, as it turns out. Or there are other things that seem to work better with my guitars and amps & playing.
I'd prefer a crunchy Mk.2/ Supa Fuzz or the Mk. IV/ Park Fuzz type of sound, a little bit 'tighter' in the bottom end,& not as hissy in the high treble.
( there's a F-zz S--nd :ztongue: in my future..., But I'd consider some drastic maneuvering for a FleshHead too :headpop: ) I bought an EH Muff Fuzz wah that I got well set-up and was going to pair that sweeping in reverse with a modded Colorsound,but the Supremo is probably the most compact & usable of the 'oddball' 70s wah/fuzz-wah/ synth/octave type pedals. And the reverse switch is foot-switchable on the Colorsound.
The IC "fuzz" in the Muff Fuzz wah isn't bad..., this is the second one of those I've had too, but I'm selling it to a friend.
Going to replace that with something that will hopefully be a good (cheaper) replacement for the Super Fuzz I sold off... I just can't get friendly with IC distortions or the Big Muff for some reason. Haven't tried a genuine Ram Head or triangle Muff, the Sovtek army green one was probably the best sounding version I've heard & used personally. Or maybe one of my friends' seventies TBs, but he also has an OC82D DAM Mk 2 that I want to steal first.
That same friend is interested in the Fuzz Phase (I think that's the one with the three knob fuzz on board?), which is also pretty rare from what I gather.
While I've got this thread/ topic open & current, has Graham or anyone else seen or heard the Dipthonizer? I know they're some kind of bow-yoy/dipthong device (speaking in basic terms), but are they any more 'vocal' sounding or 'vowelly' than a good wah pedal?
I'm aware the Dipthonizer usually sells for a bit, but I was curious how it might compare to say, an EH Talking Pedal? Which I found to be a bit of a one-trick pony, and not very usable while I owned one. And what exactly was the Colorsound Vocaliser??