scratchy wah

[milkshape]

I have a Dunlop Wah with the Fasel inductor that is scratchy, it is exactly 1 month old. Is this expected? Do I need to clean the pot already? Should I take it back?

[jefrs]

One month old? - take it back, it cost enough.

The original wah types have a pot operated by a cam and the pots do get scratchy, after a few years. The cure is to replace the pot with one of best quality available. There again, the wah is not the quietest pedal on the board: moving parts.

[milkshape]

I'm running it off a 9V, I thought that may have been the problem. Fresh battery has no effect on the scratch. It does have a pot, but it looks fairly heavy duty to me. Maybe the grease from the rack got in there?

[neocaster]

I'd say hit it with some tuner cleaner before you go replacing the pot. Radio Shack has it in spray cans, but you'll have to buy it in-store, they won't ship it. Link to product

[jefrs]

Yes, you can get stuff to clean pots. But a pot should not go bad in just one month. My Color-Sound has had just three pots since I bought it in 1974. Grease does not get into a pot by itself even on the rack, it's a duff pot.

Dunlops are expensive, they are supposed to be kicked about a stage, they should last many years, they should not be scratchy - take it back

[bo]

They all get scratchy. If you can't hear it when you're playing don't worry about it. I used to use the hiss (when the distortion was on...) and scratch of my old Cry Baby to simulate wind (with a little reverb to add "space").

[klasaine]

Unfortunately, these days, pots are fairly inconsistent in their quality. I had a 'brand new' CTS get scratchy within a month. For what it's worth I "believe" CTS recommends WD-40. I used it and that pot in question has been 'scratch' free for at least two years now(?).
Caig 'De-Oxit" and "Pro-Gold" are also excellent.

[Vizcaster]

Unfortunately it's a recurring problem but you should get it replaced under warranty. Where the warranty has expired, then check and see if it is an old-style pot that's a giant version of your volume and tone controls, with a thin metal shell clamped onto the body of the pot. If so then you can pry off the cover, drill a hole in it and replace it - then close the hole with a piece of electrical tape and use it for access with a spray tube with tuner shower/contact cleaner periodically. By the way, that stuff needs to soak in for a little while before it actually works. But it isn't perfect and will eventually need to be replaced.

If it's the new style "Hot Potz II" pot with a cylindrical black plastic body without a metal shell? Those things are supposed to be good for something like a million cycles so if it's scratchy you have a bad one.

[robrohdeszudy]

Uh, don't go spraying DeOXIT in a pot. Use tuner cleaner. They're very different things. DeOXIT removes oxidation and leaves no residue. Tuner cleaner leaves a lubricant. It matters.
--Rob

Originally Posted by klasaine

Unfortunately, these days, pots are fairly inconsistent in their quality. I had a 'brand new' CTS get scratchy within a month. For what it's worth I "believe" CTS recommends WD-40. I used it and that pot in question has been 'scratch' free for at least two years now(?).
Caig 'De-Oxit" and "Pro-Gold" are also excellent.

[robrohdeszudy]

And if you wanna get fancy, there's a wah mod that puts in an opto-isolator. Then your pot can get bad enough to have completley dead spots before you can hear it replace it. I haven't done it, but it is supposed to have almost no effect on the tone. A web search should turn up the details if you want to go that way. Or PM me.
--Rob

[CIM]

Just caught up with this thread - there's a lot of suggestions regarding spray cleaner but AFAIK Dunlop use Hot Potz potentiometers which are sealed for long life dust free operation so you probably can't get any spray in a sealed pot.

If it makes a pot scratch type noise after a month it is faulty and should be returned IMHO.

[Vizcaster]

I'm not sure the Hot Potz sealed potentiometers are standard for all the new models, they might just be replacement/upgrades?

[klasaine]

Originally Posted by robrohdeszudy

Uh, don't go spraying DeOXIT in a pot. Use tuner cleaner. They're very different things. DeOXIT removes oxidation and leaves no residue. Tuner cleaner leaves a lubricant. It matters.
--Rob

+1 on that. My faux pau regarding specifically the "DeOxit".

[jefrs]

Milkshape, have you taken that wah back yet?

Dunlop wahs are not supposed to be scratchy at 6 weeks old. It won't get better by itself.

If you monkey with it, it will invalidate warranty.

Ask to exchange it for a good one not repair under warranty because it's been poxed from new.

What are you waiting for?

[Smokin' Joe Picante]

Dunlop is actually pretty good for replacing these things. Seems pretty much ALL the regular GCB-95's will (at some point) develop a faulty on/off switch and / or pot problem. If it's only a month old, the retailer or Dunlop directly should replace the pot no problem if you've got the receipt.