Scratchy wah pedal?

[bluesjones]

I have a scratchy pot on my wah pedal. I've tried white lightning oil....even tried some WD-40 before the white lightning.

I can step on the pedal and it'll be scratchy for a few turns then it kind of cleans up. But, it acts that way every time.

Any suggestions??

[TheGoodTexan]

Steve - put down the wah wah pedal and slowly walk away. Grab a cord and plug your guitar directly into your amp.

[bluesjones]

There's nothing like a good sense of humor this early in the am!!....ha/ha

I see that coffee's got you thinking huh??.....

[TheGoodTexan]

Already downed a 24-ounce Mt. Dew, and just about to start my 2nd cup of coffee.

Steve- you need a new tone pot. Dunlop packages them and sells them seperately, for a couple of different models. I know that Mark stocks them.

Even if you do get this one clean, it will most likely begin to get scratchy again, fairly quickly....in the middle of your next gig.

[biker joe]

Instead of white lightning or wd-40, try some electronic contact cleaner. Other than that, I've had pots that seem to majically clean themselves over time. Or you can get upgraded pots from other pedal dealers too. I know fulltone sells a better replacement pot. I'm sure you could also get parts or send in your pedal to analogmike or keeley.

[tlpruitt]

If cleaning the pot doesn't fix it and you want to replace the pot then I highly recommend the Fulltone replacement pot. Many places offer them for less than the Dunlop replacement pot and the Fulltone wah pot sounds great.

I have had success cleaning guitar and amp pots but I have never had much luck cleaning wah pots. In my experience the pot may sound okay for a little while after being cleaned but the scratchy sounds usually come back in a few days or weeks.

-Tim

[lenny]

wd 40 is not the best lubricant because it is also a cleaner. it will clean off any old lube or grease or whatever, so in applications where you want some lube to cling to parts its not so hot

[bluesjones]

It's great to get a lot of great ideas when something goes wrong with my gear....even with a sense of humor (Bruce!)....

Thanks again...

[photoweborama]

For cleaning pots, you don't want to use WD40 or any other type of lubricant. You need to use contact cleaner that leaves no residue, like MG chemicals no residue contact cleaner.

If you use WD40 it leaves a residue that later collect crud that makes it even worse.

Problem is the pot is worn. No amount of cleaning can fix that.

Also, I've been told the pots on Dunlop Wah's are sealed, so you can't really get cleaner into the area that needs to be cleaned. Like it has been said, Dunlop has pots you can buy. They sell so many different parts for them; you can almost assemble a complete pedal.

[spameister]

Wow, this is an old post, but ill put my remedy down anyway. I have a scratchy dunlop crybaby classic. The scratchyness gradually build and builds until it becomes horrific- the first time this happened i cracked it open to see if everything was in order underneath. It was- but while i was poking around in there, the screwdriver touched a piece of metal just near the pot- its too hard to describe without a pic. The wah made a terrible noise (it was plugged in) which got worse as i rocked the wah back and forth, as if I was causing static.

When I put the wah back together, there was only the slightest hint of scratchiness. It was, in fact, perfectly usable by my means. I have done this on a number on occasions now, and it has worked perfectly every time.

Has this ever worked for anyone else?

[marc sosnoff]

i think its time for a new pot no doubt go with the fulltone pot not only will your pot problem go away but the pedal tone will improve alot

i put one in my 15 yr old vox and big improvement while you have it opened up true bypass it it wll be with your time and investment

[spameister]

My pedal is less than 6 months old, and already has true bypass. For the mean time, its sounding great.

[SixStringSlinger]

If all else fails, I think Morley makes a wah (or a few) without pots, some optical-something or other.

[ramseybella]

Change the POT not worth the pain of spraying!!

[aznrambo481]

Originally Posted by SixStringSlinger

If all else fails, I think Morley makes a wah (or a few) without pots, some optical-something or other.

The morley uses LED's somehow...

My friend has a 70's Morley, amazing, widest sweep i've ever heard on a wah. Don't know how the current ones are.