wah sound issues

[wothard4242]

I purchased a crybaby classic wah about a week ago. The issue is:

Somewhere in the middle of the pedal position, there is a loud, irritating fuzzy sound. It sounds similar to the sound of dust in a volume nob on a guitar.

How can I get the tone pure?

[Brad1]

The most obvious things are to:

Clean the pot.

If that doesn't work, change the pot.

If that doesn't work...it MAY be something else...(but it's a good bet it's the pot).

Brad1

[wothard4242]

thanks!
but I have no clue how it could have been damaged or gotten dirty.
it is only about a week old...
Its worth a try though!

[Mark Hammer]

Even sealed pots get dirty. Huh? How can dirt get in there? Simple, the pot makes its own dirt. How? The pot provides a resistive strip made of a resistive compound, and shaped in a semicircle. The two ends are riveted and secured to solder lugs. The total resistance from end to end is "divided" by a movable contact that is essentially a mini spring that maintains its contact because it is pressing against the resistive strip. Moving that wiper back and forth over the same surface (and what gets "wiped" more than the middle area that has to be passed by on the way to the toe position and on the way to the heel position?) starts to wear off particles of the resistive compound, and that produces the internal dirt.

If you are careful, you can pry open the tabs that hold the back of the pot in place. Once the back is off, you can carefully clean the surface of the resistive strip with a cotton-tipped swab and a little bit of isopropyl alchohol, being careful not to bump into the wiper.

Is there some preventative maintenance you can do before replacing the cover? Depends. If the resistive strip is wearing away, then that creates a kind of micro-gap between the wiper and strip that needs to be accounted for. Some folks might consider trying to retension the wiper contact to make up for the bigger gap. I'm a little dubious of that because it is easy to screw up the wiper. What I use instead is a commercial compound called Stabilant (www.stabilant.com) which is a viscous contact enhancer (not a cleaner), that provides a highly conductive surface on the resistive strip, reduced friction, and adds a teeny weeny bit of surface thickness by being a chemical layer. Miracles are not always guaranteed with this stuff, but I've been very impressed with it, and make it a point these days to pop the backs off all new pots I buy, apply a bit, and put the backs on again, simply to give myself the peace of mind that these things will NEVER crackle under my watch.

[wothard4242]

thank you very much!

all that sounds a little risky though...

I have a very little experience with such things...I just play, I rarely ask how the sounds are happening

these repairs could be done easily by a professional
could they not?

I think i'll take the safe way out

but again thank you again for the help

[olddawg]

Even sealed pots get dirty. Huh? How can dirt get in there? Simple, the pot makes its own dirt. How? The pot provides a resistive strip made of a resistive compound, and shaped in a semicircle. The two ends are riveted and secured to solder lugs. The total resistance from end to end is "divided" by a movable contact that is essentially a mini spring that maintains its contact because it is pressing against the resistive strip. Moving that wiper back and forth over the same surface (and what gets "wiped" more than the middle area that has to be passed by on the way to the toe position and on the way to the heel position?) starts to wear off particles of the resistive compound, and that produces the internal dirt.

If you are careful, you can pry open the tabs that hold the back of the pot in place. Once the back is off, you can carefully clean the surface of the resistive strip with a cotton-tipped swab and a little bit of isopropyl alchohol, being careful not to bump into the wiper.

Is there some preventative maintenance you can do before replacing the cover? Depends. If the resistive strip is wearing away, then that creates a kind of micro-gap between the wiper and strip that needs to be accounted for. Some folks might consider trying to retension the wiper contact to make up for the bigger gap. I'm a little dubious of that because it is easy to screw up the wiper. What I use instead is a commercial compound called Stabilant (www.stabilant.com) which is a viscous contact enhancer (not a cleaner), that provides a highly conductive surface on the resistive strip, reduced friction, and adds a teeny weeny bit of surface thickness by being a chemical layer. Miracles are not always guaranteed with this stuff, but I've been very impressed with it, and make it a point these days to pop the backs off all new pots I buy, apply a bit, and put the backs on again, simply to give myself the peace of mind that these things will NEVER crackle under my watch.

Does this Stabilant stuff work on sider pots? It is always hard to come by the viscous stock lubricant that needs to be replaced after cleaning them so they wont bind and grind.

[Steve Conner]

If it's a week old, and you don't want to get your hands dirty, take it back for service or replacement under warranty.

[Brad1]

If it's a week old, and you don't want to get your hands dirty, take it back for service or replacement under warranty.

See...I assumed it was used. Mr. Conner has the MOST obvious answer.

Brad1

[wothard4242]

Oh no, it was brand new.

I was really just interested at how big of a problem it was

[Starrla1000]

I think you got the really rare one that has built in fuzz. just kidding. If you have strong leg muscles, rock the thing back and forth about 50 times. The thing might be 'too new' and in need of a short break in period. but if you have week legs, or just want it fixed quick, take it back for a replacement.