Bad Goodrich pots, but kudos to Jerry Roller

Al Carey · Post by **Al Carey** » 29 May 2013 3:24 am

I have a Goodrich L120, the pot got noisy. No big deal, contact Jerry Roller and buy a new pot.

Install the new pot, everything's good... For about a week, then it's noisy again.

Contact Jerry again, he's happy to replace it.

New pot arrives, install it, everything's good again. For about a week, then it's noisy again!

I have another Goodrich, and a Sho-Bud VP, both of those are quiet with everything else the same.

Can I be doing something wrong? I know how to solder, so I'm certain I'm not overheating it. Mechanically, it moves smoothly and freely.

I understand from Jerry that Goodrich doesn't warranty the pots because they don't make them. I really appreciate the fact that Jerry does stand behind what he sells, and if I'm doing something wrong, I don't want to be taking advantage of him.

Anyone have any ideas?

Tim Marcus · Post by **Tim Marcus** » 29 May 2013 7:55 am

same thing happened to me and from what I understand its common

I think the PEC pots are not good for very many cycles.

I put one in midway through my last tour, and after a week of 45 minute sets it was staticy sounding again. This time its noisy closer to the off position rather than the on position so its much more usable - but there is no way I cycled it a million times in a week. My right ankle would look like the Hulk's ankle if that was the case.

I bought 4 more pots wholesale and will just keep replacing them until I find a good one I guess. Luckily after a few times replacing the pot you can get it down to about a 5 minute job - much faster than changing strings, but a bit more expensive.

Stephen Cowell · Post by **Stephen Cowell** » 29 May 2013 8:54 am

You might try lubing them after you change them... RatShak electronics cleaner/lube has mineral oil and it's cheap... Caig Pro-Gold is high-$ and probably the best, there are other products too.

Tim Marcus · Post by **Tim Marcus** » 29 May 2013 9:39 am

I think they might be sealed

this is the exact pot:
http://www.amazon.com/PEC-Guitar-Potent ... B003IXS8G4

not terribly expensive, but they do add up if they only last a week

Al Carey · Post by **Al Carey** » 29 May 2013 11:51 am

Thanks for the help guys. Do you have any experience with the Dunlop pots?

Gary Cosden · Post by **Gary Cosden** » 29 May 2013 12:14 pm

I have a Goodrich VP that's scratchy as well. FWIW I have purchased 2 Dunlop pots in the past and both have held up considerably better than the one that came in my Goodrich. I plan on buying another in the near future.

Cartwright Thompson · Post by **Cartwright Thompson** » 29 May 2013 2:53 pm

I've had the same experience with a pot from Jerry, lasted about a week. It's not his fault , the new pots are just hit or miss. I liike the sound of a pot pedal but I've gone back to the Hilton because it is faultless.

John Groover McDuffie · Post by **John Groover McDuffie** » 29 May 2013 6:33 pm

I have a Dunlop pot I purchased from Tom Bradshaw and it isn't scratchy after over a year, but I was not able to adjust it so that it turns all the way off.
Not really a problem if I am playing steel the whole gig, but if I am doubling I need a pedal that will completely mute the sound of the steel.

Glenn Uhler · Post by **Glenn Uhler** » 29 May 2013 7:35 pm

See my other post under Jerry Overstreet's VP Pot Quality post for a discussion of why pots are "hit or miss" as Cartwright puts it.

Tim Marcus · Post by **Tim Marcus** » 29 May 2013 8:28 pm

John Groover McDuffie wrote:I have a Dunlop pot I purchased from Tom Bradshaw and it isn't scratchy after over a year, but I was not able to adjust it so that it turns all the way off.
Not really a problem if I am playing steel the whole gig, but if I am doubling I need a pedal that will completely mute the sound of the steel.

you need to rewind the string so that the pot turns all the way off - this is a mechanical issue not an electronic one. Check out Greg Cutshaws tutorial

Clyde Mattocks · Post by **Clyde Mattocks** » 29 May 2013 8:43 pm

Got a Dunlop pot from Tom Bradshaw in one of my Emmons pedals thats been going for at least four years.

John Groover McDuffie · Post by **John Groover McDuffie** » 30 May 2013 8:25 am

Tim Marcus wrote:you need to rewind the string so that the pot turns all the way off - this is a mechanical issue not an electronic one. Check out Greg Cutshaws tutorial

Do you mean this one? http://www.gregcutshaw.com/Goodrich%201 ... 20Pot.html

(I have previously reviewed that page carefully to try and solve this problem.)

If you look at the tables down the page you will see that even at 0 deg rotation the resistance (which I assume he is measuring from the ground lug to the wiper lug) is 180 Ohms. That appears not to be an installation issue. I believe these pots are manufactured for use in a wah pedal, where having the wiper go to ground would not be as crucial as in a volume pedal. - No?

I have replaced pots in Goodrich and Sho-Bud pedals many times and have not had the same problem with any other pots.

As I said it is only a serious problem if you are leaving the PSG unattended to play another instrument, so full-time PSG players may not notice as much.

Tim Marcus · Post by **Tim Marcus** » 30 May 2013 9:35 am

got it. 180R to ground is pretty minimal but I guess its just enough to let some signal through. That would be a problem if you are stepping away from the steel to play guitar.

Its kind of annoying that modern pedal steels do not have a volume and tone knob - however, as a temporary solution you can try one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/musical-instruments/dp/B0002NIAAM

John Groover McDuffie · Post by **John Groover McDuffie** » 30 May 2013 10:23 am

Well, I could also install a mute switch in my Matchbox, but then again I can for now use my Sho-Bud pedal which has an old Allen-Bradley pot in it which for now is hangin' in!

Jerry Roller · Post by **Jerry Roller** » 30 May 2013 6:10 pm

Al, not that it matters but another Goodrich dealer told me that Goodrich does stand behind the pots. I think I saw in literature some years ago that they could not guarantee the pots and I took that to be true today. Either way, I stand behind what I sell. I have had very good luck with the new High Life pots but it appears they are not always perfect. I will send your two returns in and it appears that perhaps they will be replaced for me. I also stock the Dunlop pots but out of respect for Mr. Bradshaw I do not advertise them. I will at your request replace this second bad one with a Dunlop. Thanks for the nice comments concerning my business ethics. That is most important to me.
Jerry

Jerry Roller · Post by **Jerry Roller** » 30 May 2013 6:19 pm

Concerning the rotation from off to full volume I have found that all pot pedals I have used do not go from absolute quiet to absolute full volume. They are designed that way to protect the pot. (My on personal observation). When the pot is installed it needs to be carefully adjusted so that the pot shaft does not become a stop for the travel as this can be very hard on the pot. If this were not the case they could put a slightly larger pulley are allow a little more pedal travel. Through trial and error you can set the pot so that it starts coming on with the very slightest movement of the pedal but you will not quite get full volume in full on position.
Jerry

Frank Parish · Post by **Frank Parish** » 7 Jun 2013 8:16 pm

I bought two of the long life pots from Jerry and until tonight I thought they were ok but I found out it wasn't my wiring of them. I use one at home just for practice so it doesn't get to hit the stage and it's hard to really tell if you're not in a stage performance and cranking it up for some volume. I've been experiencing some tone issues with my old LTD and just thought it was me or the room because I've been playing a different room every time I go out to play. Tonight I just wasn't having much for tone and on the break I put the Hilton on and it all changed then. The Bass player was Malcom Kirby a steel player himself and he told me about this post so I thought I'd take a look when I got home. I don't know what's going on with that pot but they can call it long life if they want but I never seen one lose it's tone like that. Last week in Kentucky it was all bass and tonight it was real weak for volume,sustain and not much on tone at all. I put the Hilton on and it was normal and a whole lot of difference. I'm using an old Franklin stereo pedal that I've rewired to just one input and three outputs with the new PEC pot. It was fine for a while and now it's doing everything I told you here. I thought I had my pot problems fixed but apparently not. I tried the Dunlop from Tom Bradshaw a few years ago and I think it works ok but the soldering was so much of a pain I got rid of them because it was never a good connection so I just got rid of them. I even traded one off for a pot that was scratchy so that was a real bust. I do love the Hilton but i still like the sound of the old pot pedals and the response they have the best.

Lane Gray · Post by **Lane Gray** » 9 Jun 2013 11:29 am

Almost everybody that sells a Dunlop will solder leads onto it if you ask them. At that point it gets easy.

Jerry Foster · Post by **Jerry Foster** » 11 Jun 2013 9:24 am

I don't mean to be funny, But I got rid of the pot pedals 5 years ago & bought a Hilton foot pedal & I havn't had any problems sence. Jerry F.

John Groover McDuffie · Post by **John Groover McDuffie** » 11 Jun 2013 10:24 am

Update - after reading this thread I fooled around with my Goodrich pedal with the Dunlop pot, and was able to adjust it so it is more fully off at the heel down position. One small problem I noticed is that the pedal will not stay in the extreme heel-down position. When released it "opens" up about 1/8". I guess that the spring is slightly too weak to keep it all the way down, but in looking at it I don't see a simple way to increase the spring tension. But anyway, it is better now.

I suggest cutting a screwdriver slot in the end of the pot shaft to make it easier to tweak the pot rotational position when securing the pulley set-screw. I didn't want to remove the pot to do that, but will do so before installing another pot.

Bill Ferguson · Post by **Bill Ferguson** » 11 Jun 2013 10:51 am

I also am a Goodrich dealer and have had hardly any problem with the new pots. And Goodrich has made good on any bad ones.

Alexander Stepanenko · Post by **Alexander Stepanenko** » 15 Jun 2013 2:43 am

I also have the L-120,the pot got noisy(((

Jerry South · Post by **Jerry South** » 5 Sep 2013 5:44 am

Hey guys, I found these on Ebay $5.50 each and free shipping. Allen Bradley RV4 500K Potentiometer Audio Taper NOS Type J USA

eBay item number: 221269590116

Mike Wheeler · Post by **Mike Wheeler** » 5 Sep 2013 6:53 am

If there was a way to affix a pulley to that short shaft, I would buy a bunch of them.

It's too bad one can't just swap out the shafts.

Daniel Policarpo · Post by **Daniel Policarpo** » 6 Sep 2013 12:41 am

hey Jerry and everybody, do you know if eBay item # 221269590116 will work for Fender Re-issue Volume pedals?

Thanks,
Dan

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Bad Goodrich pots, but kudos to Jerry Roller

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