When is a pot Shot?

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 20 Jul 2000 7:30 am

FWIW, I bought a Goodrich L-120 in the early 1980's. Since then I've played six nights/week for a couple of years, and played on average every other weekend since. I've NEVER had a pot problem and NEVER replaced the pot. I have changed pots on Sho-Bud, Dekley, and Emmons pedals so either I got a good one or the Goodrich pedals are more air and dust resistant than the others.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 20 Jul 2000 8:00 am

Keith, as a designer/manufacturer you must be concerned with equipment reliability. Part of that reliability is input protection of whatever type (signal overload, shorts, static, etc). However failsafe or reliable a piece of equipment is, there is still going to be failures. If things never failed warranties would not be needed and service technicians would not be needed. But, failures do occur, whether due to poor design, poor material QC/burn in, poor or no manufacture QC, premature component failure to do a manufacturing defect that did not show up in component QC acceptance, failure due to user abuse, and failure to to the age of the equipment. There's many reasons a component or unit can fail, but my experience as both a user and a technician says static electricity is not a major cause of component failures. I find most failures are either manufacture/assembly/QC or user induced.

I did an experiment back in the late 80's with some CMOS chips, in a digital device I had built, by intentionally touching them without grounding myself to eliminate any static. The chips were internally static protected and I was never able to cause the logic device to have an error or device failure, even with repeated "zaps".

As far as volume pedals that use pots, the MTBF is dependent on the user. Those of us that are not constantly up and down on the volume pedal will find the pot lasts much longer than those that are constantly using the volume pedal. I'm not passing judgement on proper user of the volume pedal, just commenting on the MTBF. Since the pot used is made to military standards and is "sealed" (for all practical purposes) the type of volume pedal design - open on the bottom like an Emmons pedal or closed like a Goodrich should have no influence on dirt getting into the pot.

Keith Hilton · Post by **Keith Hilton** » 20 Jul 2000 10:55 am

Jack, you have been around a few days like me. We both used to use Allen Bradley POTS, before Clarostat bought Allen Bradley out. Clarostat POTS are no longer made by American workers, they are made in MEXICO.
Jack, what is your HONEST opinion;Are the Clarostat POTS as good as the old Allen Bradley POTS? It just seems to me that the quality is not like it used to be with the Allen Bradley POTS made in America. We had a recent discussion about the fact that Clarostat no longer has a monoply on the world of steel guitar. This is because Paul Franklin Senior is selling a different company's POT. I am thrilled to death that people have a 2nd choice besides Clarostat. Way to go Paul Franklin!!!!!!

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Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 20 Jul 2000 2:46 pm

Keith, Allen Bradley moved production to Mexico before Clarostat bought them out. Supposedly the only difference between the two is the Clarostat name on the pot instead of Allen Bradley. However, the American made Allen Bradley pots, from what I remember going back to my Air Force days, were made with a stronger metal enclosure. So if the metal enclosure does not use the same gauge metal who's to say what else is different internally. I don't think I have an American Allen Bradley to compare with or I'd take a couple apart and see if there's any visual difference.

I think the competition will help stabilize the price of the pots. The big problem is the fact that that particular model pot is almost exclusively used for volume pedals and the market for them is relatively small, which causes the pot to be priced the way it is. If it was a common value pot used in many applications the price would be a lot less than what it is.

The only problem I have with the competition pot is it's only rated for 25,000 operations where the Clarostat is rated for 75,000 operations. The 25K may turn out to be a conservative rating or it may turn out to be close to the actual useful life of the pot.
We'll have to wait and see what the track record is for those pots after about a year or so.

sylvainvallieres · Post by **sylvainvallieres** » 22 Jul 2000 1:30 pm

hello guys,I got this problem now with my Emmons volume pedal,it's a "66" and my pot was a Allen bradley ,clearly what the best part number for replacement,I've try to understand all the post before but sometime I got some problem to understand well in English "I'm a French Canadian" any help appreciate,thank's

Keith Hilton · Post by **Keith Hilton** » 22 Jul 2000 5:12 pm

Your best bet is to contact Al Brisco in Ontario, Canada. He has the replacement POT you need, in stock.

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sylvainvallieres · Post by **sylvainvallieres** » 22 Jul 2000 6:13 pm

Thank you very much Keith,I try to contact him