The Steel Guitar Forum

My first Goodrich lasted for almost ten years before the pot got scratchy. Now my new Goodrich already has pot problems. It seems the pots that come in v-pedals these days are utter garbage, noisy, scratchy from the get-go.

I'm three shakes from dumping them all and getting a photo-cell or infra-red pedal like a Hilton.

How durable are the photo-cell pedals?

thanks,
Drew

Drew,If you are throwing yours away send them up here,I've got a couple of students who love to have them,Stu

Drew, along with the many steel guitar players (and lead) that are using the Hilton, I understand he is also selling them to the major rock acts.

Drew, I've had my Hilton pedal for about 5 years, I bought it used, in new condition. I did have a problem with the cable pulling out of the pedal, which caused a minor electrical problem. Keith took care of the repair very quickly. It's an excellent product, Keith stands behind it, and it does give you the best sound. I also much prefer the feel of it to a pot pedal. I still have a couple of pot pedals, if I ever want to use them, but that's definitely the second option for me.

Ditto for me with the Hilton. I just put one of Tom Bradshaw's pots in my old Goodrich and it seems to work just fine, but that one is just for backup and rehearsal. It is sad that the new Goodrich pedals are shipping with these crappy pots. You'd think they'd figure this out and put a good one in. I've heard this many times now about the new Goodrich pot pedals.

I have a pot pedal also. Within weeks of being new it started scratching. I don't like it at all and should send it back because the pot is junk. But I have a question for all you experts. How much difference in the sound. I was told that a pot pedal was the way to go.(sound wise that is) I think that i'm going to try a Hilton also and keep the gooodrich for back up.

I have a Goodrich pedal that I like just fine, but I do not understand for the life of me why the people at Goodrich haven't addressed this problem. They couldn't possibly be unaware of it... it's been going on for a couple of years.
To me, that's like GM selling cars with leaky tires... then if it goes flat, they'll offer to put another leaky tire on for you.
Wierd. They've driven alot of people to buy Hilton pedals just out of sheer frustration.
Drew, on a more practical note: I just got some Dunlop pots from Tom Bradshaw, and they seem to work fine. His service is excellent.
Avoid Claristat and PEC pots.
-John

Buy a Hilton and you won't look back.
Don

i have had my Hilton for 2 years and used the dickens out of it with zero problems.
you will never go back to a pot once you own a Hilton

My Hilton pedal has 6 years of hard use on it, and it's still going strong.

3 tours and lots of gigs, no noise and the tone is better IMO with the hilton. No string changing either. Im gonna get another hilton as a backup, I hate pots so much.

I actually have one of the prototypes. Jeff Peterson used this one with Clint Black for a couple years. No problems whatsoever. Brings out the high end I always missed with pot pedals.

I might be wrong, but I think the problem is really not Goodrich's fault. Pots are a lot like tubes--an old technology rapidly becoming extinct except in musical equipment applications (think about all your other electronic gadgets--do any of them have knobs for controls?), so it is becoming, or has become, impossible to obtain good pots because no one is making them. Cheap pots can work fine as amp controls because they're not asked to hold up under thousands and thousands of turnings like a volume pedal pot.

The problem is not with Goodrich, I am sure they are using the best available. But the best available ain't good enough.

I switched to a HILTON, and wow, wonderful sound.

Ron

I have 2 Goodrich LDR2's ...made the switch to these about 6 years ago, never missed a beat since! Tone is constant at all levels.

We are a Hilton Distributor with FREE SHIPPING in the lower 48 states

www.fredjusticemusic.com
928-425-9485
fredsmusic@cableone.net

I gave up Pot pedals almost 2 years ago. I bought a used Goodrich LDR and it works perfectly. I plan to buy a Hilton from FRED JUSTICE for a back up one of these days.


JW

Tom Bradshaw has long term replacement pots that work just fine.

Yes, what Kevin said, and that's why I do hold Goodrich responsible. If there are better pots available, why aren't they using them or at least trying to find some better ones? It's not like these are a bargain device, they're fairly pricy. Just my $.02

Michael, you make a good point. If they are available why aren't they being used?

I have a Goodrich PH-1 low profile light beam pedal. I bought it when they first came out in, I believe, 1984. Despite the fact that it's a light beam setup, it still has a 100K ohm pot in it. I had to replace the pot 4 years ago. I have used that pedal continuously all those years with no problems whatsoever. The new pot cost $20.00 plus postage. I love this pedal and would never change. Y'all are correct about the pots that are being made today. . .they're pretty poor. Even Allen-Bradley's are reportedly not up to snuff anymore. Some old technologies just seem to hang on forever in the steel guitar world. After all, we're still using microphone stands for legs (or derivatives of them). The reason we're still using ceramic pot volume pedals is that no one has made anything better. Y'all are also correct in stating that these pots were NEVER intended to be rotated back and forth that many 100's of thousands of times.
PRR

I still use my Msa volume pedal whch is at least 34 years old.It is gear driven as i never cared for the old string pedals as the string sliped so much.See that problem has been corected.It had an A/B pot and don't recall how long it had been in there.It gave out some time back and i got a pot from Tom Bradshaw.It still works great.Going to be intersting to see how long it lasts.
I bought a new Goodrich volume pedal some years back and gave it away.Didn't know about Toms volume pots at the time.

What's the track record on these Tom Bradshaw pots? How long have they been around? What's the longest anyone knows of one lasting in use (so far)?

I seem to recall Bobbe Seymour posting that he found, and stocks a pot that's better than what has been commonly available in recent years.

I switched to Hilton pedals about 3 or so years ago. They are great. If they do have any problems Keith will take care of it pronto. Keep in mind that battle condition repairs are pretty much out of the question with the new electronic stuff. Lately I have been using a new fresh out of the box Goodrich lowboy volume pedal. It has been working fine with no problems for 6 months now. It is way less hassle. I keep a Goodrich and a Hilton in my pac a seat. I pull out the Goodrich if I don't feel like messing with the power supply of the Hilton.