The Steel Guitar Forum

I've noticed that my Goodrich L120 has almost no travel.

Is this normal for this model. It seems to go from full to off in even less than the physical movement of the pedal.

Have you checked the point where the string engages the pot ?

When the pedal is all the way down is it much quieter than when you bypass the pedal ?

There is not much movement in the low pedals but that movement should be in the useful range for you.

There is very little difference between the pedal in fully down position and the guitars directly into the amp.

It just seems as though the first quarter of the pedals travel from the fully "up" position doesn't bring in the volume much at all and then it suddenly increases with a surge.

Grant...If you're pedal has a Clarostat pot, therein lies your problem I believe. My pedal was acting exactly like that until I replaced the pot with a Dunlop (available from Tom Bradshaw.)

David Nugent wrote:Grant...If you're pedal has a Clarostat pot, therein lies your problem I believe. My pedal was acting exactly like that until I replaced the pot with a Dunlop (available from Tom Bradshaw.)

Thanks David.

Is the Clarostat pot easy to identify compared to the Dunlop?

Grant...The word "Clarostat" should be stamped on the body of the pot. Removing the plate on the bottom of the pedal should expose the pot sufficiently to read the name.

David Nugent wrote:Grant...The word "Clarostat" should be stamped on the body of the pot. Removing the plate on the bottom of the pedal should expose the pot sufficiently to read the name.

Thanks David, I'll open it up and have a look.

When I first got mine, I had a similar observation about the L-10K. Would you happen to be playing through an amp or directly into a mixer (for practice)? When played directly into a mixer, I get very little "travel", as you describe. Could this be what is happening to you? My L-10K performs as expected when used with an amp.

Cheers,

Four possible causes...

The string is slipping, the pot is bad, the pot is wired wrong, or someone installed the wrong pot. If it has worked right recently, you can forget the last two.

It could be that someone has installed a linear pot, ie not audio taper. Check if there`s LIN or LOG stamped somewhere on the casing. Should be LOG , 500 K.