The Steel Guitar Forum

I bought a brand new Goodrich 120 volume pedal just about 1 year ago, couldn't have more than 6-7 hours playing time on it, and the pot is already bad! It has the "One Million Cycle High Life" 500k pot. Hardly. I don't suppose there is any kind of warranty on this? I have tried calling Goodrich numerous times, all I get is a recording, I leave a message but they don't return my calls. Looks like I have to break down and buy a new pot (or look into a new Hilton pedal), this one is sealed so I can't spray contact cleaner in it. Anyone else have this problem so soon? Not real happy with Goodrich.

So, after reading a bunch of posts on these VP's I'm gonna go ahead and try the drill and spray method, what the heck. Damn the Torpedoes!

Well, that's disheartening. I thought the new Million cycle pots were supposed to take care of these frequent replacement problems. Looks like I'll have to re-think my purchase options. At the price you pay for these things these days, I'd think it's in Goodrich's best interest to at least send you a replacement pot N/C. Bummer

Keep us posted if you please.

An afterthought, if you haven't used it much lately, you might just try exercising it through several dozen cycles to see if it will clean up. Sometimes that helps.

In 07', mine was bad right out of the box, brand new. I replaced it with a pot that I bought from Paul Franklin Sr.
Unfortunately, That one didn't last very long, either. So. I replaced that one with one of the Dunlop pots from Tom Bradshaw. It's been doing well ever since.

*Greg Cutshaw has a very good tutorial on wiring one up.

Good luck, DH

From what I understand, allowing the pedal to sit idle in one position will cause a flat spot to develop in the pot over time and may cause the scratchiness you are experiencing. This also may explain why a new pedal would have this same problem if it sat on the shelf for a while before it was purchased...Before any drilling, you may want to try the method that Jerry suggested and cycle the pedal several times, it may save some unecessary work....Best of luck.

what everyone else said! or for that matter, if you're only going to play it seven hours a year, try it without the volume pedal.

I have a L120 that I sent to Jim Palanscar for a pot replacement and it sounds nice. Also, for anyone who has a VP sitting on a basement floor there can be a dampness factor that can oxidize the pot and add to the scratchy situation.

Lenny

...allowing the pedal to sit idle in one position will cause a flat spot to develop in the pot over time...

Actually, it does not create a flat spot per se, but it can allow oil or dirt to accumulate at the spot where the wiper sits for a long period of time. This can often be remedied by cycling the pot fully a few dozen times to wipe this contamination to one end of the the resitor pad or the other, where it will not interfere.

Thanks for all the tips! It didn't sit longer than 2 months at a time, and when it did, I made sure it sat in the fully backed off position, and if it was in the case with the steel, it was in the full down/forward position. More annoying than a lightly used "High Life" pot going bad so soon, is the non-existant customer service from Goodrich. I will try calling them again 2 or 3 times next week, and if I still don't get a human on the line, I'm fixing the pot one way or the other and getting rid of it. I really wasn't crazy about this pedal anyway, it reacts just like the Ernie Ball I had before this one, and I didn't care for the response of that one either. And why no Goodrich website? Heck, everyone has a website! Geez. I got a bud who says Telonics pedals are the bomb, anyone got any input on those? I played his Hilton once and I really liked that one too.

I had the same experience and actually talked to the guy at Goodrich and he said he would send me a new one but I would have to send him the old one first. (bummer) At the time I had only one pedal and didn't want to be without it for the two weeks it would take for the swap so I just took the back off of the pot and sprayed it and had no paroblem after that. However, with all that's going on with this product and little or no response from the manufacturer I've decided to go with Hilton. Keith is one of the very best with backing his product and it is one of the very best volume pedals available today, IMO.................clark

No website or customer service from Goodrich.

Lewis Goldsmith wrote: I'm fixing the pot one way or the other and getting rid of it.

If you're going to do that, just sell it with the scratchy pot and disclose its condition.

Sure, get an electronic pedal such as a Hilton or Telonics. I have an LDR2 but prefer my L120. That said, I think you should replace the pot, and get the pedal in good working order. Do it yourself or have Jim Pali do it, and keep it as a backup. (There seems to be a lot of McGyvers on the SGF. Why drill it and spray it? For 25 bucks just replace the darn thing!)

Today there are top pros who still use pot pedals. So, you may find that you may very well miss that pedal. It's just a matter of time

Good luck,
Joe

Back in the day, you could buy a few AB pots to keep on hand for $8 or less. It was a bit of a hassle and annoyance when they would go bad, but everybody just accepted it and changed the damn thing out.

In the last few years though, they seem to have taken a dive quality wise, giving up in a few shorts months or weeks, and the prices are as much as dinner and drinks for 2 at the local mid priced restaurant.

I'm sticking with mine as I haven't had that much trouble with them overall, but it's completely understandable why folks are opting to pitch 'em for electronic pedals.

I'd like to hear peoples' honest experiences with the new Goodrich High Life Pot as well as Tom's pots as far as quality and longevity.