The Steel Guitar Forum

Somebody must have a line on 500k Audio Taper pots with long solid shafts suitable for use in our vital elements. Somebody, but not me, all the electronic parts outlets I have gone to for years have dried up. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Tom Bradshaw. Price seems to have gone up recently.

http://www.songwriter.com/bradshaw/potentiometers.php

Bob Muller thought he might have found a cheap source. Haven't heard whether that worked out.

I've used the new Goodrich-branded pot from Dunlop in an old Sho-Bud VP with satisfactory results. Ditto for the Tom Bradshaw pot in an old Emmons VP.

Hi all,
Was just about to post an related question, but I think it works here: does anyone have a recommendation for serviceable pots? All the VP pots seem to be sealed pretty well, and I'd like the option of being able to spray some De-Oxit in there if I run into trouble.

Matt

As a Goodrich dealer, we can no longer get the Goodrich - Dunlop volume pot that I picture here.
Kevin informed me over a year ago that he was working on a solution, but had to keep his inventory for new pedals.



So I have resolved to selling the Tom Bradshaw pot for the same price as Tom.
However, these DO NOT have the long shaft.

I know that ShowPro had the Clarostat 500K pots and I tried stocking those for a while, but more of them were bad out of the package than good and they carried 0 warranty.

Hopefully Goodrich will get the problem solved as they have to have quality pots to stay in business.

You can usually find some on Ebay just watch for the crazies who think they were made of gold.

Good luck
Barry

Are the Dunlop 470 ohm pots no good? The Hot Potz. Has anyone tried them and they were not suitable? Other than the tiny pins to solder they should work.

The Dunlop pots work fine for me and I have installed them in over 75 pedals for other players with no complaints with the exception of 2 things. All of them will not turn completely off but that does not bother me.
Also, the price is high. However, if you consider that they last and last and last, that should not be an issue.

The days of $5 pots are gone forever just like the days of $1000 new steels.

This Bradshaw pot seems to be working very well.

the goodrich pots that look like dunlops are great. for some reason, i have a dunlop one that doesn't sound great.

i feel like the goodrich pots have a more complete throw so that they can be all off and all on, whereas the dunlop ones don't.

maybe it's my imagination or i didn't set my dunlop one up as well.

Yes, my pots work very well. Unfortunately as a salable item, they work too well. Quite interestingly I received an order from a fellow just today who made the following comment, "Tom, I'd like to order one of your Type J 470k pots. The last one I got from you has been in there for quite a few years, so I think it's time to have a backup on hand."

I checked my records; he bought the pot he refers to on 6-14-07.

I replied to him as follows: "I'll get a pot in the mail to you right away. You bought that pot from me 13 years ago. It may last you another 13 years, but I'll send you a backup pot anyway. Selling these pots has been a positive, as well as a negative: The negative: they are so good that I don't have resales of them. The positive: my reputation for selling quality products is confirmed. Ha! ...Tom"

The Dunlop Hotpotz I installed in my Goodrich 120 pedal goes all the way off.

From my web site:

"Since the pot case is used as a stop at full volume, the pedal does travel a little farther in the down position to reach the smaller diameter Dunlop pot case. I found this to be no problem whatsoever and I was able to achieve a pot resistance of 464K ohms down to 160 ohms with the pedal in both extreme positions. This was achieved without having tht pot reach its end stop before the pedal reached its end stop. This is important as you do not want the pot to take any abuse by being used as a pedal stop."

So in come cases you might need to add a small bumper to reduce you pedal travel and make sure that you are getting the pot to travel fully open to fully closed without hitting the end of the pot's internal stops.

Tom Bradshaw wrote:Yes, my pots work very well. Unfortunately as a salable item, they work too well. Quite interestingly I received an order from a fellow just today who made the following comment, "Tom, I'd like to order one of your Type J 470k pots. The last one I got from you has been in there for quite a few years, so I think it's time to have a backup on hand."

I checked my records; he bought the pot he refers to on 6-14-07.

I replied to him as follows: "I'll get a pot in the mail to you right away. You bought that pot from me 13 years ago. It may last you another 13 years, but I'll send you a backup pot anyway. Selling these pots has been a positive, as well as a negative: The negative: they are so good that I don't have resales of them. The positive: my reputation for selling quality products is confirmed. Ha! ...Tom"

I'm that "fellow" who just ordered a replacement from Tom. I guess his post says it all. I'll just add that Mr Bradshaw is a great guy to do business with.

I sell and use the Dunlop and it is perfect for me. I have the latest design which now has solder terminals instead of the difficult pins. Tom Bradshaw supplies me with the pots. He also supplies me with Emmons fret boards.
Jerry

Another Bradshaw testimonial!

Great pots. Painless service

Thanks to a good word or three here I bought some 470k pots this month from Tom to repair old pedals. All I can say is OUTSTANDING! They are solidly constructed and sound really great in the Goodrich and Shobud pedals I fixed. Problem solved, thanks Tom and thanks to the forum folk here for the help!

I liked the round shaft and the screwdriver slot on the Goodrich branded Dunlop style pots. Does anyone know if they were actually 500 or were they 470? Also is the new one with side terminals 500 or 470? Just curious.

Danny, I really miss having the screwdriver slot a lot. I believe the new pot is also 470 but That is not enough difference to matter.
Jerry

Jerry, even though these pots look the same, they are not Dunlop pots.

However they are from the same manufacturer, per Tom.

Same here, no problems.

That being said, Goodrich says they are great pots but not for the OMNI pedal. Seems there is an ever so slight glitch in the throw that you can hear when you have the active electronics turned on in the Goodrich OMNI.

Great for passive pedals. I wish the shafts were longer. These are hard to adjust once installed, because of the short shaft and no screw slot.

Anyone wishing for a slot in the shaft of my pots, is welcome to request it. I'll cut it. Or, you can easily cut it if you have a vice and a hacksaw. ...Tom

I wish the shafts were longer. These are hard to adjust once installed, because of the short shaft and no screw slot.

In the absence of a slotted shaft I assembled the pedals (Goodrich 120 and Shobud classic) with the pot in the full on position, leaving enough room to rotate the pot itself for fine tuning after installation. Just a tiny nudge is usually all that is necessary, and for these two pedals at least it was easier to find the sweet spot than the old way ever was.

I would be happy to cut the slot on any I sell as well.
Jerry

I will cut the slot also.

I just ordered a Stage One VP with this new style pot, Wasn't sure about the gear rack system but, works/sounds good for me.