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DIY Stompboxes => Building your own stompbox => Topic started by: zener on March 26, 2004, 10:56:17 PM

Title: Scratching sound from a pot
Post by: zener on March 26, 2004, 10:56:17 PM
I breadboarded a basic wah circuit from GEO. I used 2n3904 for the trannies and an output transformer as the inductor.

First, the wah effect doesn't seem to be there until you get the pot to 5k - 0k towards the first lug.

Second, as the pot rotation nears the end towards the first lug, there's scratching sound and it disappear as it reach 0k or full rotation towards the first lug. The same thing happened when I turn the pot from 0K clockwise. The scratching sound is somewhere from 0k - 5k from the first lug.

First, I measured the pot with a multimeter and found nothing wrong. I thought that it might be dirty, so I just took another 100k and there still the scratching sound.

As for the transformer, I do not know the readings in it. It produces a wah sound at the end of the pot's turn but seems to be not enough to emulate those commercial ones. I'm opting to get another one or two have them in series.  

Thanks for any help.

Zener
Title: Scratching sound from a pot
Post by: ExpAnonColin on March 26, 2004, 11:43:52 PM
Bad pot, sounds like it.  Electric contact cleaner could help.

-Colin
Title: Scratching sound from a pot
Post by: Jered on March 27, 2004, 01:37:17 AM
Some where in your circuit your getting DC to your pot. Leaky cap?
  Jered
Title: Scratching sound from a pot
Post by: Alpha579 on March 27, 2004, 01:44:22 AM
DC to the pot would explain the scratch i believe, but that wouldnt be why it cuts out...I had a pot like that on my guitar once...replaced it and it was fine...
Title: Scratching sound from a pot
Post by: zener on March 27, 2004, 06:13:38 AM
I figured it out already. Both of the pots I used are dirty in the same spot in its rotation.

Thanks for all the replies.