Ok, I just can't let this thread die apparently.

So, I've been attacking this circuit again and seem to have come across one particular issue. After plowing through all the pages of the thread and bread-boarding several different versions with my TS555CN I seem to like this version the best:

The changes I made are with pins 4 and 8 connected to keep the TS555CN from locking up, with a 10uF cap instead of 47uF, 50k speed pot instead of 10k (I just like the range of speeds that this combination gives), and separate audio and power grounds. With these changes there are no ticking problems whatsoever.
My problem is with the depth pot though. I don't care for the way it sounds in the later versions that are posted here, and I really like how it affects the signal in this version, but I'm bound to using values that my clear shaft pots are made in (5k, 10k, 20k, 50k, 100k) and with the 5k pot all of the depth adjustment is in the last 20% of the pot sweep (which would make sense being that it needs a 1k pot). What can I do to make this depth section work with a 5k pot, if at all possible? Thanks!