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Gain pot question.
Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 6:42 pm
by nieh
Alright, I built my pedal and everything works great except the gain knob. when its completely turned to the left its a very very low gain fuzz sounds. then It stays the same until I get to around 1 o'clock. Then from 1 o'clock to completely open it gets really fuzzy really fast. I have a 10k pot in there now, but I tried a 1k and 100k pot and still got the same result. Any easy fix?
Re: Gain pot question.
Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 6:46 pm
by Scruffie
Show the schematic you're working from or it's impossible to tell.
Otherwise, my only suggestion would be to try a different tapered pot.
Re: Gain pot question.
Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 7:01 pm
by MEC
Scruffie wrote:Show the schematic you're working from or it's impossible to tell.
Otherwise, my only suggestion would be to try a different tapered pot.
I agree. It could be the pots taper, but it could be that the pot is wired wrong.
Check the source you are working from and make sure you have the pot orientated correctly.
I like to test pots with alligator clips before I solder them in.
When you get it desoldered try using the clips to avoid

.
If this doesn't help post the schematic and pics of what you've got.
Re: Gain pot question.
Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 7:16 pm
by mathias
It sounds like the taper / value of the pot is the ticket. Check this page out:
http://sound.westhost.com/pots.htm Jump down to the "Potentiometer Tapers" section to see what's up with that.
Re: Gain pot question.
Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 12:14 am
by McSpunckle
Definitely try a different taper. Audio taper does most of the actual "turning up" in the second half of rotation, so that probably wouldn't be a good option in this case. So, if you're using linear, try reverse audio.
Re: Gain pot question.
Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 12:43 am
by nieh
I'm using one of these for gain:
http://www.pedalpartsplus.com/mm5/merch ... Code=Pot16And a 100k for volume.
Re: Gain pot question.
Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 12:44 am
by nieh
Re: Gain pot question.
Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 6:07 pm
by MEC
You can use the same value (10k, 100k) that you have, just in the reverse taper or linear taper.
Get a few of each just in case.
Re: Gain pot question.
Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 6:11 pm
by Scruffie
Or wire your Audio Taper one Backwards... it'll work in Reverse but it'll work more like a Reverse Audio Taper.
Re: Gain pot question.
Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 10:44 pm
by modernage
I would try the same value, but go with a linear taper. From your description, my first thought (amongst others here) was that you were using a logarithmic (or audio) taper pot. Nothing wrong with using one, if that's what you are going for. It's the same type of situation I found when I used a volume pedal as an expression pedal instead of using an actual expression. Most of the change would start to happen when my toe was nearly all the way down.
So yeah, try a linear pot. I'm sure you'll get the result you're desiring.
