Volume Pedal Noise - Troubleshooting

[Brian Spratt]

This may or may not be useful to you, but I had a similar experience with a brand new Goodrich pot pedal. I traded it out for an Omni pedal and the issue persisted. I could never truly isolate the cause unfortunately.

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[Marshall Woodall]

That's a very useful thread Brian. Sort of how I landed on my own solution to a similar problem. The complicating factor is using a passive pedal with a dedicated tuner output as is/was my case. The tuner (while connected to its DC supply) is what was causing my issues and not what was in the actual audio path. Loads of fun...

[Gary Wessels]

As I noted before, I'm on my 3rd pot in 3 years.

The last one I put in was from Tom Bradshaw and a scratch (at about 1/3- 2/3 travel) showed up after a few months of use.

All the tests detailed above pointed at the pedal.

Today, I rewired my Goodrich pedal with this wire:

https://www.amplifiedparts.com/products ... pre-tinned

I left the old, "scratchy" pot in place and replaced all pedal wiring.

The problem DISAPPEARED! The pot is now silent.

It appears to be the wiring that was causing my problems...

[Oliver Samland]

I recently had similar noise issues with my older Goodrich 120 with Dunlop pots. Crackling noise in the last 3rd of the sweep. Turned out the pot was not secured in place tightly enough. It felt tight, but once the yellow string build up enough tension while pressing the pedal down, the whole pot moved a hair, just barely visible. With the Dunlop pots soldering lugs being so close to the metal housing (in my 120 at least), it was too much offset already and the lugs made a connection to the metal frame.

Since Goodrich changed the pot in your pedal, this is unlikely your issue. Theoretically, however, it is possible that also the metal part holding the pot could move if the screws ain't tight. In that case, the problem could maybe persist even after replacing the pot, I guess.

[Bill Cash]

I own 4 different Goodrich pedals and at one point or another this has been a problem with all of them. The first time it occurred it drove me crazy I had tried all the trouble shooting methods that you had. I tore open enclosed pots and cleaned them and replaced the pots a few times only to find temporary avail. Eventually the only test that narrowed down the problem was wiring one of the pots outside of the pedal to find no scratch in the sweep. I’ve posted it before and am willing to accept that I’m just crazy, but the conclusion I’ve come to that has fixed all of my Goodrich pedals which all now live with their original pots is that the wiring is cheap and frays particularly easy. That is why there is a temporary solution to changing pots because the wires have been stripped back and resoldered. I have all my pedals with completely new wire and have never had a scratch since.

[Jerry Overstreet]

Interesting Bill. I found your old post from 2024 and read that too.

I have a Goodrich dual action pedal that has 2 AB pots. One of them is a tad scratchy at first but cleans up after a few cycles.

Since this active pedal is a bear to disassemble and change pots plus the fact that I'm pretty fond of the Allen Bradleys, I'm planning to give your cure a shot...or just reflow the solder maybe?

[Jim Palenscar]

There are occasions where the wires going to the pot can touch the body of the pedal and I've seen that cause the same symptoms and rectified it by simply moving the wires away from the inside of the pedal. If that doesn't help- replace the pot. I know that Kevin at Goodrich uses the same pots from the same source as do others and is always searching for the perfect pot.

[Gary Wessels]

I want to point out that Tom Bradshaw has been very helpful throughout this process, easy to communicate with, and has even gone so far as to reach out to me and offer to replace the pot at no cost!

The problem was NOT with the pot...it was the wiring all along.

Thanks to Tom Bradshaw and all of you here who've helped me with this.

Gary Wessels

[Jerry Overstreet]

Noted Gary. Seems both Bill C and you solved your issues with new wiring. That is something I would have never considered.