Scratchy Crybaby...

[TelePaul]

Hey all,

Noticed today that my Crybaby produces a weird scratchy sound when the treadle is in the 'tore-down' position. Quite annoying as it has seen very light use but I pretty much use it only for that 'toe-down' boost in the highs. Any way I can get at the pot and lwo some air/contact cleaner on it?

 

[ocnor]

Unscrew the 4 rubber feet and the bottom panel can be removed to access the pot.

 

[moresound]

I use to take mine a part and put a little graphite in the pot.
But I'm not sure nowadays you might not be able to open the pot.

 

[jimistone]

You're probably going to need a new pot....which costs close to what a used cry baby would cost (but the used one would probably need a pot also).

The pots go south on those things quite often and it either makes a high piched squealing sound or a scratcy sound.

I have owned countless numbers of cry baby pedals and the pots went on every damn one of them.

No other wah sounds as good IMO...which is why I keep buying them when I know I'm going to be lucky to get a year out of one.

 

[Lt. Bob]

Hey all,

Noticed today that my Crybaby produces a weird scratchy sound when the treadle is in the 'tore-down' position. Quite annoying as it has seen very light use but I pretty much use it only for that 'toe-down' boost in the highs. Any way I can get at the pot and lwo some air/contact cleaner on it?

take off the bottom and the pot is right there ............ but I think most of them have sealed pots. Now me, I'd pry the can open enough to get some deoxit in there .... and then some DeOxit Gold to make it last a while.

But note I am not telling you to take your pot apart and bear no responsibility if you break it or put your eye out!!!

 

[moresound]

There are a few companies out there that use an optical eye instead of a pot for the wah effect .... but they're not quite the same as a cry baby.

 

[drumslinger]

TelePaul,

U can try the cleaner but eventually the scratching will come back. Try one of these places for a replacement pot:

Results for Wah-Wah and Swell Pedal Parts, Wah Inductors

Area 51 Online Store: Wah Pedal Parts & Supplies

 

[Zaphod B]

take off the bottom and the pot is right there ............ but I think most of them have sealed pots. Now me, I'd pry the can open enough to get some deoxit in there .... and then some DeOxit Gold to make it last a while.

My Fulltone wah pedal's pot is open - I can easily get a little Deoxit in there without having to take the pot apart.

 

[guitarplayr82]

I recently had to replace the pot in my Crybaby Classic for the same reason -- a scratchy wah. I tried cleaning the pot as a first attempt, but ended up having to buy a whole new pot. I got one of those Hot Potz arcaxis was talking about for about $35-40 and it's working great so far.

 

[ranjam]

*DISCLAIMER!* I only did this because I am legally insane, and usually broke. I took a teeny drill bit and drilled a teeny hole on the exact center to the back of the sealed pot. Now I can stick a cleaner straw in there and squirt away. Wrap some tape around the drill bit so you can't go in further than like 1/32" or just inside the housing. If you hit the resistive element.......

 

[Lt. Bob]

*DISCLAIMER!* I only did this because I am legally insane, and usually broke. I took a teeny drill bit and drilled a teeny hole on the exact center to the back of the sealed pot. Now I can stick a cleaner straw in there and squirt away. Wrap some tape around the drill bit so you can't go in further than like 1/32" or just inside the housing. If you hit the resistive element.......

YAY for you ..... I love insane solutions!!

 

[ZoSo58LP]

hmm i wonder whats worse...your scratchy pot, or the fact that my 535Q crybaby makes an awful squeeking noise when i move the pedal back and forth, which is easily picked up by my mic that's recording the amp....hahah squeeky lil bastard.

 

[TelePaul]

Thanks for all the helpful replies chaps! Will give it a good cleaning and see what happens. Its kinda annoying as I really haven't used it all that much. If cleaning the pot is not a runner I'll try to switch to a new one, as it'll give a chance to work on my soldering skills. Anybody know how tough switching out the pot is? Replaced one on an S-type last week, is it a similar enough process?

 

[legionserial]

hmm i wonder whats worse...your scratchy pot, or the fact that my 535Q crybaby makes an awful squeeking noise when i move the pedal back and forth, which is easily picked up by my mic that's recording the amp....hahah squeeky lil bastard.

Sound like you just need to grease it.

 

[legionserial]

And no, I don't mean kill it.

 

[ZoSo58LP]

hahaha....yeah probably do..i just always forget :\

 

[TelePaul]

Cheers fellas, I seem to be sorted, at least for now. I opened her up and gave the pot a good clean and a spray of WD 40. Its working fine now, but as mentioned, this is probably just a temporary fix.

 

[ranjam]

Ahhhh! Don't use WD-40! Oh, well. It's done.

 

[Lt. Bob]

Cheers fellas, I seem to be sorted, at least for now. I opened her up and gave the pot a good clean and a spray of WD 40. Its working fine now, but as mentioned, this is probably just a temporary fix.

Holy crap!

WD-40 is NOT a contact cleaner and is NOT for spraying into electronics. It's basically kerosene.
Get some Caig DeOxit ..... you can get it at Radio Shack but it's cheaper to order some.

Long term, I don't think the WD-40 will harm anything but it's gonna evaporate fairly quickly and it'll go back to being scratchy.
Some DeOxit will actually clean the pot and if you use DeOxit Gold, it also lubricates and protects for a reasonably long time.