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Topic: Dunlop Pots |
KENNY KRUPNICK
From:
Columbus, Ohio
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Posted 24 Jan 2009 5:51 pm |
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| Is the Dunlop pots a better quality than the mexican made pots that Goodrich use as stock? |
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Chuck Snider R.I.P.
From:
West Virginia, USA - Morgantown, WV
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Posted 24 Jan 2009 6:53 pm
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I don't know with certainty about the pots currently installed in the new Goodrich pedals. But there has been an awfull lot of bad mouthing on the forum of the current crop of non-Dunlop pots. I installed one of the Dunlop pots from Tom Bradshaw in mine and didn't have any trouble with it afterwards. There have been quite a few comments from others on the forum as to how happy they were once they installed the Dunlop pot.
-Chuck
_________________
GFI U-12 Ultra Keyless, Carter Black U-12, both with Alumitones, and a sweet '70 Sho-Bud Permanent D-10, NV400 in Rick Johnson cabs, NV112, '73 Vibrosonic in Rick Johnson cabs, Hilton pedal, Steeler's Choice seat, Bessdang Gizmos from Dale Hansen, and a few other widgets and doodads.
I may not sound good, I just don't wanna sound bad. |
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John Steele
From:
Renfrew, Ontario, Canada
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Posted 25 Jan 2009 12:12 am
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I'm currently using a Dunlop pot from Mr. Bradshaw. No complaints about the pot, and certainly none about his service, which is second to none.
I don't think I'd choose the term "bad mouthing" about the current state of affairs with, it seems, any kind of pot but the Dunlops. Anyone who goes through the process of tearing their pedal apart to put a seemingly new dependable pot soldered in can attest to the frustration of having it break up before the end of their first gig. You feel completely ripped off, and can't help but recall the time you put into installing a piece of junk. In short, most of the pots are total crap, and I question any manufacturer's logic in initially installing said Crap Pots in their otherwise-acceptable products, and certainly selling said Crap Pots as aftermarket parts.
The pot pedal industry's bizzare reluctance to acknowledge the preponderance of said Crap Pots is completely inexplicable to me. It's lead to more people abandoning their otherwise-functional pot pedals in favour of products like the potless Hilton Pedal in droves. Droves.
The success of Mr. Hilton's business is one half due to the superior nature of his product, and one half due to the unbelievable denial of pot pedal manufacturers. Not to tell anyone their business, but if I was placed in that situation as a manufacturer, I'd be making my own pots rather than using Crap Pots and ticking off my customer base to the point of no return.
Some people lose business. Others give it away.
Just my opinion.
-John |
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Chuck Snider R.I.P.
From:
West Virginia, USA - Morgantown, WV
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Posted 25 Jan 2009 11:18 am
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John, you're right, my choice of words could have been better, "bad mouthing" was a poor choice. I think maybe a better choice of words would be "voicing frustration over much less than expected product life."
-Chuck
_________________
GFI U-12 Ultra Keyless, Carter Black U-12, both with Alumitones, and a sweet '70 Sho-Bud Permanent D-10, NV400 in Rick Johnson cabs, NV112, '73 Vibrosonic in Rick Johnson cabs, Hilton pedal, Steeler's Choice seat, Bessdang Gizmos from Dale Hansen, and a few other widgets and doodads.
I may not sound good, I just don't wanna sound bad. |
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Brian Herder
From:
Philadelphia, Pa. USA
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Posted 7 Feb 2009 7:30 pm
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I bought a new Dunlop from Tom Bradshaw a while back and it was great in my music room, but once I got it through the amp and mic'd through the PA, there seemed to be a spot on it where it went from nearly off, to "on". I tried it through a POD/PA and it was even more pronounced. I have set up so when it's backed all the way off there is a very slight signal coming through. Maybe I just don't have the technic for this pot, but it has made me really start thinking about a Hilton. I just don't have the money, and I can't stand "wall warts". Anyone else experience this with the new Dunlops?
Last edited by Brian Herder on 2 Mar 2009 11:47 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Sonny Priddy
From:
Elizabethtown, Kentucky, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 7 Feb 2009 8:10 pm Pots
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| Bobbie Seymour Has Good Pots. SONNY. |
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Ned McIntosh
From:
New South Wales, Australia
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Posted 7 Feb 2009 10:02 pm
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Pots are not being made for the same applications they were made for 30 years ago! These days a pot is basically a "set once and leave where it is" component, whereas 30 years ago (in the analogue world), a pot was going to be used often, possibly just about all the time, so they were made heavier, with thicker carbon tracks, more carbon on the wiper and spindles that were lifetime lubricated. When they got noisy we just levered the cover off, applied the minutest amount of oil to the wiper, put the cover back on and it was good for another few years of operation before we had to replace it. Modern pots are a far cry from these rugged, well-built veterans.
We ask a great deal of a pot in a volume-pedal. We expect a good audio-tapered response, low noise, high reliability and years of life. We exercise the pot continuously when we play, perhaps several thousand operations in an evening if we are gigging with a band. A lightly-constructed pot will give up after just a few hours of this sort of operation because there simply isn't enough carbon on the track or the wiper to sustain such operation.
The PEC pot in my Goodrich L120 lasted three weeks of practice. Fortunately I had ordered 3 of Tom Bradshaw's pots, so I had a relatively easy job to replace the PEC (I am pretty handy with a soldering-iron, having been working in electronics off and on now since about 1977). I removed the cover on the PEC and found it was very lightly constructed. Then I understood why it lasted about 3-1/2 weeks.
So, it gets back to the types of pots being made these days. Lightweight, cheap, "set-and-forget" style pots aren't worth a cracker for a volume-pedal pot. So Hilton evolved an alternative, and I'm sure any reasonably competent electroncs technician could do likewise these days...and don't discount the idea of a volume-pedal with a microprocesor inside it at some stage in the future!
A digitally-controlled, duty-cycle modulated, volume-pedal may well be part of the steel guitarist's armoury in the foreseeable future. Alternatively, the volume-pedal function might be built into the electronics of the steel-guitar (downstream of the pickups), with a simple mechanical connection from the volume-pedal to the guitar to activate it. We build the changer-pedals into the guitar, why not build the volume-pedal into the guitar as well?
_________________
The steel guitar is a hard mistress. She will obsess you, bemuse and bewitch you. She will dash your hopes on what seems to be whim, only to tease you into renewing the relationship once more so she can do it to you all over again...and yet, if you somehow manage to touch her in that certain magic way, she will yield up a sound which has so much soul, raw emotion and heartfelt depth to it that she will pierce you to the very core of your being. |
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Earnest Bovine
From:
Los Angeles CA USA
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Posted 8 Feb 2009 12:09 pm
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| Ned McIntosh wrote: |
| We build the changer-pedals into the guitar, why not build the volume-pedal into the guitar as well? |
I've seen guitars with pots in them, operated by a pull rod similar to the other pedals. The disadvantage is that it is harder to swap when something goes wrong.
A basic control pedal such as Roland EV-5 can control volume on the multi-efx units that many of us play thru. |
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Michael Brewer
From:
Carrollton, Texas
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Posted 14 Feb 2009 4:09 pm
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| I bought two Dunlop pots from Tom Bradshaw and installed them in my two Goodrich pedals. This was about 3 months ago and so far I have no complaints about their performance. |
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Barry Gaskell
From:
Cheshire, UK
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Posted 15 Feb 2009 9:19 am
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Hi Kenny
I've gone through two dunlop pots. It wasn't the quality of sound, they were quite a fragile beast and woe betide you if you put any pressure on the stop at the end of it's travel ( yes ! I know you aren't supposed to), but if you inadvertantly do, (which isn't hard when you are trying to set it's travel) then they break quite easily.
Just a thought
If you have a Goodrich Steel Driver III, and, like me, you don't use the awful distortion side of it, there are two Clarostat 500K ohm (504A) type EJ pots on that side of the unit. Replace them with cheapo's and use the pots for your volume pedal. They are the real thing and don't break like the Dunlops, and for a couple of dollars you can have two proper AB/Clarostat pots.
Cheers
Barry |
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Brian Herder
From:
Philadelphia, Pa. USA
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Posted 2 Mar 2009 11:51 am
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UPDATE: Tom Bradshaw just emailed me to make sure I had gotten the problem sorted and offered to send me another pot. Talk about superior customer service!!
That's the kind of thing you just don't expect these day. T.B. is a rare breed. |
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Marke Burgstahler
From:
SF Bay Area, CA
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Posted 2 Mar 2009 4:04 pm
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| Brian Herder wrote: |
UPDATE: Tom Bradshaw just emailed me to make sure I had gotten the problem sorted and offered to send me another pot. Talk about superior customer service!!
That's the kind of thing you just don't expect these day. T.B. is a rare breed. |
Hey Brian,
I had my guitar over at Tom's for some work the other day, and he was talking to me about this pot thing. (it might have been your pot he was talking about!)He was OBSESSED with making sure he figured out what was going on with the taper of the different pots and mentioned he was going to do whatever it took to make his customers happy.
He's a class act.
BTW, I got one of his pots in my Goodrich. It works and sounds great.
_________________
"It Don't Mean A Thing If It Aint' Got That Swing" |
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James Martin (U.K.)
From:
Watford, Herts, United Kingdom * R.I.P.
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Posted 3 Mar 2009 1:40 am
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| Brian, I had the same problem with the two Dunlop pots I bought. I purchased a Hilton some weeks ago but I'm having trouble getting the sound I like. In the meantime I've gone back to my Emmons pedal for total satisfaction. Can someone recommend settings for my N112 to get the same sound as my Emmons pedal. |
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Brian Herder
From:
Philadelphia, Pa. USA
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Posted 3 Mar 2009 10:28 am
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| Marke and James- Thanks for the feedback. Tom is sending out a replacement, and I'll give that a whirl. It should determine if it's a bad pot, or I am crazy and just have crappy technique. Tom is the best of the best, no kidding. |
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James Martin (U.K.)
From:
Watford, Herts, United Kingdom * R.I.P.
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Posted 3 Mar 2009 12:21 pm Tom's Pots!
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| I've just received an Email from Tom asking me to return the pots and he will replace them. There's no faulting Tom's service and he says that he is testing each and every pot before despatching. |
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Fred Thompson
From:
Zephyrhills, FL
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Posted 6 Mar 2009 5:22 am
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I bought two dunlop pots from Tom. I installed one and put the other in my spare parts/tool case. That was two years ago. I play pretty much every day and the other pot is still in the case. Doesn't get much better than that. 
Fred |
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Bill Stroud
From:
Dresden, Tennessee, USA * R.I.P.
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Posted 6 Mar 2009 10:40 am Pots
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Goodrich uses the pots from Canada so do I, I'll have some at the Dallas show, I got some from Goodrich and some from Canada. Stop by the booth and check them 500K.
Bill |
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Tom Higgins
From:
New Jersey, USA
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Posted 10 Mar 2009 2:47 pm
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| Can someone post contact info for Tom Bradshaw?Thanks. |
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Brian Herder
From:
Philadelphia, Pa. USA
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Posted 10 Mar 2009 5:25 pm
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Tom can be contacted through his website-
http://www.songwriter.com/bradshaw/index.php
I got the replacement pot from him and all's well. As I said in an earlier post, you couldn't find a better guy to do business with. |
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David Pinkston
From:
Hendersonville, Tennessee, USA
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Posted 15 Apr 2009 7:12 pm Dunlop pot
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| I just replaced the stock Goodrich pot with one of Tom Bradshaw's. It sounds better than the stock. I compared them before and after and a definite sonic difference. |
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