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Topic: Volume pots of the '40s/'50s |
Rick Batey
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Posted 13 Apr 2007 1:19 am |
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I was having an email conversation recently with Mr. Ken Ufton, a superlative Hawaiian steel guitar player as I’m sure you know, and we got onto the subject of pots for volume pedals.
Ken mentioned a type of pot that used to be available in days gone by, and wondered if I knew anything about them. Apparently these were made by Centralab, and worked by having a sprung arm that pressed a steel ring against an outer carbon track. Ken says they were the best he ever used and never seemed to wear out, rather like the organ pedals of the time, and joked that maybe the design was simply too good for business, and they fired the guy who designed the thing!
Well, I’m just a fraction short in the tooth to have come across these myself, but I wondered if any others had?
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Blake Hawkins
From:
Florida
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Posted 13 Apr 2007 2:33 am
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Yes I have worked with them. '30's and '40's is probably a more accurate time period as they were used in old radios.
They were fairly large physically. After World War II, radios got smaller and "miniature" pots were developed to fit them.
You may still find some at antique radio meets and
swap meets.
I think they are too large to fit modern foot volume controls.
They worked fine, but if they got dirty, they did not have the "self cleaning" properties of the later designs. |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 14 Apr 2007 12:35 pm
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I've seen those, too (though I thought they dated from the '20s and early '30s). The components are the same, although the physical configuration is different. They all employ carbon, in one form or another, and carbon isn't especially hard, so they wear out eventually.
Most of the pots I've seen that were badly worn were pots that somebody cleaned (or tried to clean), and then forgot to re-lube. I also suppose that the manufacturers aren't lubing them as they used to. Time is money, and it's easy and profitable for a company to omit a step that no one but a few steelers would ever notice.
Pots are mechanical devices, just like your car, and require occasional preventive maintenance. Accept this (or an occasional pot replacement) as normal. If you'd rather not be bothered, spend some bucks and get a Hilton or Goodrich "potless" pedal. |
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