I replaced the 100k log pot with a new pot. I removed the little PCB the pot was soldered to, no
need for it. You may have to do a little drilling or reaming to get the new pot to fit, don't use a
weirdo pot you can never get a replacement for.
Pot replacement is common, buy a spare pot.
Make sure the pinion (cogwheel) is rotated clockwise fully in the down position if you want
maximum treble.
Taper: With a linear pot, most of the frequency boost shift is at the bottom of the Wah travel.
Luckily the bottom octave on a guitar is from 80-160Hz fundamental (80Hz range), the top octave
640-1200Hz (640Hz range). So you need more shift on the upper octaves anyway. Different tapers
simply spread the Wah effect across the pedal travel in a different manner. Taper does not affect
tonal quality, period. Special pots like the Fulltone or Dunlop Hot Potz have a different taper
(probably half way between lin and log), which you may or may not prefer. The pot may not rotate
all the way around, and taper can compensate for this. You could put silver paint across the
unused part of the carbon track for a small amout of extra range if you are super-picky. According
to John Green's site, the old ICAR pot was pretty much linear.
Changing the spacing of the rack teeth would give you any taper you want, I don't think anone sells
custom racks or pinions.
Resistance: The pot value affects tone quality, yes. A "100k" pot can be 90-110k, I like a higher
value. Dunlop says the circuit was designed for a 100k pot, other sources differ. I have 500k in
there with a 130k tapering resistor, wiper to ground. The tapering resistor means that the ground-to-
wiper resistance changes more slowly so the treble boost occurs over a wider pedal sweep. range.
A 100k linear is fine.
1. Orange Squeezer Compressor Pho...
