Quick Fuzz Face question (AC128 build)

[gbkd80]

I have a wonderful sounding FF that I built last year as a 'replica' of the original; circuit board etch, mostly period-correct components etc... along with some AC128s that I matched myself and the pedal sounded GREAT.  I built it into a regular 1590BB with your standard plastic closed jacks, 3PDT switch and regular whatever pots (probably from Tayda or Mouser, etc)...

So the other night I decided to finally re-house the unit into a JHF1 that I got on the super-cheap, and the only thing I kept in the enclosure were the pots that came with the JHF1.  The only difference in the pots, other than quality, is that the volume is 470k whereas mine is a 500k.  I plugged it in after re-housing it, and I swear it sounds different now.  Maybe just slightly more brittle, and not enough travel on the fuzz pot... I will most-likely swap back in my pots but the only reason I left them in is because they fit the enclosure better with the wider holes. 

I guess my question is, could pots (cheap, but otherwise assuming the same values) change the tonal quality of the FF?  I'm curious to know.  Oh, I did put a different-brand battery inside it but we aren't gonna get all EJ on it now LOL

[Kipper4]

Well take this with a pinch of salt.
When I've measured pots before even from the same batch the resistances can vary quite a bit. I'm not saying thats what's happening here because I really don't know but it's worth 5min with the meter to see.

[thermionix]

When you changed the brand of battery, did you also change the type?  Like switching from carbon zinc to alkaline, or vice versa?  How different is the voltage between the two?  On the pots, one is marked 500K and the other 470K, but what are the actual measurements?  They could be about the same, or they could be at opposite extremes of their tolerances (or beyond).

If you really want to go all EJ, he thinks the screw that hold the bottom plate on messes up the sound, so surely he would think there was a sonic difference between enclosures.

[gbkd80]

If you really want to go all EJ, he thinks the screw that hold the bottom plate on messes up the sound, so surely he would think there was a sonic difference between enclosures.

Heh, I forgot about that (the rubber band nonsense).  Ok, worth measuring to see.  Probably just swap them out for what I had and then at least be able to rule out the electronics... I did screw the board down to the posts also, which in my build it was just on plastic pegs, but I did isolate it from the chassis with plastic washers.