Tonebender issues after 6+ months

[jbgron]

Hi Guys,

I built a 3 knob GE tonebender about 6 months ago, I was really happy with it and have been using it as my main fuzz pedal.  I went to use it last night and noticed its nowhere near as loud as it used to be and the tone pot is all scratchy.  Not something I'd expect from a 6 month old pedal.  I opened it up and at first glance everything still looks fine, no busted wires, no corrosion of the pcb and nothing shorting out.

Anyone got any ideas as to what could be wrong?  I'm thinking of replacing the volume and tone pots...

Cheers

jbgron

[philbinator1]

Has it been exposed to heat, or left in the sun etc?  I'm no expert here but I've read that excessive heat can harm germanium transistors...? 

[jbgron]

Not direct heat but it has just been through an Australian summer with 40+ degree (celsius)  temperatures but it has never been outside.

[philbinator1]

Well maybe that would be enough to affect the volume...the scratchy pot sounds weird though.  Have you tried
replacing the trannies/pot (if you have more?)?  Wish i could help more here but i don't have sufficient knowledge...
maybe someone more experienced could interject...Rick/Pete/RG/Aron etc?   

[mac]

Heat has misbiased Q3 most likely. Try cooling your pedal and check if it works better, ie, put it into the refrigerator inside a ziploc.
Germs at Q3 should not be leaking more than 100ua.
Also check voltage at Q2 collector, although the darlington pair is more estable.

mac