Flatline compressor, pre-build questions

[MrStab]

hi,

i'll be building a Flatline compressor in the next few days and after reading up on it across the web i still have a few questions that remain unanswered. i'll be using this layout, if it makes any difference: http://www.sabrotone.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Flatline.gif

thumbs up on a 50-100k-ish pot replacing R8 (47k)? a handful of sources confirm this is do-able, unless someone points out it might cause some kind of radiation leak. or that it won't work and it's a stupid idea. so with that in mind:

i use compressors a fair bit in mixing (as much as i suck at it) in Cubase etc., so my terminology is more tuned to the basic Threshold/Attack/Release/Ratio thing. i can usually figure out factory-made pedals with varying terminology, but as i can't find any clear indication what the "Sustain" does exactly in relation to this particular circuit, i don't know how i should label the knob to even make it slightly more logical to me. is the 47k-pot-replacement "Sensitivity" purely the input sensitivity? i've seen one user somewhere say it affects threshold, so i'm reading all this conflicting or vague stuff. believe it or not, i've worked out what "Volume" means.

i know attack time is something i'll have little control over because of the LRD thing (may upgrade with a "prefab" later), but even though i couldn't go below the limit of the LRD's response time, theoretically i could increase the attack time to varying degrees with a pot, right? if so, how would i go about this?

would it be possible to pretty much "clone" the LED in order to make a cool flashy light not obscured by shrink wrap? (i say shrink wrap, i mean the poor substitutes i'll try to use before giving in and buying some). or would this be too much of a current hog?

lastly (i think), for absolutely no reason, i'm thinking of putting one of these in: http://www.beavisaudio.com/techpages/BigMuffToneControl/
switchable ofc, but before the Flatline or after? or is it a bad combo in this case?

thanks in advance for any input, please excuse the nubishness and any post-5am sleep-deprived nonsense that might've slipped through from me not proof-reading this post. lol

[rankot]

Well, I have read this: http://stompville.co.uk/?p=50, and it is very similar to Flatline. They mentioned that attack time can be adjusted with what is C6 on veroboard, or C3 on link I provided.

[samhay]

sustain = ratio; edit - but this also affects the threshold.
sensitivity = threshold (to a first approximation). This seems to be a sensible mod.

You can simultaneously change the attack and release (to a point) by switching in/out caps in parallel to the LED (100u is stock). If you go too low, you will get ripple in the envelope and distortion.