Fulltone Clyde Deluxe Wah Problems

After considerable online research, via YouTube, Harmony Central and other sites, I decided that my wah pedal requirements would be best served by purchasing a Clyde Deluxe wah pedal. My first choice was the Teese picture wah, but these are as rare as hens teeth down here in Oz. I figured that if the Clyde was good enough for Robin Trower, it was certainly good enough for yours truly! Anyway, after laying out the good cold $500 odd cash, I waited eagerly for the dream pedal to arrive. After a few days, there was the package from Global Vintage guitars. You can imagine how disappointed I was when I got home, plugged it in, and couldn't get a sound coming out of it. Yes, yes, I tried everything (not that there's much to try - a wah pedal is very simple), new battery, different leads etc. Global Vintage suggested I send it back and they'd send me another one. After forking out the money for postage and waiting for another month (..goods held up in customs?), the new one finally arrived. Wow, it worked. The only thing was, at certain settings, it picked up the radio, very clearly and loudly. Ah well, thought I, maybe it's just my setup down here in the basement. I didn't notice that behaviour at my first gig with it, but that may have been because of the band volume. It seemed to work perfectly. Then, at rehearsal, I noticed that there seemed to be a scratchy hiss coming from the pedal at certain positions of the rocker. Everyone in the band noticed it. I started thinking, jeez, this pedal's more trouble than it's worth. Swapping the battery did not fix the situation, so I contacted Fulltone support, as I'd done previously when the pedal didn't work at all - 2 months earlier. When the first two emails didn't elicit any response from Fulltone, I sent a third:

Hi,

This is the third time I have written to you with no reply.

I recently purchased a Fulltone Clyde wah pedal. When I use the pedal, there is a scratchy/crackly sound about halfway through the pedal's movement. The sound is an electronic sound, ie it can't be heard unless the unit is operating through an amplifier.

As I paid a lot of money for this pedal, and I'd like to use it on stage right now, I'd like some support asap. Please don't ignore this email like the last two.

Regards

Here is the reply I got:

This is the first email I have seen from you.
I just searched emails back to 2005 and you've NEVER emailed me.

And I don't like your attitude.

You want to try again?


Fulltone Musical Products Inc.
Michael Fuller/President
11018 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
ph-310-204-0155
fax-310-204-0156
www.fulltone.com

!!! I don't like your attitude!!!

My response:

Well pal, I don't give a damn whether you like my attitude or not. Really, I don't. Got that?

I emailed twice in the last week to tech@fulltone.com and finally to support@fulltone.com, and now I've received three emails within a few hours. So don't tell me I've NEVER emailed you.

When I first received this Clyde Deluxe wah pedal, it didn't work at all. That was about 4 months ago, and I also emailed you then. The dealer got me to send it back - at my own expense. They sent me another one, and now I've got this new issue.

Your customer support needs work. You rely on us to buy your products, right? You should remember that.

It didn't take long before Mike Fuller sat down and tapped out this little gem:

fuck you

Tsuguto, ignore this fuck until he grows up


Fulltone Musical Products Inc.
Michael Fuller/President
11018 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
ph-310-204-0155
fax-310-204-0156
www.fulltone.com

Nice work, Mike.

Anyway, I took that pedal apart and removed the pot, looking for a way to fix the scratchy sound. Although I didn't do anything to it, when I replaced the pot in the unit, the noise was gone. Let's hope it stays that way.