Scratchy Wah pots - some other things to check

[lars]

Like many wah pedals, mine had started to develop the scratchy pot syndrome. I had tried everything from spraying contact cleaner in, to completely taking the pot apart and cleaning the tracks directly with contact cleaner.
Nothing helped.
As soon as I put it back together, it was scratchy again. I figured maybe the tracks were already too worn out.
As a last ditch effort, I took the pot apart again and tried adjusting the brass contacts by bending them up a little. When I did this, I noticed the entire brass piece was pretty loose from the plastic disc it was attached to. It's only held on to the disc by two small tabs (which I'm guessing many pot designs are like this). I took some needle nose pliers and firmly squished these tabs down so there was no more jiggle. After some minor re-adjustments, I put it together and it works perfectly now. No scratchiness.
So if your wah is sounding scratchy, and cleaner doesn't seem to help, check if those internal brass contacts are getting loose.

[jtaormina]

I fixed an old treble switch on a fender amp in a similar way. The inside has a tiny bridge that slides back and forth. I just re-bent the 4 feet. Poof brand new.