Is the lever action smooth and "fluid"? I used to have good luck with this model, the original UK model, and even the odd Thomas Organ era, American-made models, in the 80s. But as the mid 90s came into view, I encountered an ever-escalating number of these, of all makes, in which the lever action was slow, I s'pose from age, poor storage methods, etc. Of the 50+ I've owned since the early 70s, I have managed to hang on to a single specimen, an early UK model, as more of a "museum piece" than anything else since I hate using the "wah" effect when I play and I'm not too keen on the sound of "wah" @ anyone else's playing, not even Hendrix, whose ouvre is about as good as it gets w/ the wah effect element.
All the same, still a "cool" artifact to have around, y'know?
Yep, it's smooth and fluid in its action and the original pot still has plenty of action to it. Surprisingly though, it's not scratchy at all and it's got lots of life left. As mentioned in my initial post, other than a few chips around the edge of the treadle, I don't think this thing was used much over the years because there is literally little to no wear or "smoothing" of the crinkle finish, or on the treadle pad itself. Also, as evidenced inside, unless it was meticulously cleaned at one point, I was surprised to see that the board and all the components were very clean and free of dust. I didn't even clean it for the photos. What you see in the photos is exactly how I got it. I still need to clean the case and I think I'll Deoxit the pot as a precaution, as well as clean and (carefully) re-grease the actuator gears inside, but other than that, this thing is tip-top and ready to go.
As far as the action of some of the ones you have tried, did you try Deoxiting the pot and re-applying grease to the actuator gears? A lot of the time the factory grease dries out and hardens, and makes the action stiff and wonky. Sometimes a good cleaning and re-greasing is all it needs to get it back to where it needs to be. Also, sometimes the plastic tension loop that applies pressure on the back of the straight gear can apply
too much pressure and sometimes a replacement one can fix the stiffness issue. If you ever get another one of them I'd try cleaning it (particularly the old grease from the gears), as well as checking the tension loop that applies pressure to the backside of the straight gear. Wah pedals can be a little finicky at times, but most of their mechanical issues can be easily remedied.
I do likes me some wah effect though.
I like what they can do to the tone of a guitar. I love that vintage "fingers down the throat" sound that many of the early wahs produce with the original Fasel inductor in them. This one has that sound too. The only other wah pedals that come close sound-wise (that I've heard and IMO), is the relatively new Dunlop CBM95 Mini Wah that has a 3-way switch inside to modify the tone and sweep range. To good effect too. I've seriously considered buying one. The other pedal I really like the sound of is one of the cheapest and crappiest wahs you can buy called the Daphon DF2210. It's a really cool sounding wah (if you get one that's assembled correctly), but it comes in a horribly cheap plastic housing with cheap jacks and pot, etc. I really like the tone of it, but I've always wanted to install the board from one into a regular Cry Baby housing with better quality switches and pot to make it more reliable. Both pedals have a really great honky, puke-y sound that I really like.
Anyway, it's too bad you're not a fan of wah pedals though. Sounds like you've had quite a collection over the years! There's a few in there that I'm sure I would have loved to have.
Cheers.