Need a solution for Vibro Champ style bias wiggle tremolo

[ODSChamp]

I recently finished my first amp build — a Vibro Champ/Dumble hybrid — and ran into an issue I hadn’t anticipated until everything was wired up. The stock Vibro Champ tremolo design has a pretty serious flaw: even when the tremolo is switched off, the intensity pot still passes DC voltage to the cathode of the second gain stage (V1B). As you turn up the intensity control, more DC is injected into the cathode, biasing the stage colder, reducing gain, and noticeably degrading the tone.

Obviously, the intensity pot shouldn't be affecting the amp’s voicing when the tremolo is off — so I see this as a design issue.

My current workaround is shown in the attached schematic: the tremolo switch simply interrupts the circuit, sending any residual DC to ground through the intensity pot. Functionally, it works — but there's a catch. With the intensity pot set low, it can dump up to ~60VDC straight to ground. On top of that, when my mute switch is engaged, I get a ground loop that causes pretty aggressive buzz, depending on volume and intensity settings. It’s intermittent, but still a clear sign something isn’t right.

I considered moving the tremolo circuit interruption to a point before the intensity pot (i.e., after the 100k resistor on the cathode follower). That would prevent the DC from reaching V1B’s cathode, but now I’m concerned the cathode follower would be left unloaded — just hanging at high voltage with nowhere for current to flow. Would that cause any damage or instability? I’m still new to this stuff and not confident enough to test it without some feedback.

I’ve spent hours digging for similar issues or alternate Vibro Champ tremolo mods, but most of what I find is for the larger push/pull amps with entirely different tremolo circuits. Has anyone here run into this before or found a solid fix?

Really appreciate any help — even just a sanity check on my understanding here. Thanks!

[maxkracht]

Wire it like a normal vibrochamp, but move the footswitch to the grid of the oscillator tube.