runaway_pancake I like your circuit, I knew the 100K resistor would have to be changed.
Yes, Grumpy_Mike the .7V transistor junction will cause issues.
I am going have to agree with aarg concerning the 0-max of the pot and LED, because of the .7V voltage drop. aarg I had not planned on any fancy bias of the digital pot, just hook the A terminal to +5 volts, and the B terminal to ground, and the wiper to the base of the transistor ---in the circuit runaway_pancake suggested. Maybe the transistor could have a different bias which would come closer to the 0-max pot range?