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Post by unreg on Jan 19, 2024 20:04:31 GMT -5
hi some of y’all, Recently, my volume pot is crazy. Like, at times turning it almost shuts off my guitar’s signal. Sometimes it becomes barely audible just during normal playing. I have temporarily regained its volume by adjusting a pedal gain knob. But, even with that pedal turned off, the volume is still very uncertain; if I turn my guitar’s volume knob slightly the massive sound may almost disappear. Is this a sign of a pot that needs to be replaced? Do you remember me? I’ve replaced my pentameters like 3 times throughout my time here. No, newey, I haven’t moved my amp and tested my signal in another room. Do you think that would be necessary now? Ok so I just plugged my guitar directly into my amp: the volume worked; yet, when I turned it up near max, the guitar’s sound almost vanished; and also, turning my volume knob near 0 also caused the guitar sound to vanish, in the exact same way. During the middle part of the knob’s turn, the volume returned; but, near either max or 0 , a popping of some sort sounded and I didn’t have nearly any volume. |
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Post by newey on Jan 19, 2024 23:30:23 GMT -5
No, newey, I haven’t moved my amp and tested my signal in another room. Do you think that would be necessary now? That's to test for noise issues. This sounds like a pot problem. |
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Post by sumgai on Jan 20, 2024 1:50:19 GMT -5
unreg,
First, take the cheap and easy route - clean the pot. You may have some disassembly on your hands, sorry (I'm thinking of top-loaded guitars here, whereas an LP is easy, just remove the back cover). However, the last thing you want to do is spray any kind of aerosol down the side of the shaft - this does nothing good for the pot. (Doing so is seriously bad advice, sadly found all over 'net.) Don't use anything like WD-40, that's nothing more than spray-on kerosene! Instead, find something called a "tuner cleaner", that's the best stuff for this job.
You need not take apart the pot itself (unless it's closed up tighter than a drum), just spray a few squirts into the open area, rotate the shaft several times, and see if that did the trick. If not, then you'll have to break open the piggy bank and fire up the web browser.
HTH
sumgai
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Post by unreg on Jan 20, 2024 2:25:54 GMT -5
Instead, find something called a "tuner cleaner", that's the best stuff for this job. Hmmm… searching for tuner cleaner did not return any bottles labeled “tuner cleaner”; there was one tuner cleaner for riffles; however, a bunch of this showed up: Here is one of the selling sites so you can see yourself (this is NOT a site recommendation): ikeatools.com/products/crc-qd-05101-electronic-cleaner-4-5-oz-liquid-alcohol/sumgai, do you approve? Or maybe I should keep searching tomorrow…  |
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Post by unreg on Jan 22, 2024 0:32:45 GMT -5
sumgai , thank you!  I’m going to receive a can of BW-100.  I’ll let you know how it goes.
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Post by sumgai on Jan 22, 2024 22:55:22 GMT -5
unreg, Any of those products you linked are good to go. Here's my favorite spray, but that's because I can get it locally: Electrosolve Contact Cleaner
 HTH sumgai |
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Post by kitwn on Jan 23, 2024 16:16:17 GMT -5
As a first test try exercising the pot. Run it it's full length too and fro several times. If you're lucky this will clean the track of the pot enough to improve things.
It depends on your budget, but for my money if I had to remove the pot anyway before taking it apart, paying for a can of cleaner I might never use again, reassembling it, testing it and soldering it back in circuit, I'd just bin it and fit a new one.
Kit |
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Post by unreg on Jan 23, 2024 18:57:11 GMT -5
Where is the open space to squirt my cleaner in?
I guess I could open the case? Or perhaps I should get a new pot, kind of like kitwn recommended; except that I've already bought the cleaner. |
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Post by sumgai on Jan 24, 2024 1:16:02 GMT -5
Where is the open space to squirt my cleaner in? It took me awhile to find the exact right image, but I hope that you can see the opening I'm referring to:  Spray around in there, one or two seconds, and rotate the shaft to disperse the cleaner. If doing that twice does not save/restore good operation, then it's time to move on to Step 2, R'n'R the unit. (aka Remove And Replace.  ) HTH sumgai |
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Post by unreg on Jan 24, 2024 1:19:15 GMT -5
Thank you sumgai! 😀 I’ll try that tomorrow! 👍 |
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Post by reTrEaD on Jan 24, 2024 17:19:48 GMT -5
As a first test try exercising the pot. Run it it's full length too and fro several times. If you're lucky this will clean the track of the pot enough to improve things. It depends on your budget, but for my money if I had to remove the pot anyway before taking it apart, paying for a can of cleaner I might never use again, reassembling it, testing it and soldering it back in circuit, I'd just bin it and fit a new one. Kit It depends on what your time is worth. Cleaner is cheap. Replacement pots are cheap. Accessing pots in most guitars isn't terribly time consuming. In a Strat, it's a PitA. A pot that works well when stationary but makes scratching noises when rotated, will probably respond well to cleaning spray. One that's highly intermittent is screaming for replacement. Even if it works well after cleaning, how long will that last? Given the description in the OP, I'd bin this one even if it wasn't in a Strat. Possible exception, if the guitar had collector value. |
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Post by unreg on Jan 24, 2024 17:48:49 GMT -5
sumgai, thank you so much! Followed your application advice and now, it works incredibly well! I can return to playing!
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Post by sumgai on Jan 24, 2024 23:35:55 GMT -5
unreg, As reTrEaD notes, it works now, but if it went gunnysack once, it might do so again. I'd put that down to age more than anything else. How old is this thing? Now that you're not in a hurry to replace it just to make it playable again, this might be a good time to consider purchasing a replacement part, and setting it aside for a rainy day. Call it an insurance policy, if you will. HTH sumgai |
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Post by unreg on Jan 25, 2024 19:04:34 GMT -5
Um… it’s less than 4 years old. I installed a new pot in July of 2020. But then I replaced both pots later… like maybe 2022? So, possibly 2 years old maximum? Thank you again sumgai! And thank you reTrEaD, I’ll surely make a purchase next month for a new pot for a rainy day. |
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Post by sumgai on Jan 25, 2024 20:50:23 GMT -5
Two to four years old, and it's already messed up? Next time step up in quality. It costs more upfront, but the hassle of what you just went through ain't worth it. IMO, of course. In searching for that image (above), it seems that many pots are now available in a closed casing. Bournes for one, and you've seen how many Nutz are exclaiming about their quality, so that might be a good place to start. Again, IMO. HTH sumgai |
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Post by unreg on Feb 5, 2024 17:40:16 GMT -5
In searching for that image (above), it seems that many pots are now available in a closed casing. Bournes for one, and you've seen how many Nutz are exclaiming about their quality, so that might be a good place to start. Again, IMO. , THANK YOU! I placed an order for 2 of these: www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Bourns/82Z1D-Z33-BA0-754LThey are 500K long shaft closed case Bourns pots. They are also “Vintage”… ? … but I’m just wondering if people here have used them. Probably should have ordered a 250K too; maybe my tone pot will be ok though. 👍 It seems I’ll receive the two 500K about July. ~20 weeks wait on my Feb 1st order. edit: if the above link doesn’t work for you too, just use the mouser search on that error page with this text: 82Z1D-Z33-BA0-754L |
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Post by unreg on Mar 12, 2024 15:15:46 GMT -5
In searching for that image (above), it seems that many pots are now available in a closed casing. Bournes for one, and you've seen how many Nutz are exclaiming about their quality, so that might be a good place to start. Again, IMO. HTH sumgai Thank you for your opinion sumgai! I really attempted to buy closed case Bourns potentiometers from mouser.com. I actually paid the funds. However, they’ve replied that they can’t locate a Bourns closed case potentiometer in their system. So, do you know of a place that sells a 500K and a 250K closed case potentiometers made by Bourns? Thank you much good sir! |
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Post by mikecg on Mar 12, 2024 18:41:48 GMT -5
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Post by unreg on Mar 13, 2024 14:33:39 GMT -5
mikecg, my current pots ARE the CTS Control Pots from StewMac. I was trying to find a store that sells the Bourns closed case pots that sumgai recommends. CTS Control Pots are open cased. That allowed me to spray the electronic contact cleaner inside to fix it. And it is still working excellently! I’m disappointed that mouser will not order 90 of the Bourns closed case pots and sell me one. Mouser said they have no guarantee that the other 89 pots will sell; they wanted me to order 90 instead. The Bourns factory only sells in sets of 90.
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Post by mikecg on Mar 13, 2024 19:48:55 GMT -5
Hello unreg, Genuine Bourns guitar pots are like 'hens teeth' - Amazon list them, but they are most likely cheap Chinese copies, so perhaps it is better to stick with the devil you know? |
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Post by frets on Mar 14, 2024 19:46:45 GMT -5
Tti.inc sells real Bourns pots in groups of 10.
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Post by unreg on Mar 14, 2024 23:43:59 GMT -5
Tti.inc sells real Bourns pots in groups of 10. Mouser sells real Bourns pots too… and you can buy 1, if they are NOT closed cased. tti.inc also does not have 82Z1D-Z33-BA0-754L in stock; so, they force you to buy 90, just like mouser; though, tti.inc tells you all this up front, which is nice of them. |
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Post by Yogi B on Mar 15, 2024 0:46:29 GMT -5
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Post by unreg on Mar 15, 2024 17:22:04 GMT -5
Thank you Yogi B! I had no idea the 95-series existed. That’s excellent! Ordered a 500K from mouser and a 250K from Antique Electronic Supply; both knurled shaft and long bushing! —- It would have been nice if the mouser lady would have told me about their 95-series. |
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I’m going to receive a can of BW-100. 
)
