Volume pots

[frosty55]

On my Les Paul is a noisy volume pot. Are these type of things easy to fix?

[CharlieP]

Spray some F5 Fader lube in it from Deoxit! Work the pot after spraying!

[Mark Hammer]

Pots only work because pressure is applied to a movable contact. The contact creates friction with a resistive element that is a composite of small particles. As the contact is repeatedly moved back and forth over the resistive element, it can wear away some of those particles over the years, and pile them up in little deposits.

The noise and crackling can be due to dirt and dust getting into the pot, but even if you have one that is hermetically sealed, the resistive strip can get worn away over time if you are a heavy user. So, ultimately, noisy pots can result from combinations of exogenous and endogenous dirt and residue.

The analogy I like to use is this one. Imagine you have a freshly paved road. Drive on it, and the ride is smooth and silent as your tires make perfect seamless contact with the road. Over time, though, crap ends up on the road, and bits of the surface asphalt get worn off and also form part of what's on top, simultaneously leaving little pits in the surface. Between what's added to the top, and what's NOT there in the asphalt surface, your tires begin to make imperfect contact with the road, and you experience that as a noisy, grindy ride.

If the only source of the noise is what lying on top, then sweeping the road clear, or spraying the pot interior clean, will restore noise-free functioning. If the noise stems from both the pits and the dirt on top, sweeping the road or spraying the pot interior will not completely eliminate the noise, even though there may be a reduction.

There's a near-miraculous product I use called Stabilant (HOME PAGE -- STABILANT), that is an electro-conductive polymer that forms a layer on top of conductive surfaces like resistive strips. It acts almost like a liquid solder joint, and is able to fill in the little pits that have accumulated over use of the pot. I've had remarkable success rejuvenating pots that should have been declared off-limits years ago. Because the stuff never dries, though, you can't build up layers of it. Consequently, while you can rejuvenate crackly volume pot, it is not miraculous enough to bring a 40 year-old wah-wah back from the dead; at a certain point it simply isn't enough, but it IS pretty nifty. It is also expensive and hard to find.

In the interim, I would suggest removing your volume pot, gently prying up the tabs that hold that back of the pot chassis on, and cleaning the resistive strip with a cotton-tipped applicator. That will remove any built-up crud produced via friction, as well as any external crud that has managed to find its way inside. Having it away from the guitar when you clean it isn't a bad idea either. Personally, unless I was deft in its application, I'd be hesitant to try and wriggle the little tube in there and get accidentally shpritz stinky stuff in my guitar.

Ultimately, depending on how you use your volume pot - some leave it up all the time, and some are relentlessly nudging it - you may well have to replace it outright, but try a decent cleaning first.

[dirtyroger]

As both have mentioned above a good clean can work wonders, i often use compressed air like you can get to clean your computer keyboard. You can get this most place fairly cheaply!

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