Pot Problems

[escyrs2000]

I have a PRS Tremonti SE and both volume pots are knackered, I got a mate to pick up some replacements but they were way too small? Is there somewhere I can buy the proper replacement parts from? Im in the UK btw... thanks!

J

[Mark Hammer]

"Knackered" in the sense that their performance is intermittent, or knackered in the sense that they have been smashed in some manner?

A great many pots can be rehabilitated. Sometimes all that involves is some cleaning. If you can get the pots out completely, you can pry up the tabs on the front of the pot that hold the back covers on and clean the resistive element with a Q-tip. Then just pot the back on again and press the tabs to keep the back in place. Some pots are manufactured so as to give you unrestricted access to the resistive element, though others are a little more crowded.

One thing I do all the time these days is use a substance called "Stabilant" (www.stabilant.com) which is a "contact enhancer". It is conductive and acts sort of like a viscous solder joint. It can be applied to any conductive surface and does a nice job filling in the gaps when there may be a couple of microns of wear, tear and erosion. Rescues pots and switches from intermittents. Don't know about its availability where you are, but I can buy it locally in $0.50 1/2ml vials that do me for around 30 pots or so. Miracle stuff....really. Best of all, it is chemically stable so one application will do you for years because it won't dry out.

[escyrs2000]

Thanks Mark,

I'll give that a go then, thanks for the advice.
They aren't smashed they just have patches where they dont work at all so rubbish for subtle volume tweaks, especially with the speaker blowing popping and crackling that comes with it!

I'll let you know how I get on... and if I make it worse lol


J

[Mark Hammer]

I would expect better of PRS, but it's not unreasonable for a little wood splinter or hair in the cavity to find its way into a pot. It's also the case the constant pot adjustment can rub some of the resistive element off and create dirt where there wasn't any before.

[David Schwab]

I would expect better of PRS

I wouldn't! I repaired one once... it was one of the bolt on neck swamp ash models, but not the cheap SE models they make now. I was not impressed at all.

The owner hated the pickups... I didn't like them either. It had a HFS in the bridge position that was toneless... just barked. The vintage bass neck pickup was very muffled and muddy.

Also the neck had a slight backbow, and when I went to loosen the truss rod I discovered it was all the way loose! This guitar was a week old.

We ended up putting some Duncan Alnico II's in it. Really opened up the sound.

I'm not a PRS fan... can you tell?

Getting back to the pots... They are dirty... try some WD40 in them. I know that's not what's normally used to clean pots, but I've had great results in fixing a mixer than had Pepsi spilled on it, when nothing else would work.

If you want new pots, try someone like Stew-Mac (Potentiometers and Push-Pull Pots).