Ibanez GB10 pots removal and re-install

[guitar_gazza]

Hello all, I have a lovely Japanese made GB10 for some years and lately the pots have started sounding a bit scratchy.

Has anyone had experience removing and re-installing pots on a GB10 that might be able to give me a few tips on how to do it as it looks like it could be a little tricky to do.

Many thanks in advance for any help.

Regards,

guitar_gazza

[Mick Bailey]

I don't have experience of the GB10, but I've had a few archtops in for repair where the only access to the pots and electronics is via the f-hole, unlike many semis where the bridge pickup can be removed to access things.

The first thing I do is to is to use low-tack blue masking tape around the hole to protect it - you don't want to scratch the finish. I then use an adjustable dental mirror and flashlight to take a look inside the body to get an idea of how much slack there is in the wiring, the orientation of components and anything else that may important when it comes to removing or reinstalling the harness. After removing the knobs I tie a good length of dental floss to the each pot shaft and tie off the other end to a strap button, then remove the pot nuts and slide them out of the way along the floss. Make sure the washer and nut don't scratch the body - wrap something around them. Use the same method with any switches. Take the nut off the socket and tie dental floss to this if there's room to pull it through the mounting hole. Sometimes there isn't and I use a cut down plug pushed into the socket with a piece of floss tied to it. The idea is you have a means of pulling everything back through into the correct position when it comes to reassembly and dental floss is light and strong and doesn't get in the way.

Once everything is free I take my time to retrieve the pots etc through the f-hole. Sometimes this isn't straightforward. I use hooks, locking forceps and dental probes. Use what you have to hand. Sometimes with a pot you can orient it beneath the f-hole enough to get a squirt of Deoxit into the track without having to actually pull everything out through the hole - use very little and make sure it doesn't drip.

With some guitars where only the volume pots are scratchy, it's possible to slacken the nuts and rotate the pots in-situ enough to see the opening to the track through the F-hole with a mirror. It depends on the wiring. Some stiff wire coiled around the Deoxit straw can enable it to be positioned to get the product into the pot - I sometimes use a second straw as an extension - find a piece of tube or stripped cable insulation to hold them together. Protect the top of the guitar if you use this method.

[g1]

Some stiff wire coiled around the Deoxit straw can enable it to be positioned to get the product into the pot - I sometimes use a second straw as an extension - find a piece of tube or stripped cable insulation to hold them together.

Heatshrink also can be used as a 'joiner' for the second straw. But rather than that, I use a long piece of heatshrink as the extension, and insert an equal length of tag wire in it. Then you can bend the extension to whatever shape you need, just as long as you don't put a kink in it (which will block the flow, and your straw will blast out of your deoxit nozzle ).

[Check.. 1,2]

Hi gazza I am a guitar tech. ... rather than trying explain in a massive post here's a vid showing the process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mS9ZB_Sgi6Q

And also I would replace with new pots, if you want a quality cheap option Alpha (Taiwan) pots are great quality, I usually solder grounds (and the back of the pot with a tiny jumper cable) to the leg of a pot rather than the back of it so that I can keep the Alpha (Taiwan) plastic dust covers on the back of the pots, it keeps them scratch free for MUCH longer. I'll attach an example pic to show Alpha pots with dust covers ...

[Check.. 1,2]

Woops didn't see Mick Bailey's reply above ... sorry Mick didn't mean to override your reply which is completely correct too ...