Gone to POT.. on my 535 (unusual problem)

[pushover]

Not sure I've ever seen anything like this before but it looks like one of the tone pots on my 535 is not in good shape. See the picture.. The pot stem basically acts like a pushbutton and when you push on it, it goes down flush to the body as is shown in the picture (sorry for the poor quality, but you can probably get the idea..). As you can see in the pix though... the top threaded portion of the pot body is still in place and is still firmly held by the nut that attaches it to the guitar? BUT, the REALLY ODD thing, is that it still works!! I just pull it up enough to get a grasp on it, and turn it to adjust the tone as needed..

 

My big planned upgrade after purchasing this guitar, was to put the black speed knobs on it, cause i thought the original knobs on it looked boring. I know... I know.. What can I say.. Black speed knobs are just cooler...  Anyway, when I pulled off the old knobs this pot was in the shape it's in. I think the only thing that was holding it up was the fact it already had a knob on the end of it.  I can't put a new knob (new or old) back on it since it just pushes the stem down.

 

Ordinarily I don't have any problems getting out a soldering iron and replacing the pots. I've done so on my Fender, but this isn't a Fender is it! It's a nicer guitar, and I admit to being intimidated by the fact that the only access to this is through the sound hole, and that this is the pot that is furthest from the sound hole. If anyone knows any tricks and tips that might make this doable for a newbie like me, I might give replacing the pot a whirl, but I think I'll probably just pay up and leave it to a professional since I was gonna take the guitar in for a new setup anyway... 

bad-pot.jpg

bad-pot.jpg_thumb

[big bob]

OK first thing, breath , slow down you can do this. lets go step by step.

 

bust out that old set of towels and lay out 535 on them...

 

remove the strings

 

remove all the remaining knobs from the 535..

 

I like to use wire for this next part, some others use string, either will work ( I find the stiffness in the wire to be helpfull)

attach a two foot length of wire to each of the tone and volume pots ( I run the string/wire through the split and then elect tape in place) you will need to pull on this later so make sure it's attached well.

 

label the end of each wire/string with type/position ( neck volume) you get the picture..

 

now you can remove the nuts and when the pots fall into the cavity you will be able to pull them back out.

 

unscrew and remove the bridge pup and mounting ring

 

because all your pots are connected you will need to shift them all around so that you can bring the faulty one out the pup hole.

it's OK because you have string/wire leads to pull them back into place with.

 

replace the offending pot, make sure to hook the string/wire from the bad to the new , then pull them all back into place with the string/wire leads.

 

that is exactly how I did my 575..

 

here is a photo, I soldered mine through the f hole and trust me the pup hole is much easier .http://www.heritageownersclub.com/forums/index.php/topic,1490.0.html

[pushover]

Thanks Bob.. Awesome stuff... You make this sound very doable...

 

I'm not in any hurry though, so I'm gonna think about it some and have a talk with my tech first before getting out the pick-axe and chain-saw. I had actually already made arrangements to bring the guitar in for a setup when I got back from my vacation anyway.. So unless he's gonna gouge me for something like this (i like being gouged as much as I like my guitars being gouged..) I'll probably let him do it just to be on the safe side. I'm not worried about the soldering and electric stuff, and the process you describe seems pretty straight forward. I'm mostely worried about the fact that I tend to drop things, and scrape things up. I've always been a make it work good guy, rather than a make it look good guy

 

 

OK first thing, breath , slow down you can do this. lets go step by step.

 

bust out that old set of towels and lay out 535 on them...

 

remove the strings

 

remove all the remaining knobs from the 535..

 

I like to use wire for this next part, some others use string, either will work ( I find the stiffness in the wire to be helpfull)

attach a two foot length of wire to each of the tone and volume pots ( I run the string/wire through the split and then elect tape in place) you will need to pull on this later so make sure it's attached well.

 

label the end of each wire/string with type/position ( neck volume) you get the picture..

 

now you can remove the nuts and when the pots fall into the cavity you will be able to pull them back out.

 

unscrew and remove the bridge pup and mounting ring

 

because all your pots are connected you will need to shift them all around so that you can bring the faulty one out the pup hole.

it's OK because you have string/wire leads to pull them back into place with.

 

replace the offending pot, make sure to hook the string/wire from the bad to the new , then pull them all back into place with the string/wire leads.

 

that is exactly how I did my 575..

 

here is a photo, I soldered mine through the f hole and trust me the pup hole is much easier .http://www.heritageownersclub.com/forums/index.php/topic,1490.0.html

[big bob]

it is very doable, when I work on theguitars I allways have a kitchen towel on top to protect against dropage..

[High Flying Bird]

I was soldering over my 475 tonight.  I was shaking like a dog trying to pass a peach seed but, raise be to Allah, I didn't have any mishaps.  I dropped a glob of solder on my black 150 back in the early '90s.  Live and learn.