FFS STUPID POTS.......

Travisthedog

Or stupid me.

just put a new loom into my burny LP, all sweet.

Slipping the shiny new tone and volume knobs on, applied the merest whiff of pressure and.........

Snap, fucking pot shaft shot through the threaded bit. I'm assuming it's fucked

Fucking clumsy oaf

Bridgehouse

Try taking your boxing gloves off

WezV

Did it push the back of the pot off?

If so, you can reassemble the pot and rebend the casing lugs into place.

common issue with newer CTS pots.  You need to support the back when putting knobs on

Travisthedog

The pot body moves up and dos but the threaded bit through the guitar (obviously) stays still @WezV ;

ive just retired the whole bastard thing an now I need to pull it all apart again. So I'll have a look in the morning, right now I want a whiskey

WezV

Yeah, it’s pushed the casing out.

never happened to me until 2 years ago, but has been a regular issue since then due to construction differences

Travisthedog

@WezV ;So it's borked?

WezV

No.  You can push the casing back in place and rebend the metal tabs to hold it where it should be.... but you need to support the back of the pot when adding the pot or it will push the back off again

WezV

You do need to take the loom out to do that

Travisthedog

Your a star Wez thanks mate

ICBM

Modern CTS pots do this, sadly.

The issue is that to save about half a cent, they’ve stopped fitting a little circlip around the shaft that stops it being pushed through the bushing, so the load is taken by the casing and the flimsy tabs that hold it on.

Why companies can’t just go on making a quality product in the way they always have, but think they have to cheapen it in any way possible to squeeze another microscopic profit out of it - when actually the buyers want the quality and wouldn’t be that bothered about a tiny cost increase - is one of the enduring failures of capitalism...

Also check that you’re not trying to fit far-east size knobs to the slightly larger US-size shafts, it makes the problem worse.

p90fool

I did that a couple of years ago too, after decades of just being able to push the knobs on without thinking about it. 

Us regular punters would be happy to the extra 20p or whatever on a £4 product to maintain quality, but I bet it's guitar manufacturers who are ordering millions of them who are screwing the prices right down and forcing them to lower standards. 

Travisthedog

Agreed, what a stupid idea. Talk about spoiling the ship for a hap 'o' orth tar

Sassafras

What are the best pots to buy now if the CTS ones aren't up too much because of their rampant capitalism?

ICBM

Ironically, the mini version - which is also cheaper - still has the circlip!

http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/electronics-c17/pots-c69/cts-guitar-pot-500k-mini-split-shaft-audio-taper-pot-with-9-tolerance-p365

Travisthedog

So how do mend this once it's out of the guitar?

ICBM

Travisthedog said:

So how do mend this once it's out of the guitar?

Make sure it's fitted back together correctly and then bend over the four little metal tabs with a pair of long-nose pliers.

It should look like this - 

http://www.toneshapers.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/c/t/ct-450s3507-500k-audio-pot-cts-split-shaft-900.jpg

Sassafras

ICBM said:

Ironically, the mini version - which is also cheaper - still has the circlip!

http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/electronics-c17/pots-c69/cts-guitar-pot-500k-mini-split-shaft-audio-taper-pot-with-9-tolerance-p365

Thanks IC