Hi,
I took a strat type guitar I bought in lockdown to practice last night.
Its volume pot wouldn't go to 0. I've had it a year or so, but as it only gets used at home the volume has just stayed on full. It went from full to 1/3 volume but where it should be silent it was about 1/3 volume.
I'd prefer to fix it in one go as I'm a bit time poor at the moment. Is it likely to need a whole new volume pot or just some soldering touching up?
It appreciate this might be a how long is a piece of string question! My soldering is "functional" at best so it would be good to have an idea if it is likely to be possible to fix it before replacing it.
The guitar is a vintage Joe doe strat type I bought new if that makes a difference.
Thanks for any help
Comments
It's worth having the scratch plate off to check the wiring - a poorly soldered earth could be the culprit. Use a croc lead to jumper the vol pot's ground lug to the jack earth - any better?
You'll have to unsolder the vol pot to test it with a meter. Measure resistance between the outer lugs (250K ish?) and then between the centre lug and an end lug as you rotate the pot - it should be 0K to 250Kish.
If it's a faulty pot it's a cheap and easy replacement...
Yes. Exactly
Do you remember from any other times when you last played it whether the volume pot was a very gradual taper until it was just a whisper before it hit zero, or is there a chance it was still allowing some sound through (even up to a 3rd of the volume) just before the last little bit of rotation before cutting the signal?
I've just played it at home on full volume. So not sure
switch cleaning lubricant
I've got some of that kicking about, I'll give that a go first
"Damage" could mean the dirt and/or corrosion suggested by BillDL or it could be the contacts failing to, er, contact.
Fixing the pot internals properly involves opening up its casing.
If that doesn't fix it, the trackboard is cracked and you will need to replace the pot.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
So far I've had time to try the contract cleaner. This almost worked for 10 seconds and then it went back to not reducing the volume.
So I'm going to have to open it up and unsolder the volume pot to test it/bend it/ resolder it I might as well get a new volume pot while I'm at it. Does this look ok for a £5
Borne pot
https://www.axetec.co.uk/guitar_parts_uk_052.htm
You don't need to unsolder it or even remove it from the pickguard to try the pliers trick.
This is a very common fault, it puzzles me why it (and the usual solution) aren't better known...
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Ah. I've bought the new pot and it's on route.
If the bending doesn't work I'll have the new pot to swap in anyway.
I can't imagine I'll never need to swap a volume pot and it's not like it will go off sat in a drawer.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I took it to bits and have the pot a squeeze with pliers and it works perfectly now