Sire knob upgrade?

[JPJ]

So I continue to be impressed by my Sire v7 and I can’t find much to complain about apart from the cheap plastic knobs. Has anybody upgraded theirs to better knobs? 

[Trueno]

Can't speak for Sire, but I've upgraded the knobs on my two recent budget purchases... a Squier and Hofner Ignition... to proper Fender and Hofner knobs. As well as looking much better, they have a practical use as they have dot markers to give a bit of a clue where they're set. Loads of stuff to choose from when you look.

[Rich]

I used a combination of these two.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dual-Concentric-Control-Knob-for-Bass-Guitar-Gold-Chrome-Plated-High-Quality/251164962587?var=550186356404&hash=item3a7a992f1b:g:PcoAAOSwZFdacMw

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-Metal-electric-guitar-control-knobs-in-chrome-black-or-gold-tone-or-volume-/390769842515

[cclowend]

Thanks for this!!! Been searching for ages!! Know of any sellers who do black knobs for my M7? Ta.

[CameronJ]

Are they push-on or screw fitting knobs? Bass Direct do a selection of styles: http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Knobs.html

My personal favourite are the Delano ones, which I have fitted to my Sandberg P bass.

[ped]

This is where I go for a knob

https://www.digikey.co.uk/products/en/hardware-fasteners-accessories/knobs/568

[bubinga5]

19 hours ago, ped said:

This is where I go for a knob

https://www.digikey.co.uk/products/en/hardware-fasteners-accessories/knobs/568

Now that is a lot of knobs.

[Rich]

Nah. This is a lot of knobs.

[Rich]

And this is a lot of complete knobs.

[ped]

I bet half of those are just synths

[lemmywinks]

On the Sires the dual concentric pots are hex bolt fit and the standard ones are split shaft, also you're better off with slimmer stacked knobs due to the cramped nature of the bell plate. If you want flat top knobs (and you should, it looks better) then the dual concentric EMG ones are a great fit (Allparts do 'em) and are very slim/tall, standard Tele knobs off eBay will do for the other 3 pots.

Be careful with some of the eBay cheapy stacked knobs though, I got some (standard dome type) a while ago and they were a bit loose on the Sire and sat at an angle even though the measurements were correct, could probably be rectified with some tinkering though. I guess the EMG ones are manufactured to tighter tolerances - not cheap though especially as you need two of them.

Here's a poor photo of mine with flat top knobs, you can see how the slim/tall EMG make things easier:

Also notice how much nicer flat tops look!

 

EDIT: If you're eBay shopping then you might want to break the calipers out as not all dual concentric pots are created equal, there are a few configurations regarding height and diameter of the two shafts.

Edited October 3, 2018 by lemmywinks

[AlexMUK]

or these:

https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_parts_dual_knops_bk.htm

 

https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_parts_t_style_knop_black.htm

They feel nice. I had to slip a snipped bit of credit card into the splined shaft to stop the grub screw closing up the slot, but they fit well.

Edited October 22, 2018 by AlexMUK

[tonyl1951]

I purchased a Sire V7 six months ago.  Very good bass btw.  Yes they could have done a better job with the knobs.  I'm retired so I made a career out of finding nicer metal knobs.  They don't exist!  Tried many different ones and just wasted time and money.  The shafts on the Sire pots are split shafts.  All of the metal knobs, particularly the stacked knobs, are of the set screw variety.  The stock knobs are splined and snugly fit over the split shafts.  You can retro fit the metal stacked knobs with some doing but they will never fit the way they should over a solid shaft.  You need to line the inside of the top knobs with something that will allow you to snugly fit the top knobs on the shafts but you will never be totally satisfied with the fit and function.   Live with the stock knobs or replace the pots with solid shaft knob type.

 

[Rich]

This is what you need.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F253063067460

Also, it's not true that good replacement knobs 'don't exist'. They do. Unless I'm imagining the ones I fitted to my bass, that is...

Edited November 12, 2019 by Rich

[lemmywinks]

The stacked pots need hex bolt knobs don't they? The EMG ones I mentioned before work fine and fit perfectly, for the standard split shaft pots I used cheapo push-fit Tele knobs off eBay.

[CameronJ]

38 minutes ago, Rich said:

This is what you need.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F253063067460

Spot on. For the pennies that these cost, it’s worth having some lying around even if you don’t own a bass with split-shaft pots yet.

[AngelDeVille]

3 hours ago, Rich said:

This is what you need.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F253063067460

Also, it's not true that good replacement knobs 'don't exist'. They do. Unless I'm imagining the ones I fitted to my bass, that is...

 

I mostly use Fender and Marshall amp knobs so those brass adapters are always on hand.

[booker64]

On 19/06/2018 at 14:14, JPJ said:

So I continue to be impressed by my Sire v7 and I can’t find much to complain about apart from the cheap plastic knobs. Has anybody upgraded theirs to better knobs? 

I'm constantly getting my right hand's pinky hitting the volume/tone knob. (on v7 5) Esp. when slapping. It's just bloody too close.

Great bass in all, by the way.

People seem to replace with Harley Benton's knobs

https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_parts_dual_knobs_bk.htm
https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_parts_dual_knobs_cr.htm

I'm really thinking about relocating the volume/tone knob on mine...

Edited October 9, 2020 by booker64