Help required

[WishIcouldplay]

I recently got hold of a Fender Player series Mustang Bass....it plays great!!

However I want to mod the electronics.

I got hold of some Fender CTS 250K pots only to find the threaded portion will not go through the holes in the control plate.

Any one got any idea what pots are slight smaller that the CTS threads?

 

thanks

 

[SurroundedByManatees]

Personally I would enlarge the holes in the control plate a little to accommodate the new pots. Or get a replacement control plate that would fit the bill. There should be enough around I think.

[TRBboy]

What's wrong with the standard pots, or are they a different value?

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I've run into this situation when upgrading pots on squiers. A few twists with a tapered reamer is all thats needed. I bought this japanese 'engineer' one: https://amzn.to/3PeXNjJ which was tough enough to open up the holes easily.

[Burns-bass]

19 hours ago, SurroundedByManatees said:

Personally I would enlarge the holes in the control plate a little to accommodate the new pots. Or get a replacement control plate that would fit the bill. There should be enough around I think.

This. You won’t devalue the bass.

 

 

[TRBboy]

I would order cheap 250k pots off eBay first and see if they fit. I only use generic pots these days, and never had an issue with them. I used to use CTS, but I had some really crappy scratchy ones, so stopped bothering. Cheap, generic pots, I've never had an issue with, all have been smooth.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

Not all CTS pots are made equal. They are manufactured in batches when ordered by the distributer/seller and the components making them up vary depending on the exact specifications the distributer/seller has ordered. This is why some solid shaft CTS pots have an silver/grey coloured shaft and some have brass. I've been lucky enough to have never had a bad CTS pot, but if I can I order mojotone ones these days as they have the best specs for guitars/basses.

[LeftyJ]

There are high quality pots with metric shaft diameters too, like MEC. They could be a great option too, and don't require enlarging any holes. I have them in my Jazz, my custom Ellio Martina and (obviously!) in my Warwicks and like them. The taper is nice, they feel solid. My only gripe is with the ones with center detent: over time, it becomes less noticable. On my 2002 and 2003 Warwicks the detent in the EQ pots has become more vague over time. Then again, that's 20+ years of use! 

[WishIcouldplay]

4 hours ago, LeftyJ said:

There are high quality pots with metric shaft diameters too, like MEC. They could be a great option too, and don't require enlarging any holes. I have them in my Jazz, my custom Ellio Martina and (obviously!) in my Warwicks and like them. The taper is nice, they feel solid. My only gripe is with the ones with center detent: over time, it becomes less noticable. On my 2002 and 2003 Warwicks the detent in the EQ pots has become more vague over time. Then again, that's 20+ years of use! 

Thanks for the info...any idea on suppliers and the product codes?

[LeftyJ]

I'm afraid not! I'm a lefty, so I've used reverse logarithmic pots in my passive bass because I like to have my pots turning the "proper" lefty way. 

[kodiakblair]

1 hour ago, WishIcouldplay said:

.any idea on suppliers and the product codes?

Alpha RV16AF are mini pots, 16mm diameter. Normally around the £3 mark. Available for solid or spline knobs, with solder lugs, pins or PCB mount.

Alpha RV24AF are the full size version.  Around £3.

 

NW Guitars sell them, along with plenty others. Products all have the tech drawing so you can pick the correct size.

 

https://northwestguitars.co.uk/collections/potentiometers?sort_by=best-selling

 

Bourns PDB241-GTR

 

https://www.bourns.com/docs/product-datasheets/PDB241-GTR.pdf

 

£4 from Farnell or RS Components but £4 delivery.

 

Banzai Music in Germany carry all the MEC potentiometers; not cheap.

 

https://www.banzaimusic.com/MEC-c-176/

 

Musikding, also in Germany sell Alpha, Bourns and CTS. Great company, no VAT worries, fast shipping, fantastic prices.

 

https://www.musikding.de/Potentiometer_1