ebenezer Posted December 2 Share Posted December 2 All three pots on my 79 musicman have been replaced...I still have the worn out original pots, can these be rebuilt ?... is there a company that can do this?....thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted December 2 Share Posted December 2 Yes and no. They can be dismantled (pry open the tabs holding the back of the case on), wiped out and apply fresh silicone grease, but if the carbon tracks are worn or cracked then it’s not really worth it. Unfortunately it’s not something you can know until you’ve got the back off, good skill to have though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyder Posted December 2 Share Posted December 2 From my experience of a few vintage instruments I would be very wary of old pots that worked perfectly. You can take the old pots and replace the insides with a new pot and reseal the old case to make it look original. This happened to a friend of mine who bought a vintage bass. I would prefer a seller to replace the scratchy pots and provide the originals as well. I would leave them as they are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted December 2 Share Posted December 2 You can simply exchange the casing of the 1979 pot with a new one as explained above, which is seen a bit too often these days with vintage items. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted December 2 Share Posted December 2 I really don't get what all the fuss is about. Why is there this fascination with having the original, shagged out pots anyway? It's this kind of counter-intuitive stuff that drives people to put new innards in old pot casings. Pots die, it's a fact of life and heavy use. Replacing them is the sign of a well looked after and maintained instrument, no? I'm pretty sure even the most... invested classic car enthusiast isn't that concerned with having the original, factory installed spark plugs in the engine, are they? Or have I just opened up an entirely new and even wrigglier can of worms? 5 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted December 2 Share Posted December 2 21 minutes ago, neepheid said: I really don't get what all the fuss is about. Why is there this fascination with having the original, shagged out pots anyway? It's this kind of counter-intuitive stuff that drives people to put new innards in old pot casings. Pots die, it's a fact of life and heavy use. Replacing them is the sign of a well looked after and maintained instrument, no? I'm pretty sure even the most... invested classic car enthusiast isn't that concerned with having the original, factory installed spark plugs in the engine, are they? Or have I just opened up an entirely new and even wrigglier can of worms? Wait until you meet the "that looks too fresh to be original '64 solder" brigade.... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebenezer Posted December 2 Author Share Posted December 2 Do I just leave as is, and just keep the original pots? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted December 2 Share Posted December 2 1 minute ago, ebenezer said: Do I just leave as is, and just keep the original pots? Yes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted December 2 Share Posted December 2 3 hours ago, ebenezer said: All three pots on my 79 musicman have been replaced...I still have the worn out original pots, can these be rebuilt ?... is there a company that can do this?....thanks Leading on from my earlier point - why bother? You've got a working bass - you've kept the old pots for the "provenance" or whatever psychotic requirements will be brought to bear whenever you sell it. What's the problem now? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ead Posted December 2 Share Posted December 2 32 minutes ago, neepheid said: Leading on from my earlier point - why bother? You've got a working bass - you've kept the old pots for the "provenance" or whatever psychotic requirements will be brought to bear whenever you sell it. What's the problem now? Just needs a bit more aging with a belt sander maybe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted December 2 Share Posted December 2 5 hours ago, neepheid said: I'm pretty sure even the most... invested classic car enthusiast isn't that concerned with having the original, factory installed spark plugs in the engine, are they? Or have I just opened up an entirely new and even wrigglier can of worms? Well, actually... Sorry this is a bit vague, I read it all thirty years ago or more. Can't remember what model of car it was but it was a car used in a famous rally or endurance race, during which it was crashed and a chassis rail damaged. As a temporary repair, a length of angle iron or similar was welded in, and after the race the chassis was properly repaired. The car was up for sale, and included was the length of angle iron that had been welded in. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mediocre Polymath Posted December 2 Share Posted December 2 I recently disassembled and reconditioned the original 3P4T rotary switch in a 1973 EB-3, and I can confirm that those old components can be taken apart relatively easily so long as you have the right tools (surgical hemostats are the answer to many things). However, I only did this because the switch is an unusual type and comparable modern replacements don't really exist (just cheap sealed plastic ones that in my experience break within a few weeks). I wouldn't bother with bog standard components like pots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itu Posted December 2 Share Posted December 2 8 hours ago, paul_5 said: ...wiped out and apply fresh silicone grease, but if the carbon tracks are worn or cracked... Silicon grease? But not to the carbon track. Use some deoxit or similar, but nothing silicon based. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
police squad Posted December 3 Share Posted December 3 I repaired a volume pot on my 1964 Hofner last week. Prized off the cover plate and the bits inside the pot looked good, they just weren't touching. A wiggle with some pliers and presto, working again put the base plate back on and instead of rivets, inserted some wire and twisted it, to hold it together 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted December 3 Share Posted December 3 1 hour ago, police squad said: I repaired a volume pot on my 1964 Hofner last week. Prized off the cover plate and the bits inside the pot looked good, they just weren't touching. A wiggle with some pliers and presto, working again put the base plate back on and instead of rivets, inserted some wire and twisted it, to hold it together Well, that's just knocked a hundred quid off its value Or added to it, if you're famous... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
police squad Posted December 3 Share Posted December 3 4 hours ago, neepheid said: Well, that's just knocked a hundred quid off its value Or added to it, if you're famous... why? It didnt work and now it does Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted December 3 Share Posted December 3 14 minutes ago, police squad said: why? It didnt work and now it does I'm being sarcastic. To some, you've committed some heinous violation of the originality of your bass. Me, I don't care, it's not my bass. But you fixed it and I applaud that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
police squad Posted December 3 Share Posted December 3 29 minutes ago, neepheid said: I'm being sarcastic. To some, you've committed some heinous violation of the originality of your bass. Me, I don't care, it's not my bass. But you fixed it and I applaud that. cool but actually what I've done is keep it original by mending it. Someone else would have changed the pot. They are a strange looking pot, not like a CTS or anything Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chienmortbb Posted December 3 Share Posted December 3 33 minutes ago, police squad said: not like a CTS or anything You can be thankful for that. Like most of the parts on the Early Fender basses and 6 string cheese slicers, the parts were what Leo could get locally. That of course includes the woods. So no magic, just what he could get easily and cost effectively. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted December 3 Share Posted December 3 22 hours ago, ebenezer said: Do I just leave as is, and just keep the original pots? This in a nutshell. I know there's people that want things 100% original, but it's pots and cap(s). As soon as you take them apart and repair/upgrade/change the innards you're losing originality. Pots are one small facet in the signal chain; apart from the immense sense of wellbeing you'll get, nobody else will care in the slightest. Trust me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted December 3 Share Posted December 3 My brother has a 62 SG Junior. Fed up with the worn out 62 year old pots, he got me to replace them with cts ones. His view... I won't sell this, but I want to play it. Me? I was crapping myself... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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