FDP Forum / Pot froze up/ 11 messages in thread.
1 to 11 of 11 shown.
| Guitar Fool Contributing Member ********** Titusville, Florida Thank a Vet today.... |
Never had this happen...<br /> <br /> turned on my little 62 Gretsch amp, turned the volume and tone to about 5...played for maybe 5 min. then i had to stop.<br /> <br /> went to turn the volume down and it wouldnt move.<br /> <br /> Ok..so im good with a soldering iron. Is this something I can do myself or do i need to take it to a tech?..<br /> <br /> not that i mind spending the bucks, its just that the nearest guy (that i trust) is an hour's drive there and back.. |
| Hammond101 Contributing Member * So. Cal. USA |
A pot swap is not a difficult task in a hand wired amp.<br /> <br /> Good soldering skills and knowledge of how to discharge the filter caps would be required. |
| damuniz Contributing Member ***** South Jersey/USA She turned me into a newt!.... |
Try some contact cleaner in there first. |
| Guitar Fool Contributing Member ********** Titusville, Florida Thank a Vet today.... |
i have contact cleaner and have used it on the pots before....it wasn't acting strangely until tonight...prior to tonight it was functioning without issue...nice and smooth..no scratchy noise or anything.<br /> <br /> but i appreciate the input....;-0<br /> <br /> my guess is that it just plain wore out from age and came apart inside keeping the shaft from functioning.<br /> <br /> i'll take it apart tomorrow and have a look see..... |
| anteriorl5 USA |
Contact cleaner can cause a pot to lock up. This happened to me with Radio Schlock tuner cleaner. Try lubricating the shaft of the pot before you take it apart or replace it. A tiny spray of DW40 with everything else shielded from the spray... |
| willie Contributing Member *** Walton County, GA. We Fixee good long time you like |
Some less expensive contact cleaners can melt or otherwise degrade plastic parts inside the pots. If that happens, you have to replace the pot. Another often overlooked factor is leaking coupling or blocking caps which allow small amounts of DC to appear on the stator contacts of the pot. Usually you can hear static when the pot it rotated though if this is the case. Over time the DC voltage on the pot carbon substrate and contacts can cause excessive carbonization on the pot which leads to failure.<br /> <br /> In the case stated, I would just replace the potentiometer. Even if you should free it up, the odds of it being free and quiet are small.<br /> <br /> willie<br /> musicmenders.com <br /> <br /> |
| Jumbofrets U.K |
Have you removed the Knob and then tried to move the<br /> pot,because they can move down the shaft and thus sticking on the faceplate/amp. |
| Guitar Fool Contributing Member ********** Titusville, Florida Thank a Vet today.... |
i got busy with other projects this weekend and havent had time to fool with it...<br /> <br /> i did take off the knob and the pot shaft is still where its supposed to be...but its locked up big time.. |
| Guitar Fool Contributing Member ********** Titusville, Florida Thank a Vet today.... |
ok....finally got around to fiddling around with this today. <br /> The pot is toast, removed it from the amp...and tried to disassemble it to see why its locked up...<br /> <br /> I gave up on it and installed a 500k CTS pot I had that came out of a guitar<br /> <br /> Got it all back together and it works but the volume doesnt get loud until you turn it at least halfway....dimed it sounds like it should. <br /> The original pot gave me more volume at lower settings..so I'm guessing this probably isn't the right type of pot to use even tho I believe the ohms is correct...<br /> <br /> is this the wrong type of pot?...any help is appreciated.... |
| willie Contributing Member *** Walton County, GA. We Fixee good, you like! |
The guitar pot could be a 500K Linear pot which would explain the results. Should be a 500K Log or Audio pot...plain or "D" shaft (depending on what type of knob goes on the amp) versus the splined split shafts used on guitar pots. Didn't catch which model of Gretsch amp this is used in. <br /> <br /> willie<br /> musicmenders.com |
| Guitar Fool Contributing Member ********** Titusville, Florida Thank a Vet today.... |
I'm pretty sure its an audio pot...solid shaft<br /> <br /> the amp is a 1962 6155...<br /> <br /> <br /> since pots are cheap... i could always just order one and replace it...<br /> i wished to hell i coulda fixed it but the summabitch is frozen up big time...;-(<br /> <br /> thanks for the help |
Copyright 1999-2003 Fender Discussion
Page, LLC. Visit the web site at http://www.fenderforum.com