Replacement Volume and PU Selector Hardware

[Nodack]

Hi guys, I am new here and this is my first post.

I own a few Music Man guitars, 1st gen Luke, a Reflex and the limited edition Steve Morse guitar. They have all been great guitars except for the volume pots and the PU selectors. The Steve Morse needed a new PU selector after about a month of barely using it. Instead of a distinct click between PU's it's loose and you have a hard time figuring out which PU you are using other than the sound. The volume is super scratchy now too. I had my guitar guys replace the PU selectors and Volume pots on the Luke and the Reflex. I also added a Graftec bridge on the Reflex and am planning on replacing the guts on my Steve Morse as well as the Reflex that needs a new volume pot again.

I emailed Ernie Ball and let them know my feelings on the subject. "Stop putting cheap hardware on these nice guitars."

Anyway, my question is is there any after market PU and Volume pots you guys suggest to replace the cheap ones Music man puts in? I'm not guitar wiring expert so I don't know if PU selectors are that interchangeable. I would imagine Volume pots are pretty interchangeable.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[beej]

Cheap hardware? Can't say I've had that many issues with mine, and I've had a lot.

The pots (CTS) and jacks are high quality. Rather than replace them, a quick quirt of DeOxit will clear up the scratchiness. Helps with the switches as well if you're having contact issues. Might be worth investing in a can.

 

[Fro]

I’m sorry to hear your having problems with your switches. All of mine have been trouble free and I’ve been known to sweep the pickup switch with my pinky from neck to bridge and back while playing.
Did the switches on the first two go bad before you switched them out?
Also why switch out the nut?

 

[Tollywood]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

I've owned a whole bunch of ebmms over the last 18 years (more than 25) and I've only had one malfunction: the push-push volume pot on a Luke III eventually went up and wouldn't stay down. I ordered a new one from customer service and it's been fine.

I am very happy with the quality and especially the feel of the stock pots. They are very, very smooth.

That being said, I do encourage mods to our guitars to make them truly our own. I usually think of pickups swaps or Floyd Rose upgrades, but if you don't like the feel of the pots and switches then you should change them.

This is a really fun forum. Please be sure to make a post of your mods. We'll enjoy reading about it.