Are volume and tone pots swappable?

[denny99]

Volume pot on my EBMM Luke makes a little noise while used. Can I temporarily swap it with the tone pot, which I seldom use? Sorry I'm ignorant when it comes down to electronics...

Thanks!

 

[LawDaddy]

The answer is yes, but an easier solution is to spray a little pot cleaner in it. Not sure where you get pot cleaner in Italy, but a little spray will usually clear up small noises.

 

[KungFu Grip]

Not without a soldering iron and schematic. If you can do that, as long as the pots have the same values, it should be doable.

 

[Jack FFR1846]

Not without a soldering iron and schematic. If you can do that, as long as the pots have the same values, it should be doable.

.....and as long as they are both audio taper....

 

[denny99]

Thanks guys. I do have a soldering iron, lead, and all the stuff to take note of wiring. Basically I can do it in practice, but I don't know much of the theory behind electronics

Also, I can get WD-40 in Italy quite easily, would it do the job?

Given that is an EMBB Luke without mods, how can I determine if pots are both audio taper, besides trying to read the writing on the pot? Maybe a tester will do? But what should I check?

Sorry, too many questions... Thank you

 

[WeeGee]

Thanks guys. I do have a soldering iron, lead, and all the stuff to take note of wiring. Basically I can do it in practice, but I don't know much of the theory behind electronics

Also, I can get WD-40 in Italy quite easily, would it do the job?

Given that is an EMBB Luke without mods, how can I determine if pots are both audio taper, besides trying to read the writing on the pot? Maybe a tester will do? But what should I check?

Sorry, too many questions... Thank you

DON'T use WD-40 on the pots as this will make things worse. You need an proper contact cleaner like this

However, I would just buy a replacement pot as it's simple to replace and easily available. The pots are generaly marked with A250k or B250K (A= Audio B= Linear) but they should be audio pots (and you can tell which type by there operation). I've don't whether Luke use 250k or 500k pots or whether they use special pots for the active pickups.

If in doubt contact CS

 

[tommyindelaware]

CAIG DEOXIT D5 works the best by FAR !!!!!!!
DeoxIT®, #D5S-6

 

[denny99]

Thanks guys,

As far as I know, EMG pickups need A25K pots. A local shop here yesterday told me 25k pots are veeeery hard to find, and I would need to ask for local distributor through the shop, which takes 60 days if everything goes smooth.

Don't ask me why. I start to understand why people around the world have a certain opinion of Italy

Last chance is to order them in UK, since buying from US usually takes forever, of course the bottleneck isn't airmail but get the items from the custom offices to home. They are DAMN slow and charge A LOT of taxes...
see above consideration.

WeeGee, where would you get pots in UK? (on-line store, if possibile)
thanks!

 

[beej]

As Tommy says ... your best bet is to find Deoxit and clean out the pot. Should work and save you having to replace it. Handy stuff to have around anyway.

 

[denny99]

OK, will try with a proper contact cleaner first... thanks

 

[Heeboja]

Um no need to order from the states. Just try thomann.de . They have lots of different pots and pans (well, not pans. ). I order my electronics from there. And yes, they are swappable if they are the same. Just remember to take of the capasitor

 

[denny99]

Um no need to order from the states. Just try thomann.de .

"Shipping costs to Italy are 20 EUR, no matter what and how much you order"

Ouch!

Thanks anyway, will take a look at pot options.

 

[Heeboja]

"Shipping costs to Italy are 20 EUR, no matter what and how much you order"

Ouch!

Thanks anyway, will take a look at pot options.

Forgot about that one I always order a bunch of stuff from there so the shipping costs don't really matter to me

 

[denny99]

hehe

BTW they seem to have A25k pot in stock, but the above limit is forcing me to buy more stuff!

 

[jamminjim]

pots 101?

You could also pry up the tabs on the body, open up the pot and clean the insides with some denatured or isopropyl alcohol. At the time you could inspect the carbon element. It's not that hard. I've opened them up and scraped away carbon (or what ever material it is) on the disc and made some pots into "no-load" pots. Again, it isn't that difficult. Just click on this link I'm posting and learn a little about pots... OK? good.

Project Guitar :: Checking DC resistance on your potentiometers

 

[denny99]

Cool! Thanks for the link, yep it's not that hard.

 

[denny99]

Just for the records: a good contact cleaner solved the problem
(anyway, looking for replacement just in case)

thanks all!