Help! Issue with Volume Pot on My Music Man Luke IV – Looking for Advice

[Jesus Galvez]

Issue with Volume Pot on My Music Man Luke IV – Looking for Advice

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share an issue I've been experiencing with my Music Man Luke IV to see if anyone else has encountered something similar or has any suggestions.

A while ago, the volume potentiometer stopped working properly, although the push-push function for the 20dB boost still works. I reached out to Music Man support, and they sent me a full preamp replacement. However, after installing it, the exact same issue happened again.

I've noticed that slightly loosening the nut on the volume pot sometimes makes it work, but inconsistently. Also, when the volume does respond, it never goes all the way down to 0%.

To be honest, this has been quite frustrating since this guitar was a major investment for me, and I expected flawless performance given Music Man's reputation. On top of that, I don't live in the U.S., which makes access to support a bit more complicated.

Has anyone else experienced a similar issue with the volume on a Luke IV? Any ideas on what might be causing this or possible solutions? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I can share photos if needed.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[beej]

Weird- I can't say I've had that issue before. It's hard to say without having the guitar available to inspect. Could be a bad solder connection on the pot, or something on the board.

Disappointing, I know. But I would reach out to them again next week and let them help you troubleshoot the issue.

 

[ruger9]

I'm sorry to hear that. When you pay so much money for a guitar, you want it to WORK. AT LEAST. I hope you get help from EBMM customer service, because if the new preamp is doing the same thing, obviously something ain't right... a bad batch or preamps perhaps? It happens.

When you say the volume potentiometer "stopped working properly", what exactly do you mean? What is it doing/not doing?

 

[Norrin Radd]

Did you purchase the guitar brand new?

 

[Jesus Galvez]

I'm sorry to hear that. When you pay so much money for a guitar, you want it to WORK. AT LEAST. I hope you get help from EBMM customer service, because if the new preamp is doing the same thing, obviously something ain't right... a bad batch or preamps perhaps? It happens.

When you say the volume potentiometer "stopped working properly", what exactly do you mean? What is it doing/not doing?

Hi, thanks for answering. I bought the guitar at Guitar Center and had to take a trip since I'm not in the United States. When I tried the guitar in the store, everything seemed to work fine. However, when I played it again a few days later at home, the volume pot stopped working. The guitar still functioned perfectly, producing sound at full volume, but the volume pot was completely unresponsive. Strangely, the push-push boost feature continued to work without any issues.

If the volume pot was moved slightly, it would start working again. All the connections were re-soldered, and for a while, it seemed to be fixed, but after some time (sometimes hours), the issue would return.

After weeks of communicating with Music Man customer service, they decided to have me destroy the old preamp and sent me a new one. However, to my surprise, when the new preamp was installed (by a specialist, not me), the exact same issue occurred. The first time I tried it, the volume pot worked momentarily when it moved slightly but then stopped again.

It's a very strange and frustrating situation.

 

[Jesus Galvez]

Did you purchase the guitar brand new?

That's correct, I bought it brand new at a guitar center.

 

[Jesus Galvez]

Weird- I can't say I've had that issue before. It's hard to say without having the guitar available to inspect. Could be a bad solder connection on the pot, or something on the board.

Disappointing, I know. But I would reach out to them again next week and let them help you troubleshoot the issue.

Weird- I can't say I've had that issue before. It's hard to say without having the guitar available to inspect. Could be a bad solder connection on the pot, or something on the board.

Disappointing, I know. But I would reach out to them again next week and let them help you troubleshoot the issue.

My most viable option would be to return it to Guitar Center, but due to my situation it is difficult for me to travel to the United States for now. The other option they gave me was to send the guitar to Music Man myself and they would repair it under warranty, but I am a little wary of sending an instrument like that by courier. They also offered to send me another pre amp, but I have a feeling that the same thing will happen again.

 

[Sweat]

Take it back to GC, did it get shipped to you or did you bring back to mexico with you

 

[Jesus Galvez]

Take it back to GC, did it get shipped to you or did you bring back to mexico with you

I brought it with me to Mexico, I went personally to pick it up at Guitar Center, it is very difficult for me to organize a trip to return it again, and I think I only have one week left of the 45 days that Guitar Center offers to return an instrument, it is somewhat impossible for me to be able to go right now due to work issues.

 

[Norrin Radd]

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Take it back to GC, did it get shipped to you or did you bring back to mexico with you

Yeah - ideally it should be the dealer who takes care of you with an issue like this. It sounds like that is a difficult proposition for you, however. Personally, I wouldn’t hesitate to ship it to Ernie Ball to get it fixed, knowing that if I did so it’s definitely going to be done correctly. I would trust them a whole lot more than I would guitar center. I guess you’re going to have to figure out what works best for you. Unfortunately, you’re in that position because you bought the guitar in one country and took it to another one, making the possibility of a warranty repair that much more arduous. Good luck! And keep us updated.

 

[Jesus Galvez]

---

Yeah - ideally it should be the dealer who takes care of you with an issue like this. It sounds like that is a difficult proposition for you, however. Personally, I wouldn’t hesitate to ship it to Ernie Ball to get it fixed, knowing that if I did so it’s definitely going to be done correctly. I would trust them a whole lot more than I would guitar center. I guess you’re going to have to figure out what works best for you. Unfortunately, you’re in that position because you bought the guitar in one country and took it to another one, making the possibility of a warranty repair that much more arduous. Good luck! And keep us updated.

That's right, I'm a little hesitant about sending it by courier, but seeing the few options I have, I think I'll have to do that. Thank you very much for the comments!

 

[beej]

For what it’s worth, I’m in Canada and have shipped quite a few guitars back and forth to Music Man with zero issues. It’s a hassle, but they’ll fix it perfectly.

 

[Norrin Radd]

I had a guitar shipped to me from SLO about a week ago. Arrived perfect!

 

[ruger9]

IDK enough about the construction of the EBMM control cavity to really KNOW... I don't know if/how the cavity is shielded, but the intermittent nature of the problem sounds to me either like a bad solder joint issue (which you would have had addressed with the new preamp), or somehow the volume pot is losing it's ground to the control cavity maybe? IDK, I'm just guessing here.

It would really suck to have to send a brand-new guitar back to EBMM, but unless your local "specialist" can figure out what the issue is, I'm not sure you have much choice

 

[PBGas]

IDK enough about the construction of the EBMM control cavity to really KNOW... I don't know if/how the cavity is shielded, but the intermittent nature of the problem sounds to me either like a bad solder joint issue (which you would have had addressed with the new preamp), or somehow the volume pot is losing it's ground to the control cavity maybe? IDK, I'm just guessing here.

It would really suck to have to send a brand-new guitar back to EBMM, but unless your local "specialist" can figure out what the issue is, I'm not sure you have much choice

This is 100% the issue and an easy fix. I just repaired one for a customer with the same issue. I just lightly sanded the area inside the cavity slightly where the pot shaft goes through and put a thin layer of tape to isolate the volume pot from the graphite in the cavity.

Works perfectly now! I repair things like this a lot.

 

[Sweat]

At least tell us you registered the guitar with EBMM on the website.

 

[Jesus Galvez]

For what it’s worth, I’m in Canada and have shipped quite a few guitars back and forth to Music Man with zero issues. It’s a hassle, but they’ll fix it perfectly.

Hello, thank you for responding. I have no doubts about Music Man and the United States parcel service, but I do have doubts about the parcel service from my country (Mexico). I have seen cases where there is negligence and I am truly afraid to send it this way. I will continue to analyze my options. Thank you for commenting!

 

[Jesus Galvez]

I had a guitar shipped to me from SLO about a week ago. Arrived perfect!

I'm afraid this is probably my only option, I know they will repair it perfectly, thanks for commenting.

 

[Jesus Galvez]

IDK enough about the construction of the EBMM control cavity to really KNOW... I don't know if/how the cavity is shielded, but the intermittent nature of the problem sounds to me either like a bad solder joint issue (which you would have had addressed with the new preamp), or somehow the volume pot is losing it's ground to the control cavity maybe? IDK, I'm just guessing here.

It would really suck to have to send a brand-new guitar back to EBMM, but unless your local "specialist" can figure out what the issue is, I'm not sure you have much choice

The guitar has not actually been checked in depth by my local specialist, only superficially, for fear that this could affect the warranty. I wish I could have noticed this fault when I was at Guitar Center. Anyway, I know it will be fixed one way or another.

 

[Jesus Galvez]

This is 100% the issue and an easy fix. I just repaired one for a customer with the same issue. I just lightly sanded the area inside the cavity slightly where the pot shaft goes through and put a thin layer of tape to isolate the volume pot from the graphite in the cavity.

Works perfectly now! I repair things like this a lot.

Thank you very much for the advice, I will let my technician know, he told me that he had a theory similar to what you mentioned, only that it has not been checked yet, I have been working with the guitar in its current state and it has worked perfectly, it sounds like the gods, of course if we ignore the problem with the volume pot, I will let my technician know your solution, I hope it is the definitive way to fix this problem, thank you very much.