dead volume knob

[jxe]

hey everybody, i have a prs something22 with the 5-way rotary, and lately the volume knob doesn’t seem to do anything at all. i opened up the back to see what’s what and noticed a bare ground wire (from the bridge i think) was snapped, plus it looks like something else might be missing — there’s a glob of solder on the back of the volume knob, but it looks too big for the ground wire:

a closer look:

that little bare wire on top of the grey wire is not connected to anything, and the empty solder is on the right side of that knob in both pics. any ideas what to do to bring the volume action back?

 

[RickP]

I believe the third lug of that pot should be grounded to the body of the pot itself, and I can't see from the pic if it is. The bare wire should also be grounded to that pot, if it is what I am thinking. Check out the attached and see if it matches.

http://www.prsguitars.com/documents/prs_custom5wayrotary_pre_2007.pdf

 

[jxe]

thanks for the reply — the third lug is in fact bent up and soldered to the back of the knob housing like the diagram, looks like the only difference is the bridge ground snapped off the solder joint. i wouldn’t think an ungrounded bridge would bypass the volume, but i’ll reattach it and see.

 

[RickP]

thanks for the reply — the third lug is in fact bent up and soldered to the back of the knob housing like the diagram, looks like the only difference is the bridge ground snapped off the solder joint. i wouldn’t think an ungrounded bridge would bypass the volume, but i’ll reattach it and see.

No, you're right... it might add some buzz, but shouldn't keep the volume from coming through.

 

[bodia]

That bare wire is the ground wire that's attached to the trem claw. It needs to be soldered back on top of that volume pot.

 

[Rider1260]

Nothing in that pic suggests anything other than a failed pot , if it's not working anymore.

 

[jxe]

Nothing in that pic suggests anything other than a failed pot , if it's not working anymore.

this is what i was getting at, in a roundabout way - never had to replace one, guess i’ll have to start.

 

[RickP]

this is what i was getting at, in a roundabout way - never had to replace one, guess i’ll have to start.

I believe you can bypass the pot by shorting across the 1 and 2 lugs (not the ground one) to bypass the wiper. Might try that first. Could be a dead pickup, broken wire somewhere, broken rotary contact.. lots of possibilities.

 

[shimmilou]

Knob, or pot? Never heard of a dead knob.

 

[alantig]

Knob, or pot? Never heard of a dead knob.

Not in this forum, you didn’t!