Santana III volume pot issue.

[aamefford]

Jumpy inconsistent volume pot. When I pull the knob, volume jumps very high. Any ideas? It’s a used, new to me ‘03. Should I just plan on new pots, switch and whatever else is in there?

 

[SinSir]

Try spraying some Deoxit first.

 

[Lewguitar]

20 year ofd pot. I'd replace it with a good one.

I use CTS.

 

[Bogner]

Deoxit Is Your Friend. Always Try That First. Pot Age Is One Thing. How Many Times It Has Been Turned Is Another. Many Times, Deoxit Fixes Pot Problems.

 

[aamefford]

The knobs won’t budge. Any tricks for getting stuck knobs off, especially with the relief around the knobs on a core guitar?

 

[bodia]

The knobs won’t budge. Any tricks for getting stuck knobs off, especially with the relief around the knobs on a core guitar?

Shoe string under them and pull up

 

[aamefford]

Shoe string under them and pull up

Genius!!!!! Thank you so much - it worked a champ!

Edit - I spent more time to find not stretchy shoelaces than it did to pop the knobs off.

 

[aamefford]

Looks like the Deoxit and shoe laces did it. Thanks all!

 

[Bogner]

Stew Mac Makes An $80.00 Tool For That...Plus $24.95 Shipping Of Course.

 

[dmatthews]

Nicely done sir!

 

[Max Headroom]

Shoe string under them and pull up

That is an absolutely freaking genius tip!
Added to my memo wallet.
Awesome.
Of course today's Croc wearing crowd might ask what a shoe lace is.....

 

[aamefford]

Almost all my shoes have stretchy laces. I had to dig out a pair of wingtips. Worked great. A shoelace under each side, pull up hard and they pop right off.

 

[Simon Says]

Shoe string under them and pull up

I usually using my T-shirt

 

[aamefford]

I tried the Chuck Norris method - I glared at them hoping they would pop off in abject fear. When that didn’t work, I asked here and got the shoelace method.

 

[Max Headroom]

I tried the Chuck Norris method - I glared at them hoping they would pop off in abject fear. When that didn’t work, I asked here and got the shoelace method.

Ah that's where you went wrong.
You needed to emulate ObiWan Kenobi...."these are not the knobs you are looking for"

 

[aamefford]

Ah that's where you went wrong.
You needed to emulate ObiWan Kenobi...."these are not the knobs you are looking for"

That’s what sh…

 

[Lewguitar]

I've used the showlace method. Sometimes helps to rock the knob a little by alternating which the side of the knob you're pulling up on.

I've never broken a guitar top pulling a knob off but I've heard about it happening.

So I use the fingers of one hand to press down around the area of the knob and pull up on the knob with a shoe string with the other.

I have pulled the post right out of the pot and had to replace the pot when a knob was ridiculously tight.

 

[garrett]

I keep a shoelace in my toolbox. I've also had good success with wrapping the hem of a t-shirt under/around the knob. I always have a couple old t-shirts around for wiping guitars, protecting them when wiring, etc.

Rocking helps, or in the case of the shoelace/t-shirt method, I pull a little on one side, rotate, pull a little on the other side, repeat until it's loose enough to pull off.

Glad the cleaning did the trick! Replacing volume pots is annoying.

 

[JasonE]

I use a microfiber cloth to pull knobs off. I have used the shoelace as well. Both work well.

Deoxit for the pot issue for sure. WD-40 has a contact cleaner now that is pretty good too. Make sure you get the contact cleaner, not regular WD-40. That stuff will ruin the pot. I am still using an old can of contact cleaner from Radio Shack. Make sure you don't get one with a lubricant in it. That will collect dirt and make things worse.

If you need to replace it, you can buy PRS pots. I love the feel of the PRS pots and I keep some on hand just in case I ever need to replace any. I have replaced some for friends and a couple for myself over the years.