pappy Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 Ok I let my oldest boy use my strat, he needed for his youth group at church. Well it came back with two knobs cracked,I was a bit upset but you know sometimes stuff happens.Well then I plugged it in and nothing came out,turned the volume up and it was barely a quarter turn on the knob,blam,full on loud.Tuned it down an then it was ok for a few strums then nothing again.Finally i tried to loosen the nut and adjust the position of the pot using the stem of the pot.It worked for a few minutes then scratchy sound,feedback,then full on loud again. I am a bit timid to go into the guts of my guitars as I have a problem with seeing small items and such. I have been too upset too talk to son as yet, and I did notice that it appears that they had placed the strap under the body of the guitar and it raised it so it was hitting against the top velvet area of the case,or could they have placed something on the case to compress the top portion of the case to apply undue pressure on the control knobs,causing something to go awry within the actual pots themselves. It is the identical hardshell case that was made in 54,very strong and stable.I am at a loss for this. Any suggestions will be grateful. [cursing] Thanx,Pappy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Farnsbarns Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 Pretty much just replace the pots. Not expensive really. You might be able to take them apart and fix them but if you have bad eyes and intend to get someone else to do it replacing will be cheaper. Sounds like the shaft has been pushed in which tends to pop the back off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 Pappy, I can understand your frustration, people should be way more careful with OTHER peoples guitars and gear where people are nice enough to loan (something that I would RARELY do, and I would never even ASK someone to borrow a guitar.) But... No real worries here, if you're handy at all with a soldering iron? if you are, you should just replace them. Strats are just about the easiest guitars to work on in this regard. just pop out the pick-guard, turn it up side down, and everything is right there. you can get Bourne or CTS 250k pots on line (Stew Mac or any place for that fact) Mark which terminals are attached remove the old pots, install the new ones in the same manner. A few hits with the soldering iron some fresh solder and that should be about the extent of it. if you feel this is beyond your ability, and you have no repair contacts on hand, locate a local music store, given them call they should have a setup/repair guy (please don't call Guitar Center for this) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pappy Posted February 18, 2016 Author Share Posted February 18, 2016 Yes I did. to my Son. Do not know what he did with it,but as a rule very conscientious with anything he does or borrows,don't always get it back immediately but as a rule he is good about taking care of things. As to my abilities ,I can do about any handy job around the house from plumbing to cars. But eyesight is getting weaker and I am guessing if I take my time and use good light I may get the nerve to attack this problem TELL ME, what is the worse thing I can do?[scared] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 TELL ME, what is the worse thing I can do?[scared] hmmm, lets see.. I suppose the worse thing is to have the soldering iron touch the body of the guitar and leave a nasty burn mark! Cover the body with at least one or two towels you don't care about screwing up. All things considered, in the years I've done this, I can only say if you're a "careful kind of tinkerer" good light, ample work space, and at least a 45watt soldering iron, you can do this.. I can't recall the solder grade to use, but any medium stock should do. do a few YouTube searches for "strat pickup replacement tutorial" or "replace a volume pot in a strat" should be stuff out there. for example: it's the kind of thing that if you lived "round the block" form any one of a 100 of us, we'd just say.. "bring it here..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 Wait, we are talking about a real 54 strat or a reissue...? If it's a real 54 strat do what ever you can to keep the original pots... If it's a reissue no sweat just gets some new pots installed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 I can't recall the solder grade to use, but any medium stock should do. 63/37 and get the lightest gauge you can find. The lighter gauge helps you apply a small, controlled amount at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 thx Dub! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 Wait, we are talking about a real 54 strat or a reissue...? If it's a real 54 strat do what ever you can to keep the original pots... If it's a reissue no sweat just gets some new pots installed... A Reissue from his title.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pappy Posted February 18, 2016 Author Share Posted February 18, 2016 Yes it is the reisssue! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Pappy, if you want to get exact replacements for the pots, if you post a picture of the ones in the guitar we could probably give you a link to buy the original part Otherwise I'd probably just go with CTS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pappy Posted February 19, 2016 Author Share Posted February 19, 2016 Thanx to all of you for giving me the information. This is something I will attempt in a few weeks, I am going in to have cataract surgery in a few weeks.By that time I am hoping my vision will improve and I have been told by the optometrist that I will need a new RX for glasses. I have never attempted the opening of any of my guitars and trying to do any repairs,always took them to a luthier ,and no not GC. My wife and I are going to take a trip to Hilton Head along with my brother and his wife to honor my dad and spread his ashes on the golf course. He was an avid golfer and lived in Hilton during the winter months to escape the New England winters. I am appreciative to all of you and the depth of knowledge just blows me away. You guys are super. And I will post pix of the pots ,as I would like to keep it original. Thank you all, Pappy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 I can tell from experience, CTS pots are the best for "vintage" sound on a Strat...mainly, they have a bit more sparkle and "air" on the top, which is what i think Strats like. I know Strats are bright, but still, supporting the top end on a Strat gets good results. I tried lots of pots...lol. '54 spec should be (is) 250k "audio" taper. All three of them. While there are a lot of things I wouldn't trust GC for, I wouldn't have a problem letting them wire a Strat. Easy, and nearly no chance of messing it up, or doing damage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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