Pot repair

[pappy]

Ok this Wed. /Thurs. I have off. And I am going to open the insides of my strat and attempt to repair the pots.

What I need to ask is I believe I need silver solder and some type of flux. Also it was stated that I need a hot soldering iron, just what do I need exactly in reference to a hot soldering iron? Is there anything else you folks think I need . And finally wish me luck, this ought to be interesting.

[surfpup]

Not sure what you mean by repair... are you replacing the pots?

[pappy]

Not sure what you mean by repair... are you replacing the pots?

From a previous post.

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.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)

/Ray Any suggestions will be grateful. [cursing]

Thanx,Pappy

[surfpup]

10-4

 

So you will need a soldering iron... a simple Radio Shack one will suffice. You won't need adjustable temperature etc. You also won't need anything fancy like a solder sucker or even de-soldering braid. You will need solder (again simple stuff is fine). You will want some needle nose pliers too.

 

After your iron is hot, heat up the old solder on each lug by holding the iron to the solder joint and gently pull the wire out using the needle nose pliers. After all wires are out, remove the pot by loosening the nut that holds it onto the pickguard. Fit the replacement pot in. Thread the wires back into the same spots (lugs) on the new pot. Heat the lug and bare wire for at least 10 seconds before you apply the solder with your free hand. Flow about an inch of the solder into the joint, remove the iron from the joint and let it cool.

 

Repeat same process for each pot. Done.

[pappy]

10-4

 

So you will need a soldering iron... a simple Radio Shack one will suffice. You won't need adjustable temperature etc. You also won't need anything fancy like a solder sucker or even de-soldering braid. You will need solder (again simple stuff is fine). You will want some needle nose pliers too.

 

After your iron is hot, heat up the old solder on each lug by holding the iron to the solder joint and gently pull the wire out using the needle nose pliers. After all wires are out, remove the pot by loosening the nut that holds it onto the pickguard. Fit the replacement pot in. Thread the wires back into the same spots (lugs) on the new pot. Heat the lug and bare wire for at least 10 seconds before you apply the solder with your free hand. Flow about an inch of the solder into the joint, remove the iron from the joint and let it cool.

 

Repeat same process for each pot. Done.

Cool, with my new eyes I have a bit more confidence in attempting this fix. I am fairly handy, but this is new ground for me.Thanks for the info,II guess I can not do any more damage than what has already been done to the guitar. So wish me luck.

[surfpup]

Cool, with my new eyes I have a bit more confidence in attempting this fix. I am fairly handy, but this is new ground for me.Thanks for the info,II guess I can not do any more damage than what has already been done to the guitar. So wish me luck.

 

Luck.

 

It's not a bad idea to take a pic of things first if you have a phone with a camera. Can make a nice reference if you step away from the project in the middle and then need to remember which wire went where. If you get stuck someone here will be able to help.

[pappy]

Luck.

 

It's not a bad idea to take a pic of things first if you have a phone with a camera. Can make a nice reference if you step away from the project in the middle and then need to remember which wire went where. If you get stuck someone here will be able to help.

 

Great idea,indeed I will do just that.

[overtherainbo]

Hello, Fellow Babies,

Hey pappy, in case it wasn't really clear-- you want a small, low powered soldering iron, not a heavy duty gun. It'll do good job of soldering, but you can fry all the other parts of the circuit. Remember that heat CAN travel through the circuit, The heat spreads very quickly from your soldering point to the other pots and the pickups. So rather than replace all the electrics think small iron, not big gun. For added safety, you might want at least two heat sinks. These have alligator tips and can be clipped onto the wires leading to and from the pot you are soldering. Also they need to make metal to metal contact, but they will save the other electrics.

[overtherainbo]

Hello, again Fellow Babies,

I almost overlooked the sentence where you uestioned the type of solder necessary for the job. The industry is moving to solder with less lead, so it has a higher melting tempature. But the most important feature that concerns you is that the solder must have a rosin core. Acid core is used for plumbing.

[Dub-T-123]

I usually use 63/37 in 22 guage. Avoid the larger diameter solder, the larger diameter makes it more difficult to control the amount of solder you're applying.

 

You can use one of the cheap little 25W irons from frys, etc. The only problem is soldering to the back of the pots with an iron like that.. The pot casing acts as a heat sink and it can be difficult to get a spot hot enough to melt the solder. You'll probably want some flux for that part, dab a little bit of it right at the spot where you're attaching the wire/pot lug etc.

 

You also need something to clean your soldering iron tip with. You don't necessarily need to buy a special cleaner, you can use a damp sponge

[merciful-evans]

Hello, Fellow Babies,

Hey pappy, in case it wasn't really clear-- you want a small, low powered soldering iron, not a heavy duty gun. It'll do good job of soldering, but you can fry all the other parts of the circuit. Remember that heat CAN travel through the circuit, The heat spreads very quickly from your soldering point to the other pots and the pickups. So rather than replace all the electrics think small iron, not big gun. For added safety, you might want at least two heat sinks. These have alligator tips and can be clipped onto the wires leading to and from the pot you are soldering. Also they need to make metal to metal contact, but they will save the other electrics.

 

Having never done work of this sort, heat sinks is something I never would have thought of! Makes sense though.

[pappy]

She was placed on the surgery table and totally undressed, she was unable to communicate in a coherent manner. Now looking in the cavity we try to diagnose the problem,but due to the surgeon being a novice I am seeking outside consultation to continue woth the repair.

I noticed a resistor,( I am guessing that is what it is called) with the Fender name on it. Do I need to replace this also or carefully separate it , and reuse this piece?

Pictures below:

https://drive.google...AC7LUKlle3m51vQ

 

https://drive.google...SUtPemtfNWZpeE0

Also I would ask is it best to keep the pots original,albeit this is the reissue of the 54 Strat,so what are the thoughts on this?

[surfpup]

I noticed a resistor,( I am guessing that is what it is called) with the Fender name on it. Do I need to replace this also or carefully separate it , and reuse this piece?

 

 

Also I would ask is it best to keep the pots original,albeit this is the reissue of the 54 Strat,so what are the thoughts on this?

 

Yes, you should just de-solder and reuse the capacitor in the same position on the new pot.

 

As for the pots, those look like standard CTS pots - which are good. I'd only replace if replacement is needed. But I guess the problem is you don't know exactly what the problem is. You could replace them one at a time and check between to see if the problem is fixed. Or just replace them all. Pots aren't very expensive. Save any that you think are good - you can re-use them another time.

[pappy]

Yes, you should just de-solder and reuse the capacitor in the same position on the new pot.

 

As for the pots, those look like standard CTS pots - which are good. I'd only replace if replacement is needed. But I guess the problem is you don't know exactly what the problem is. You could replace them one at a time and check between to see if the problem is fixed. Or just replace them all. Pots aren't very expensive. Save any that you think are good - you can re-use them another time.

Thanks, did not want to proceed any further,as I was not sure what to do with the(capacitor),should be fairly straight forward from the information I have been receiving from folks here on the forum.

[quapman]

Interesting.

I guess having done a fair bit of it in my day I have always just taken soldering for granted.

If I were you I would spin off some spare wire and practice on a few things before I went in.

A crappy joint may give you grief.

 

And remember "The bigger the blob the better the job" is NOT how you want to go at it.

There should be a ton of stuff on utube. Check it out. Practice a bit.

It's really pretty simple.

[pappy]

Just a quick update, total success on the replacement of the pots. She sounds great right now. Need to button her up and then we will be complete. Thanks to all that gave me directions,suggestions, there were two that really helped ,(diagram,photo)and do ONE at a time. Thnx all I did it!

[Dub-T-123]

Great work Pappy!

[dReit1]

Good to hear it worked out.

The 'magic' of solder always fascinates me.