Wilshire Posted July 17, 2010 Share Posted July 17, 2010 I'm new to this forum. I'm a long time guitar player and electronic tech. I joined this forum because I discovered a problem, came up with a pretty easy fix and wanted to pass it on to help others. I have an old Crestwood that I love very much and recently bought a new Wilshire. Shortly after the purchase, the Wilshire began to electronically malfunction. Sometimes the pickups would drop out and at times the volume control wouldn't shut off the sound completely. The problem is the solder tabs on the pots that are pressed on to the resistive wafer lose contact. They aren't physically loose, it must be a problem with plating on the tab itself. I was able to pinpoint with an ohmmeter which tab wasn't making a good connection to the wafer. I put one ohmmeter lead on the tab and the other lead off to the side on the resistive material and could see on the meter the connection wasn't being made. The tab was pressed on tight, but still no connection, hence the plating theory. Now the fix, Perform at your own risk! For guitar techs only! Beware - pots are very fragile and you can break them in a heartbeat. I used a 2 inch length of non-wound G string, .015 diameter. I used guitar string because its very hard. I bent the string into a U shape the same thickness as the tab and wafer material combined. I threaded the bent string through the small hole that rivets the tab to the wafer. With a pair of needle nose pliers I crimped down on the string with just enough pressure to form an indentation into the tab, it doesn't take much! The indentation needs to be from the small rivet hole out to the side of the tab. The slight deformation of the tab material is enough to make a good connection. I verified it with the ohmmeter! The nice thing is you don't have to solder anything. I went ahead and lightly crimped all the tabs to be on the safe side. Now the Wilshire's electronically solid. I did a search for "defective pots" and I'm thinking their problems probably stem from the same thing. If you decide to try this, please post your results. I'd like to know how common the problem is and if this procedure helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
animalfarm Posted July 17, 2010 Share Posted July 17, 2010 Man, that's what I call "thinking ouside the box"!!! It's a "Gilligan's Island" Fix! [biggrin] Pics of torn-apart pots: Potentiometers De-mystified - http://www.lespaulforum.com/pots/potents.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren W Posted July 17, 2010 Share Posted July 17, 2010 Damn its Magyver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggs Posted July 17, 2010 Share Posted July 17, 2010 Gilligans Island = Maryanne = mmmmmmmm Magyver = LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordy01 Posted July 17, 2010 Share Posted July 17, 2010 Welcome to the forum. That's a good job of repair vs. replace. Most of us would simply replace the pot, and may end up with the same problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
animalfarm Posted July 17, 2010 Share Posted July 17, 2010 Gilligans Island = Maryanne = mmmmmmmm Magyver = LOL! Hmmmmmm...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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