davedadude Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 Hello Everyone, I have a epiphone dot 335 (korean) that i purchased new about 2 yrs ago. I really love this guitar! Plays/sounds beautiful from the day i bought it. (will post pics when i can figgure it out) Anyways, My problem is, the tone pots have been kinda scratchy since i bought it. Playing thru my practice amps, it was no big deal at 1st but if i am playing thru my deluxe reverb amp up a bit loud and turn the tone knob, it can get a bit noisy during the turning of the knob. The neck tone knob is not as scratchy as the bridge tone knob but, nonetheless, I want to try to clean them as at this time i cannot replace the electronics in the guitar for better quality pots and such And also, The guitar sounds very good tone wise and all.. minus the noise i get when turning the tone knobs. I'm not too keen on pulling out the pots to clean them but, i was wondereing that, if i took something like a straw, pulled off tone knobs and used a rag to protect the finish and, put the strws on the shaft and shot cleaner into the straw in hopes that it will run down into the pot thru the shaft. Anybody ever tried this before? Thanx in advance for any help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitmore Willy Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 I'm not too keen on pulling out the pots to clean them but, i was wondereing that, if i took something like a straw, pulled off tone knobs and used a rag to protect the finish and, put the strws on the shaft and shot cleaner into the straw in hopes that it will run down into the pot thru the shaft. Anybody ever tried this before? I have but it is only of the most minor help. If anything it helps to clean the shaft. Sometimes after doing it, turning the shaft can become more difficult until the shaft frees itself from any oxidation dissolved by the contact cleaner. The contact points causing the scratchy noise are at the bottom of the pot. To clean correctly with contact cleaner spray: Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chipwich Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 No experience with the method described, but man, if that stuff just touches the finish, it will be discolored. I would save a bit until you can afford to have a luthier replace them with good quality pots. IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixx_ gunner Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 Looks like I got my answer to the same issue. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitmore Willy Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 If that stuff just touches the finish, it will be discolored. Absolutely. Good point. I should have been more specific. You mentioned using a towel, but, you can not be careful enough. And spraying your shafts will not solve your scratchy problem. Contact cleaner is made for dissolving things. Your finish is no exception. That was the reason for the pic. Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lefty Bill Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 I've seen a kit or adapter for sale somewhere, that is represented to be a reasonable approach for this problem. This isn't reasonable, sensible or practical for anything except separating people from their money. I've worked on a lot of electronic equipment, and applying a cleaner or other product thru the shaft gap is a bad idea. First, most pots have that smooth resistance to rotation provided by a stiff grease on the shaft.. when that's washed away with solvents (cleaners), the pot will lose that smooth resistance (which also helps hold it in position). As Willy pointed out, the cleaner won't be directed to the area it needs to be applied. For cleaners and deoxidizers to be applied properly, the pot needs to be accessible to the tip of the wand/tube or product applicator. If the article were a lawn mower, for example, then OK.. just flood some miracle spray product on the point of trouble, and the excess will run off. New guitars with faulty pots should be corrected by the dealer or authorized repairer. They may still do this for you, since new Epiphone guitars have a Limited Lifetime Warranty which applies to the original purchaser from an authorized dealer. You would want to make sure that whoever you might take your guitar to, will not use the wrong procedure. Otherwise, you might as well just have new pots installed, maybe at the dealer or an authorized service center, but maybe at a local musical instrument shop or by an actual instrument technician/luthier. At this point, 2 year old scratchy pots should be replaced, as any miracle-in-a-bottle may just delay replacement. I prefer to use products from Caig Labs.. they have a lot of servicing products for controls/switches, and my preference is to put a small amount of DeoxIt grease in new pots before installing them, and in guitars, I've been wrapping narrow tape around the pots to cover the openings to keep dust out. Still, servicing products won't correct mechanical faults, so replacement is often the best approach for trouble-free operation and reliability. There are tips and recommendations for replacing pots in the DIY section which you may want to refer to, if considering performing the upgrade yourself. Regards, Bill Hello Everyone, I have a epiphone dot 335 (korean) that i purchased new about 2 yrs ago. I really love this guitar! Plays/sounds beautiful from the day i bought it. (will post pics when i can figgure it out) Anyways, My problem is, the tone pots have been kinda scratchy since i bought it. Playing thru my practice amps, it was no big deal at 1st but if i am playing thru my deluxe reverb amp up a bit loud and turn the tone knob, it can get a bit noisy during the turning of the knob. The neck tone knob is not as scratchy as the bridge tone knob but, nonetheless, I want to try to clean them as at this time i cannot replace the electronics in the guitar for better quality pots and such And also, The guitar sounds very good tone wise and all.. minus the noise i get when turning the tone knobs. I'm not too keen on pulling out the pots to clean them but, i was wondereing that, if i took something like a straw, pulled off tone knobs and used a rag to protect the finish and, put the strws on the shaft and shot cleaner into the straw in hopes that it will run down into the pot thru the shaft. Anybody ever tried this before? Thanx in advance for any help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davedadude Posted November 26, 2011 Author Share Posted November 26, 2011 Thanks for the responses..I have experience in electronic repair and stuff. If this was any other of my guitars (rest are solid bodies) I can repair any problems electronics wise. I have not tried tackling the job of pulling the harness out of a semi such as mine but, I think replacing the pots is the route i am going to take. I figgured that if i am going to have to pull em out to clean them, i might as well upgrade them then. The only modifications i have made to the guitar was to remove the loose "E" emblem off the pickguard (i still have it neatly wrapped in cellophane and put where it cannot get damaged) And, swapped out the gold witch hat knobs for black speed ones and, added a black gibson rythem/treble ring on the pickup switch..dunno if this voids the warrenty lol.. but, i do not think that the place i bought it from will replace the pots under warrenty anyway...I am going to go look at the diy section here and, mabye couple youtube vids and, mabye make it a winter project. Once again, Thanks for the advice..i really appreciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amx05462 Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 willie is correct.. the contact nd the contact plate are on the under side of the pot spraying down the shaft is a waste of time. youneed to take them out one at a time and pull them up through the f hole spray them and put them back. some peole use a tight fitting piece of hose on the end sothey can get the pot back in place ....me i wrap a length of solder around the shaft and through the middle.. as to contact cleaner messing up your finish.... thats debatable. i went through 14 guitars this year cleaning pots and dripping some onthe finish... no problem yet.. specially the new poly finishes... there hard as iron.. oh if you do decide to clean them... deoxit works best... the one without the lubricant... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davedadude Posted November 27, 2011 Author Share Posted November 27, 2011 Thanks amx...Now that i am looking at the guitar on the stand and, reading your suggestion, It looks like it would not be hard of a job if i pulled them one at a time and cleaned each of them. (problably do the volume pots and mabye switch too while i am at it there was a couple times earlier this year when i took guitar out of the case and went to play it only to find that the neck pup would not come on. I had to rock/wiggle the pup switch to get it to come on but, it has been working all this time since) Since it looks like rain all day here, i might go ahead and clean the bench and lay a towel down and, have a go at it.(i do have can non-lube electronic cleaner here) Also, I tried to upload a picture of her yesterday but it says that picture is too big for the upload. I will figgure something out sometime here cos, I absolutly love this guitar As with my other new guitars and, even the used ones i have bought and my amps, i try and take very good care of them. Thank you all again for the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaSTuS Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 I tried to upload a picture of her yesterday but it says that picture is too big for the upload. G'day DDD, welcome to the forums. Info on how to post pics without size restrictions is in the DIY thread pinned to the top of the Epi Lounge. DIY Thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdaddyguitar Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 You don't have to change your pots . It is normal for a pot to do this . Pots have been made the same way for years . The carbon is wearing down at the contact point . The scratchy noise you are hearing is carbon dust .Go to Radio Shack and get a can of TV Tube cleaner .Normal procedure is to shoot a few drops on the base of the shaft and rotate it to allow the lube to slip inside the control post . Should do it . Scratchy sound will go away . Pots do not wear out from normal use . Either they work or they don't . You don't need to lube anything else, that's only going to collect more dust . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amx05462 Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 had the same problem on my dot woth that switch. if i dont use it for a while it comes back. cleaning it should help.. as to the pic ... if you have any other pics here delete some of them.. some forums have a limited ammount of posting space and when you use it up then you cant post any more.. so i delete them and i can post what i want.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gearhead Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 If you do replace the pots, you can tie string to each shaft and the jack leaving a long length so after you pull the whole harness out you can easily pull all the components back into place using the string. Here's a link to some video on YouTube: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueman335 Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 I've rewired dozens of F hole guitars, and it's not hard. To get the pots back in, I use a long piece of stiff plastic coated wire, some guys use aquarium tubing. It's usually only needed to get the neck tone pot back in place. I also use a 6" curved forcept to get the other three pots in, and T-nut drivers to loosen and tighten the pots, to avoid scratching the finish, which you should have for solid bodies too. I'd just replace the pots instead of cleaning them. Set the guitar on a table or stand, with a towel under it. Put another towel on top of the guitar, and set the pots there when you take them out. Have good overhead lighting and a fan for solder fumes. Cut and replace the pots one at a time, and solder the wires on the same lugs as the old pot. Take your time. Every pot, toggle, PU, and jack has a hot wire and a ground wire. The grounds are all inter-connected into one big loop (the hots aren't). Look at a wiring diagram until it makes sense to you (very basic stuff...electronics 101). I've got lots of pots I've pulled from guitars, that still work fine if you want a set for free. Let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davedadude Posted December 3, 2011 Author Share Posted December 3, 2011 I think that i figgured out how to upload pics. here she is before Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davedadude Posted December 3, 2011 Author Share Posted December 3, 2011 And now.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgrasso Posted December 3, 2011 Share Posted December 3, 2011 Nice looking Dot Dave. Mine is the same finish only a 97.I had mine replaced as well as the wiring by a professional.World of difference with the tone. Good luck and play her often. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gearhead Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 That's really sweet Dave! I LOVE that natural finish, such a shame that they paint guitars..............js. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davedadude Posted December 5, 2011 Author Share Posted December 5, 2011 Thanx guys for the compliments. I really love her and, no regrets buying her whatsoever.. Actually (short story ..i hope) There were 2 guitars that i dreamed of owning since my early teens and, one was an american stratocaster and, a 335 gibson. I had enough cash to buy both of them 2 yrs ago And, that was the plan but, after thinking about it, (after all, your looking at around 3 grand somewhere here) i asked myself will i actually play it? or let it sit in the case for fear of dinging it or something. (paranoia set in lol) but, for long time i been looking at the epiphone dots for years too and wanted one so, i made the decision that i would get the epiphone instead of the gibson. my local g.c. had 1 used one but it was a studio and rough shape used. so, i went to another music store that i used to frequent as a teen. ( my wife and a friend who plays guitar also came with me)I found a dot red in color there and, asked salesperson if he had a deluxe reverb amp i could try the guitar out on. He showed me where the amp was. Before i go further, I am in no way knocking the chineese versions or anything. this is just how the story goes. Anywhoo, off the bat, i did not like the guitar. It was badly in need of a setup, the action was way hi among other problems. So, i blurted out, that i wish they had a korean one here. My friend says he will go look and, i am like, yea ok..you go find me one lol. Sure enough, he came back with the one i have now. Right off the bat,..the weight, the feel...the action..AND the sound thru the fender reverb amp, Even tho it was not red, i fell in love with the natural color. Bought it right away. And i love the hell out of it lol...still do!. Sorry if i got lil long winded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercy mercy Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Hey there davedadude! Beautiful Dot you have there! The answer to all your pot cleanning needs, and anything else you may need is all on www.stew mac.com I think you will be surprised at what they have! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercy mercy Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 OOPS! Disregard this empty post! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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