troublesome volume pot

Hey folks I have a Strat with a troublesome volume pot (first crackling and now cutting in and out) and I’m wondering if I am wasting my time trying to clean it. I know stewmac.com sell pot cleaning fluid and I have no clue about this stuff. Is it any good ? Can I use a household cleaning product instead ? Should I just replace the pot and bin the old one.
Cheers folks
S

When a control pot starts to crackle, its saying "goodbye".

Contact cleaner is something you can use to nurse it along while the replacement is on order. This is special stuff. I wouldn't suggest anything else as a substitute. You should get some to use as a regular (twice a year) maintenance routine. This will help your new pot(s) last longer.

Thanks for the advice,
Im off to get new pots !
later
S

mine crackles too, its because fender puts cheap volume/tone pots on, and they sort of rust out from use.

At musiciansfriend they have Gold ones, with abalone top (they're a real beauty) and you get 3 of em for 30 bucks. now that may seem a little steep, but from the look of it, doesnt seem like they would 'rust out'.

The story so far......

I replaced the old 500 mini pot with a regular 500 from stew mac and it works but the tone of the guitar seems different (There weren’t any caps fitted to the old vol. pot).

Any one know if there is a difference in tone between the mini 500 pots and the regular 500 ones ?

The last person to own the guitar replaced many other bits (like the pu switch) which, although it all still works, lights up PUs in a strange order (my fault). I could spend a day figuring out which connection goes were but Id rather be playing so I think Im gona get a new one that I under stand and switch out the old one (sorry bad pun)!

I may have (also) switched the polarity of the middle pu (I'm on doggie ground here) when I hooked it up to the PU switch as there is still some hum in unexpected places (i.e. when I use the bridge and middle / neck and middle PUs together)

So, having shielded the scratch plate and the body cavity with copper foil (needed 1.5 shielding kits for an HSS strat body), replaced the volume pot (may try a 1 meg ohm, I’ll see if MF do them, cheers IH) I still have some work to do !

Im very pleased that I haven’t exploded any bits (including my self) however I think that after one more attempt I will have it sorted (dratted newfangled pickup switch !!!)

If any one has any handy hints Id love to hear them
Cheers
S

Whats up Doc? If you have a volt-ohm meter you could test the DC resistance of the old and new pots, you'll probaly see a difference in readings, and that would cause the guitar to sound different, the 5 way switch wiring can be a jumble, probaly not a bad idea to get a new switch and a good wiring diagram, I am a little baffled by what you said about the vol pot having a capacitor, caps although sometimes wired between the tone pot and vol pot, are part of the tone circuit, sometimes you may see a small value cap like a 100-250pf cap wired as a treble bleed between the in and out tabs of the vol pot, reguardless of where the cap is, adding, removing, or changing the value of any cap will change your tone somewhat, same as with pot resistance values. Anytime you have humbuckers mixed with single coils you are going to have to compromise a bit, the humbucker will sound louder and brighter with a 1meg pot, the single coils start to get harsh sounding, and noise will always be an issue with single coils too, their are alot of options, and your ears will decide what sounds best, so keep experimenting, good luck...........

[Edited by pstring on 08-23-2002 at 11:00 PM]

Cheers Dude,
I was thinking about using a cap as a treble bleed over vol. pot. Im playing through a SD Cool rail bridge and stock single coils for the middle / neck and as the tone is very bright already so I don’t think I really need it!

I picked the guitar up last night for the first time in a while and tried some new amp settings. I was happy enough to start recording a new song after about 30 min of tweaking. I think that sorting out the switch will finish the job.

The tone is different, I’m not positive weather it is better or worse however the guitar is still very useable and the volume no longer crackles. So ….. a success !

Thanks folks
S

Just a note to say thanks for the helpful suggestions I got from everyone !!! I have just finished the strat and it sounds incredible (better than I remember it sounding any way). Having replace all of the electrics with the exception of the PUs and the input jack Im feeling very happy. The back of the scratch plate is now covered in copper as well as the cavity underneath and I have a new favorite guitar......Cooooooool !
Thanks again
S