Electronics

[tonberry_king]

I'm looking to buy some tone and volume pots for my Les Paul, I think their getting a little old (a few crackles here and there) but I don't know much about them, so is there any difference between ones that I buy from say, Maplins or Carvin?

What are the most important parts that I could/should replace?

[rinse_master]

Most people like CTS pots, for HB's you'd usually want 500k ones.

I have a set of these in one of my LPs, they work fine, I think they are about £4-5 each, there are some in the BKP shop IIRC, although pretty much everywhere sells them...

[R/2e]

Don't use the ones from Maplins, they won't be right, you can get the CTS ones from BK or Allparts UK, as rinse_master says, around £4 to £5, or you can get the genuine Gibson ones from Rosetti, they're £9.50 so you're paying a bit for the 'Gibson' stamp on the bottom! If it's a Gibson LP, you'll need the long shaft ones, Epi LP uses standard shaft.

Having said that, a few crackles is usually down to dirt, so it would be worth trying some switch cleaner on the pots first. Have a look also at your jack socket (four screws removes the jackplate so you can have a look), if this is at all worn it's worth replacing with a Switchcraft one at around £2, again from Allparts. LP switches give very little trouble and can always be stripped, cleaned and the contacts cleaned with fine abrasive paper. That's it really, very simple electrics.