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Author Topic: Pot Shaft Sizes  (Read 10833 times)

f.sardis

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Pot Shaft Sizes
« on: December 12, 2008, 01:39:00 PM »
Hi lads,

I received my PK set today and I am very excited but I have hit a brick wall. It seems the pots that were recommended to me by other ESP Eclipse owners are not the correct size. For one the body of the CTS pots is too large to fit in the recess made for the EMG pots and therefore I probably need long shaft pots.
In addition, the diameter of the pot shaft is 6mm as opposed to 5mm of the EMG pot and the new pot shafts do not fit through the holes. Similarly my old knobs will not fit on the wider shafts either.
I will keep these CTS pots and fit them in my other guitars but what are the correct pots for me?
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gwEm

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Re: Pot Shaft Sizes
« Reply #1 on: December 12, 2008, 01:44:08 PM »
well, you could fit minature alpha pots which probably will mean you don't need to make any mods to you guitar.

but they aren't the best quality. i'd be drilling out your existing holes and fitting longshaft CTS. you can always go back to the metric shaft pots if you sell - a washer will cover the gap.
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Quote from: AndyR
you wouldn't use the meat knife on crusty bread but, equally, the serrated knife and straight edge knife aren't going to go through raw meat as quickly

f.sardis

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Re: Pot Shaft Sizes
« Reply #2 on: December 12, 2008, 01:56:48 PM »
no chance of drilling bigger holes.
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gwEm

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Re: Pot Shaft Sizes
« Reply #3 on: December 12, 2008, 02:07:47 PM »
Quote from: f.sardis on December 12, 2008, 01:56:48 PM
no chance of drilling bigger holes.

the mini alpha pots are here:

http://www.axesrus.com/axeknobs.htm

about 2/3rds down

i really dis-recommend these pots though - i had them on my red steinberger for some time and they kept breaking.

if theres any chance of enlarging your existing holes - do it!
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Quote from: AndyR
you wouldn't use the meat knife on crusty bread but, equally, the serrated knife and straight edge knife aren't going to go through raw meat as quickly

f.sardis

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Re: Pot Shaft Sizes
« Reply #4 on: December 12, 2008, 02:16:00 PM »
well, it is a custom ESP so I am very sensitive about any permanent alterations done to it. I am not going to drill wood.
My understanding is that EMG and Alpha use metric sizes while CTS uses imperial, is that correct?
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gwEm

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Re: Pot Shaft Sizes
« Reply #5 on: December 12, 2008, 02:21:26 PM »
Quote from: f.sardis on December 12, 2008, 02:16:00 PM
well, it is a custom ESP so I am very sensitive about any permanent alterations done to it. I am not going to drill wood.
My understanding is that EMG and Alpha use metric sizes while CTS uses imperial, is that correct?

i have drilled some pretty expensive guitars ;) you're only removing 1mm. up to you though of course.

you're right about metric/imperial.
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Quote from: AndyR
you wouldn't use the meat knife on crusty bread but, equally, the serrated knife and straight edge knife aren't going to go through raw meat as quickly

Spitfire

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Re: Pot Shaft Sizes
« Reply #6 on: December 12, 2008, 02:25:56 PM »
ive had that twice, what i did was get a bit of fine sandpaper and roll it up and sand untill the hole is big enough for the new pots..  both the guitars were esp Flying Vs.
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f.sardis

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Re: Pot Shaft Sizes
« Reply #7 on: December 12, 2008, 02:32:15 PM »
so where can i get me some metric pots other than alpha?  i could use long shaft pots if the body is too large for the recess so it is only the shaft width that bugs me at the moment.
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gwEm

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Re: Pot Shaft Sizes
« Reply #8 on: December 12, 2008, 02:39:20 PM »


vroom vroom!

(or use a round needle file)

but seriously, the only quality pots makers for guitar - for example CTS, CGE and DiMarzio - all use US thread (actually not sure about dimarzio there, might be worth a look)
« Last Edit: December 12, 2008, 02:47:33 PM by gwEm »
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Quote from: AndyR
you wouldn't use the meat knife on crusty bread but, equally, the serrated knife and straight edge knife aren't going to go through raw meat as quickly

f.sardis

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Re: Pot Shaft Sizes
« Reply #9 on: December 12, 2008, 02:52:46 PM »
i had a look at dimarzio hardware but they do not specify if they use metric or imperial.
making the holes larger only solves part of my problem. i will have to find new knobs too and i am not sure i can find the same ones i got for imperial.

i suppose using the emg pots with passive pups is a big no.
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gwEm

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Re: Pot Shaft Sizes
« Reply #10 on: December 12, 2008, 02:55:39 PM »
Quote from: f.sardis on December 12, 2008, 02:52:46 PM
i had a look at dimarzio hardware but they do not specify if they use metric or imperial.
making the holes larger only solves part of my problem. i will have to find new knobs too and i am not sure i can find the same ones i got for imperial.

i suppose using the emg pots with passive pups is a big no.

you can sometimes force metric knobs on to an imperial shaft. if you get a split shaft pot you can crimp the end together and it usually works.

you don't want to use the emgs pots - they'll probably work, but they'll sound pretty bad.
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Quote from: AndyR
you wouldn't use the meat knife on crusty bread but, equally, the serrated knife and straight edge knife aren't going to go through raw meat as quickly

f.sardis

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Re: Pot Shaft Sizes
« Reply #11 on: December 12, 2008, 03:10:18 PM »
i know about emg pots being 25k, they will probably sound terrible. i suppose i could try to squeeze the split shaft together to make it smaller. if i find no alternative i will have to drill  :(
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WezV

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Re: Pot Shaft Sizes
« Reply #12 on: December 12, 2008, 03:44:52 PM »
ream rather than drill, either with a dedicated woodworking reamer, a file or some sandpaper around a pencil.   Its a lot safer than drilling can be  and less likely to chip or blow chunks out... if using sandpaper be carefull of the corners scratching the finish, mask off around the hole
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f.sardis

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Re: Pot Shaft Sizes
« Reply #13 on: December 12, 2008, 03:46:31 PM »
I am still more keen on the metric pot solution. What if U decide to install emg again and I am stuck with wider holes on the guitar?

Well, cheap as chips as they may be I ordered a few alpha mini pots. hopefully they will fit, if they don't i just lost 6 quid for 6 of them.

i also added some orange drop 0.022 caps to the order. Anyway, hopefully next week my problem will be sorted or I go "splat" on the brick wall again.
« Last Edit: December 12, 2008, 05:16:29 PM by f.sardis »
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f.sardis

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Re: Pot Shaft Sizes
« Reply #14 on: December 12, 2008, 08:52:10 PM »
Ok this is the latest:

i hooked up the pups directly to the jack and I absolutely love the sound without much adjustment of the height. Apparently I screwed up with the bridge spacing since it is 52mm and i thought i had 50mm. Hopefully Tim will come to the rescue.
I am starting to get very excited about them. I really like the sound after 2 years on EMG.
« Last Edit: December 13, 2008, 01:37:13 PM by f.sardis »
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