Epiphone Dot / 335 - replacement POT's

AK Audio · Post by **AK Audio** » Sun Mar 07, 2010 11:01 pm

I picked up an Epiphone Dot this weekend as part of a trade, and have been thoroughly impressed with this guitar! The only disappointment is the bridge tone pot is obviously a crappy replacement (noisy) and doesn't quite fit the Gibson speed knobs on it.

I'm looking to replace all four of the pots with 500k's. The only trouble is that I need to find suitable replacements, I'm especially concerned if they will fit the Gibson knobs!

This is my first Gibson/Epiphone, and if anyone has experience with this matter please let me know where I could buy replacements. I've tried Mouser or Digikey but have had no luck. Specific links or model numbers would be most appreciated!

*As a bit of a side-tangent, I saw an article that I can't find again where a guy installed the trademark Gibson pointer arrows under the volume/tone knobs. Anyone know where I could get some of those?

Corey Y · Post by **Corey Y** » Mon Mar 08, 2010 7:40 am

RS Guitarworks sells great replacement pots and pre-wired drop in kits as well. I know they sell 335 upgrade kits with 500k pots. I dropped a generic "vintage" short shaft kit in my SG when I refurbished it and they sound great. That guitar has the smoothest and most usable roll off in the volume pots of any guitar I own now.

http://www.rsguitarworks.net/rsstore/pr ... cts_id=531

iamthecosmos · Post by **iamthecosmos** » Mon Mar 08, 2010 8:48 am

If it's an Epi you might need the metric versions of the pots. The best place to ask is the Epiphone forums, they were brilliant when I was upgrading my Korean Dot. Especially TWANG.

Guitar Fetish should stock the correct sized parts, though be careful with any new bridges if you have one of the 90's Samick-made Dots. Mine has a completely non-standard bridge, it's usually found on Sheritons made in the same factory. The spacing of the posts means you'd have to do some subtle woodwork to use even a metric-sized replacement. No such problem on the newer Chinese models.

iamthecosmos · Post by **iamthecosmos** » Mon Mar 08, 2010 8:48 am

If it's an Epi you might need the metric versions of the pots. The best place to ask is the Epiphone forums, they were brilliant when I was upgrading my Korean Dot. Especially TWANG.

Guitar Fetish should stock the correct sized parts, though be careful with any new bridges if you have one of the 90's Samick-made Dots. Mine has a completely non-standard bridge, it's usually found on Sheritons made in the same factory. The spacing of the posts means you'd have to do some subtle woodwork to use even a metric-sized replacement. No such problem on the newer Chinese models.

AK Audio · Post by **AK Audio** » Mon Mar 08, 2010 8:49 am

Thanks for the link! I like the look of those pots, however $180 seems a bit steep for a wiring harness! Even the $15 per "super pot" is a surprise.

Does anyone have any experience with these? http://www.warmoth.com/500K-Pot-By-CTS-P129C74.aspx

iamthecosmos · Post by **iamthecosmos** » Mon Mar 08, 2010 9:39 am

By the way, I got metric pointers from ebay.

Corey Y · Post by **Corey Y** » Mon Mar 08, 2010 11:06 am

I saved money and bought the parts, not the pre-wired kit. They're charging you for the convenience. Which, if you don't have soldering skills, is money well spent. Only you can decide if it's worth it to you though. Personally, I haven't thought twice about it since putting them in my SG, money well spent in my case.

AK Audio · Post by **AK Audio** » Mon Mar 08, 2010 12:21 pm

Corey Y wrote:I saved money and bought the parts, not the pre-wired kit. ...I haven't thought twice about it since putting them in my SG, money well spent in my case.

Corey,
Just out of curiosity - was your SG an Epiphone? If so, did you have to enlarge the drilled holes for the pots? I know there's an issue with the overseas parts being metric.

AK Audio · Post by **AK Audio** » Mon Mar 08, 2010 12:22 pm

iamthecosmos wrote:By the way, I got metric pointers from ebay.

Cosmos, how would I search for those on eBay? I've tried everything. Maybe there's just nothing available?

iamthecosmos · Post by **iamthecosmos** » Mon Mar 08, 2010 2:01 pm

AK Audio wrote:
iamthecosmos wrote:By the way, I got metric pointers from ebay.
Cosmos, how would I search for those on eBay? I've tried everything. Maybe there's just nothing available?

Mine were labelled as 'metric knob pointers' (brilliantly) but searching for 'pointer washers' also brings up a few. I can't see any metric ones, you might need to check the item description for measurements.

If that doesn't work try the Epi forums, they're really good for finding parts. I few people there seem to stockpile them, they often seem to have ordered 5 of the same bridge or whatever for some reason.

Corey Y · Post by **Corey Y** » Mon Mar 08, 2010 2:34 pm

AK Audio wrote:Corey,
Just out of curiosity - was your SG an Epiphone? If so, did you have to enlarge the drilled holes for the pots? I know there's an issue with the overseas parts being metric.

No, it's an older Gibson. I can't say if you might need something different for an Epiphone. You could always email or call the company and ask, I'm sure they'd have an answer for you.

Marc Alan Goodman · Post by **Marc Alan Goodman** » Mon Mar 08, 2010 5:24 pm

The RS guitarworks CTS pots are awesome. Awesome. Well worth it if you never want to replace the thing again.

Producer/Engineer · Post by **Producer/Engineer** » Sat Mar 13, 2010 6:55 pm

I would try these guys. Call them and discuss it!
www.stewmac.com

AK Audio · Post by **AK Audio** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 6:50 pm

I picked up some "standard" 500k's (CTS) & some Gibson knobs, all from Warmoth guitars, only to find that the knobs don't fit on the pots. They're the ONLY 500k pots that Warmoth sells, and the knobs pop up as a recommended product so I guess I assumed they would fit.

Anyone have a god way of dealing with this issue? Do I need to buy new pots? New knobs? I was pretty stoked to find this particular combination as the build quality seems far superior on these. Oh well...

iamthecosmos · Post by **iamthecosmos** » Wed Mar 17, 2010 12:20 am

AK Audio wrote:I picked up some "standard" 500k's (CTS) & some Gibson knobs, all from Warmoth guitars, only to find that the knobs don't fit on the pots. They're the ONLY 500k pots that Warmoth sells, and the knobs pop up as a recommended product so I guess I assumed they would fit.

Anyone have a god way of dealing with this issue? Do I need to buy new pots? New knobs? I was pretty stoked to find this particular combination as the build quality seems far superior on these. Oh well...

Metric all the way. Some info here:

http://forums.epiphone.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=2205

http://forums.epiphone.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=7142

http://forums.epiphone.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=2205

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Epiphone Dot / 335 - replacement POT's

Epiphone Dot / 335 - replacement POT's

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