Pot Issues with New (to me) Ibanez SR305

BrettTheThreat · #1 02-01-2010, 07:00 AM

I picked up an SR305, (2004 model, so without the slap/finger control), a few weeks ago locally. It was my first bass but the neck was straight and everything seemed to work fine. The EQ knob was a little wobbly but thats an easy fix... But now I have 2 questions about the stacked pot for my EQ.

1) Are the Treble and bass portions of the pot supposed to turn independently? As it is I have to hold the Bass portion to adjust the treble.

2) Like I said the knob was a little wobbly when I got it so I took it into a local music store chain (L&M) to ask if they could tighten it down for me. (Need an allen key to get the knob off, I'm at university and don't have any tools.) He brought the guitar back and I gave the knob a jiggle and it was nice and tight. Awesome.
Actually, when I got home and went to adjust it, the two knobs were completely fused together and wouldn't turn separately. At my last lesson my instructor tried to free it up a bit and did, but not like it did before. For example, I only have half the sweep on the treble knob as I did before, and depending on the position, it will stop the bass knob from having full sweep.

So is my issue a bent pot? Overly tightened knobs? Or does the problem begin and end with me?

BrettTheThreat · #2 02-02-2010, 08:20 AM

Bumpitty!

PJSShearer · #3 02-02-2010, 09:56 AM

Bothn parts of the knob should turn independently and it sounds like the two portions are touching and/or the bass part of the knob is catching on the face of the instrument.

Firstly, spend a couple of bucks on a set of allen keys (you'll need metric ones for an Ibanez) - got a set like a penknife in the UK for around 5.00 buks).

BTW As a mtter of course you should have these plus any screwdrivers you need that fit all the screws on your Bass - just in case!!.

Then slacken off the screws holding the knob onto the pot and remove both sections of the knob completely.

Then check that the nut holding the pot is tight and that nothing is bent. Use a pair of pliers carefully if the retaining nut is loose.

If all is OK then replace the bottom part of the knob, making sure it isn't "grinding" on the face of the Bass, then replace the treble portion of the knob making sure it isn't "grinding" on the bottom part of the knob.

That should do it.

darkstorm · #4 02-03-2010, 12:05 AM

Take it back to the store that messed it up. The two should turn independent of each other.

BrettTheThreat · #5 03-04-2010, 09:17 AM

Resurrecting my old thread to post my fix. What happened was the set-screw of the bass section of the knob was too tight, causing it to bind on the treble post which goes through the middle. The techs who "fixed" it just cranked on the set-screws and never tested it I guess.

Easy fix, don't tighten the set-screws as much.