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Broken volume post, How to find replacement pot?

fretless19

fretless19

Jun 4, 2012
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#1
The Volume pot of my Peavey zodiac Ex is broken. I've heard it said this is a simple fix, but how do I Find the proper replacement pot?

Further, is this something I should do myself? Or should I leave this to a professional?
 
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#2
It is a pretty simple fix. If you open the control cavity you will see the pot. It probably will have the value written on it. It is probably 250K and you want an audio taper pot. They cost under $5. You need a soldering iron some electronic solder and a solder sucker. make a quick drawing of how the wires are attached. Use your soldering iron and pick a wire on the pot. There should be three. Heat the joint until the solder flows and suck it off with your solder sucker. use a pair of pliers and pull the wire off. Do that for each of the wires. Unscrew the pot from the front of the bass. Push the pot out. Solder the wires back as they were before.

A couple of points. Most pots have a ground soldered to the back of the pot. It can help make a good joint if you scruff the back of the pot with some sandpaper before you install it. 2) Some circuits have a capacitor mounted on the pot. It is difficult to unsolder them without damaging them. If you have one, before you start, look up the color code on the web. When you order your pot, get a new capacitor. They cost pennies. Good luck. Oh, one last point if everything is mounted on a PC board I would take it to a tech.
 
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#3
I appreciate your in depth response.the printing on the back of the pot has been soldered over, revealing only "B5" before being covered up. There are three prongs, and one of them is soldered to the side of the pot itself, along with two black wires, one of which seems to come from the pups, and the other leading to the tone pot,which has a capacitor attached. the tone pot has a white cord leading off somewhere.
 
#7
*Update* today I replaced the pot! I had a few wires which attached at the same location, so I pigtailed them together, and then I tinned the ends as per suggestion. Once i got started, it took less than 5 minutes to make all the connections! super ecstatic over here, having never attempted soldering ever. Fit the new pot in annd...! it was too big for the cavity :eek: but i whittled away some wood, and the mess is covered up by the Pickguard, so no problems! Now I'm thinking pedals!
 

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