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Cleaning dirty pots on a GK 1001rb-ii...

O

obsidianbass

May 25, 2008
156
8
46
Fredericton, NB, Canada
www.heroslastrite.com
#1
Hey all,

Sorry if this was covered before, I did a search but couldn't find anything specific to this amp.

I have a few scratchy/dirty pots that I would like to clean with a can of Deoxit. The thing is I've never done this before and was wondering if someone could give me a few tips. Do I have to remove the knobs and if so, how? Do I need to open the amp and remove the whole pot? Anything I should be careful of?

Thanks for the help guys!
 
#2
I had one of these and had the same problem. Pretty simple, unplug it, remove the case top so that you can get to the backs of the pots, spray down into the pots and give them a few spins (no need to remove knobs), put top back on and you should be good to go
 
#3
bherman said:
I had one of these and had the same problem. Pretty simple, unplug it, remove the case top so that you can get to the backs of the pots, spray down into the pots and give them a few spins (no need to remove knobs), put top back on and you should be good to go
Click to expand...


Not in my experience - and I've worked on a few of these amps... IME, the entire front board assy has to be removed to clean and lube the pots on one of these amps - I can do it in a little over an hour...


- georgestrings
 
#7
Hmmm, well the crackling is mostly happening on the knob/pot I use the most (the woofer knob) so I don't think just turning it back and forth will have much effect, but I'll try it. If this job calls for disassembling the amp in any way, I think it's beyond my skill. I suppose I'll take it to be serviced. It's a shame though, since I expect them to quote me a bunch of $$ and I suspect this is a minor issue.
 
#8
it really isnt as hard as it looks. just observe safety precautions. and make sure you take notes and keep track of the bits you take apart.
When I am working on a difficult laptop or server I use my phone to take pics of the important parts. I also use an egg carton or ice cube tray to sort the screws. I usually label them with post its to keep track.
 
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#10
As has been pointed out above, it takes about an hour.
But it can be done without a trip to the shop.
Pull the knobs off.
Open the case.
Remove the nuts from the pots.
Carefully pull the preamp board.
Spray and rotate pots.
Reassemble.

There are about a bazillion nuts and bolts.
 
#11
obsidianbass said:
Hmmm, well the crackling is mostly happening on the knob/pot I use the most (the woofer knob) so I don't think just turning it back and forth will have much effect, but I'll try it. If this job calls for disassembling the amp in any way, I think it's beyond my skill. I suppose I'll take it to be serviced. It's a shame though, since I expect them to quote me a bunch of $$ and I suspect this is a minor issue.
Click to expand...


I just got done replacing the Woofer pot on a friend's 700rb-II because it was shot - it's an application specific part, mainly because it's a PCB mounted 2k(I think?) pot... The part itself wasn't expensive - only about $3 - but G-K has a $10 part order minimum... Because it's a 1-2 hour job, I would suspect a shop shouldn't charge more than $100 total - and probably less... If you were closer to my area, I'd do the job for considerably less - I did my friend's for nothing, but he and I have done alot for each other over the years...

Good luck,

- georgestrings
 
#12
wcriley said:
As has been pointed out above, it takes about an hour.
But it can be done without a trip to the shop.
Pull the knobs off.
Open the case.
Remove the nuts from the pots.
Carefully pull the preamp board.
Spray and rotate pots.
Reassemble.

There are about a bazillion nuts and bolts.
Click to expand...


Yeah, besides the nuts for the pots, there are the plastic jack nuts, and the 2 screws for the DI outlet - and 3 cable to board connections... There's also a transformer barrier that needs to be removed before the board can come out...

I've probably worked on 4 or 5 of these amps...


- georgestrings
 
#13
When I had 1001RB-II, I had decent luck just spraying contact cleaner onto the shaft of the pot from the outside, no disassembly required beyond pulling the knobs off. Enough cleaner seeped into the innards of the pot to cure the scratchiness.
 
#16
obsidianbass said:
Hey all,
I have a few scratchy/dirty pots that I would like to clean with a can of Deoxit. The thing is I've never done this before and was wondering if someone could give me a few tips. Do I have to remove the knobs and if so, how? Do I need to open the amp and remove the whole pot? Anything I should be careful of?

Thanks for the help guys!
Click to expand...

FWIW I just did my first clean on a Park (Marshall) combo and it was dead easy. So long as you can see the back of the pot and get the extension pipe from the deoxit can to it, you are right.

See the little notch in the top of the pot (below)? Spray the deoxit in there and spin the knob a few times. That's all. No need to remove it to clean it.

360_Poratry_Potentiometer.jpg
 
#17
boing said:
When I had 1001RB-II, I had decent luck just spraying contact cleaner onto the shaft of the pot from the outside, no disassembly required beyond pulling the knobs off. Enough cleaner seeped into the innards of the pot to cure the scratchiness.
Click to expand...

No offense, but that's not really possible - odds are you "cleaned" them by moving them back and forth a few times...


- georgestrings
 
#19
Steamtronic said:
FWIW I just did my first clean on a Park (Marshall) combo and it was dead easy. So long as you can see the back of the pot and get the extension pipe from the deoxit can to it, you are right.

See the little notch in the top of the pot (below)? Spray the deoxit in there and spin the knob a few times. That's all. No need to remove it to clean it.

360_Poratry_Potentiometer.jpg
Click to expand...


I usually just spray into the opening where the terminals are located, but that notch is another option...


- georgestrings
 

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