So my 16 year old used refurbished Peavey Millenium AC BXP 4 is kind of old. 2 days ago I noticed the treble knob was extremely loose and nothing was happening when I turned it. So I unscrew the back panel and I am confronted with this: {} All the wires connected to the treble pot(far right) are snapped off. The knob came superglued on so I can’t remove it, and I’m not that good at soldering and neither is my dad. Anything I could do to fix it without taking it and getting it repaired(a last resort, though my dad is willing to pay for it if it comes to that)?
It needs soldering to fix it. Should not be expensive to have repaired. It is also not difficult to do if you have the supplies already.
If the knob is glued to the shaft you can't get to the nut to tighten the pot. That will be a serious issue going forward. See if you can pry or cut it off.
The connections will have to be soldered. Also, is the knob still loose? That needs to be taken care of as well. If the knob is superglued on, you will probably need to remove it somehow. Maybe @mech can provide some specifics as far as wiring and any parts you might need.
Note if you break the pot getting the knob off...a pot costs a couple of dollars. CTS Potentiometers | AllParts.com
If you've got enough clearance, put a metal plate next to the knob, get your claw hammer out & pry it off. It might not be superglued, I've had some come off that took some serious force! Before you do any of that prying, look for a set screw on the knob: {}
Here's a pic of the wiring on my Millennium AC. The black and bare (bridge ground) wires solder to the case of the pot which is a 50K Linear in case you have to buy one. The wires will have to be soldered to the pot as there is no other way of making a reliable connection. The nut that holds the pot must be tight or this will happen again. The knobs on mine are black metal with rubber speed bands and are held on by Allen set screws that can be difficult to see. They take a 1.5mm Allen wrench. If your bass has press on knobs with no set screws I suggest working a piece of good thin cloth under the knob and using it to try and pull the knob off. While you are taking knobs off take them all off and check the tightness of all the nuts. Others are probably loose and will cause the same problem. Be sure and hold the body of the pot inside the cavity to keep it from turning while the nut is being tightened. Hope this helps. If the knob is super glued the pot will probably need to be replaced after the knob is cut off. All I can think of is a Dremel with a cut off wheel. Use safety glasses and protect the body from accidental damage from the Dremel. If you need parts, Peavey probably has them in stock. Call 601-483-5365, press "0" for the operator after the recorded menu starts and ask for Steve Smith, the guitar tech. They have a great service dept. {}
This will help your loose nut issues without issue of the super glued knob. Then the soldering should not be to bad even if you need to take it to someone. {} ESP Multi Spanner | stewmac.com
Now seems like as good a time as any for you to learn how to solder. It's not hard, just takes some practice and a few tools. Practice on some scrap first, or jump right in and get yourself a DIY stomp box kit of some sort. My first was a RAT clone that I'm really happy with. It was a lot of fun to build. Here's a link to the one I made. ProCo Rat Replica Complete Kit - Kits - Distortion - Kits Basic soldering skills will serve you well in all sorts of areas, not just guitar repair. That ESP Multi Spanner looks amazing! I never knew a beast like that existed. There's already one on it's way to my mailbox!
worse case scenario: Saw the knob/potshaft off with a hacksaw, and buy a new pot and knob... AND... get a serrated locknut or two for the pot, this time
Soldering is not that difficult, and there's not much that needs to be done. Spend an hour on Youtube and you should have a pretty good idea of what to do. If the knob is that firmly attached (glued or not) bite the bullet and replace the pot.
First, I'm ordering one of those ESP multi spanners - that's one useful piece of kit to keep in the gear bag! Second, I don't know much about this stuff, so I'm asking a couple of questions, mainly out of personal interest but also in the hope the answers help OP @Green Dragoon. Is the advice to pry the knob off the post wise? For example, if you tried to lever it off with a claw hammer, screw driver, etc. isn't there a high risk of damaging the internals of the pot by exerting that kind of force on the post, with the pot going nowhere? I agree with the advice that learning to solder is not that hard, and a worthwhile skill to have. But say the OP doesn't feel confident, how much would this cost to get repaired by a pro? I mean, a whole new replacement pot must be under a dollar (based on me being able to get one for NZ$3.10 - US$2.07 - and New Zealand being notoriously expensive for everything) plus a new knob if the current one has to be destroyed to get it off, plus labour. And I can't imagine a pro would take any more than 30 minutes, including removing the old pot and stripping back the wires for resoldering. How much could 30 minutes of labour cost? If the OP does decide to try the soldering themselves, should they be concerned about the power/wattage of the iron to prevent damaging the internals of the pot?
@whero ... 1. If the knob is super glued to the pot shaft they aren't going to be separated easily if at all. It could take hours to remove the knob and still have damage to the pot or the shaft at the least. Not worth it for $10 in parts. Pots and knobs are probably cheaper in NZ due to your proximity to Vietnam and China. That's where they are all made anymore. 3. One hour minimum shop time would be $50 to $100 USD. A few techs will charge by the half hour after the first full hour is met.
If you click on the link provided in post #12 it shows you how the spanner is used. Pics and a video.