New tone pot/potentiometer for Tech-21 Sansamp Bass Driver

[Matt Varsavia]

I've got a Tech-21 Sansamp Bass Driver pedal, which is an excellent little preamp that served me well for some 15 years. Alas, at some point I must have dropped it and the level control knob broke off. The pedal still works fine otherwise - I just can't change the level anymore.

Somewhere online it says I'll need a new potentiometer (aka tone pot). Is that a generic part that any electronics repair shop can easily replace, or will they likely need to order a Tech-21 one specifically designed for this pedal from the US?

I don't live in the US, but in Italy - so, sending the pedal to Tech-21 for repair would be very costly. Can I use any other tone pots than their own? And if I do, will that make a difference to the sound?

 

[r_bnks]

Why don't you write them an email instead asking it here?

They're usually quick to respond and they'll know exactly what you'll need, or an equal widely available replacement.

 

[Zooberwerx]

Is the shaft plastic?

Riis

 

[Matt Varsavia]

Is the shaft plastic?

Riis

Nope. The knob is plastic, but the shaft looks like aluminium, chrome or some other metal. Quite solid, but evidently not solid enough to survive a fall.

 

[Matt Varsavia]

Why don't you write them an email instead asking it here?

They're usually quick to respond and they'll know exactly what you'll need, or an equal widely available replacement.

I dropped them a line. If they say "send it to NYC for repair", that will be too pricey to do from Europe. So I hope they can point me to a cheaper option.

A friend just told me it could be quite tricky to source a tone pot. I'll need to know if it's linear or logarithmic, plus find a part that will actually fit. The shaft is likely soldered directly to a circuit board. With some hunting, I might find physically identical parts, but the values (ohms and 'taper') need to be the same too. So yeah, headache.

 

[r_bnks]

I dropped them a line. If they say "send it to NYC for repair", that will be too pricey to do from Europe. So I hope they can point me to a cheaper option.

A friend just told me it could be quite tricky to source a tone pot. I'll need to know if it's linear or logarithmic, plus find a part that will actually fit. The shaft is likely soldered directly to a circuit board. With some hunting, I might find physically identical parts, but the values (ohms and 'taper') need to be the same too. So yeah, headache.

Did you tell them the same, that it would be expensive to send it to them?

If not and they won't tell an alternative, it might worth a shot to reply them and tell them.

 

[Zooberwerx]

Nope. The knob is plastic, but the shaft looks like aluminium, chrome or some other metal. Quite solid, but evidently not solid enough to survive a fall.

Any chance it's powder-cast? If so, there's a good chance it can be etched to accept a jewelers screwdriver (band-aid fix) or drilled for a post. A lot of this stuff is designed to be sacrificial without destroying the balance of the component / pedal.

Riis

 

[agedhorse]

It’s not a “tone pot”, and any qualified tech in Europe will be able to source it from one of their regular parts suppliers.

 

[sunbeast]

Yeah this is almost certainly an easily-sourced part. Or at least one that can be swapped for something equivalent from any number of electronics suppliers. Usually the most annoying part of that is that if you order a single part yourself from one of these places it'll cost you quite a bit to ship. If you go through a tech they may well have one in stock already or can add it to a larger parts order to save on shipping

 

[G.Bisson]

I've replaced a pot in a Bass Driver DI before. All the pots are identical. They are all B100K right-angle PCB-mount with long leads. Standard length PCB-mount pots will not be long enough. Not all "long-lead" pots have the same pin length. Open the pedal and measure the pin length before ordering any parts.

 

[tech21nyc]

I believe I referred the OP to our distributor for Italy. They have a repair facility. It is a 100k linear taper pot. The trick is not to destroy the PCB when disassembling the pedal.

ITALY
SOUND SERVICE
Tel: 49-(0) 30 707 130-0
Fax: 49-(0) 30 707 130-189
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.sound-service.eu