what are the options i have?

[redname]

Hi,
I bought a ken smith bass (i do not know the model) from a friend some years back but recently i noticed there's quite a bit of noise from it, so i took it to a local shop hoping to solve it by switching out some pots, however i was informed that the pots are part some circuit board and the entire thing needs to be switched out.

i went to the ken smith website and saw that they dnt have the same one as my bass, so i assume it's no longer available

what are my options now?

1) get the ones in ken smith website, hopefully they can be used

2) get a 3rd party brand for the electronics. i hope to get the same config back which is 3 band eq, pickup blend and a push/pull vol pot for passive/active. any recommendations? budget friendly and still sounding pretty decent

TIA

 

[sikamikanico]

I’m not familiar with Smiths to say anything half informed here, so I’ll just suggest you edit the thread title to signal what it is about (like “Ken Smith preamp replacement”). It will attract people that might know this stuff

 

[seilerbird]

Get a can of contact cleaner and it will solve your problems. Just remove the knobs and spray the crap out os the pots.

https://www.amazon.com/CRC-05103-El...253275&sprefix=contact+cleaner,aps,207&sr=8-3

 

[bholder]

I would definitely contact Ken Smith and ask for advice before buying anything on speculation that it'll fit. But yeah, as @seilerbird suggests, try cleaning the pots first. Be judicious using the spray though, overdoing it can have side effect. If neither of those yield results, a 3rd party preamp shouldn't be too hard to find.

 

[redname]

I’m not familiar with Smiths to say anything half informed here, so I’ll just suggest you edit the thread title to signal what it is about (like “Ken Smith preamp replacement”). It will attract people that might know this stuff

thanks but i dnt see an option for tht

Get a can of contact cleaner and it will solve your problems. Just remove the knobs and spray the crap out os the pots.

https://www.amazon.com/CRC-05103-Electronic-Cleaner-11/dp/B000BXOGNI/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3E5R9R2C0XQ3N&dchild=1&keywords=contact+cleaner&qid=1609253275&sprefix=contact+cleaner,aps,207&sr=8-3

didnt work, tht's what the local shop did

 

[dwizum]

Does the noise happen all the time or just when adjusting the controls? I'm wondering what has lead to the diagnosis that the pots are the issue.

Do you have other local techs? There's really no such thing as a pot being unreplaceable just because it's on a pcb. But I can see how some techs wouldn't want to get that deep into a bass if they're just used to swapping pots on passive instruments.