wasteofo2
Oxygen-Enriched Tonologist
I'm building a J-bass from Warmoth parts. It would have been "I built", but for some reason, getting solid shaft pots would take an act of God, Satan, inter-galactic alignment, and Robert Fripp combined.
When I ordered the Warmoth body and neck, the neck didn't have holes drilled in it to be bolted onto the body. So, since I'm not a wood-worker, I brought it to Sam Ash to have this done. The guy finishes this up, does a fine job and gives it back to me on November 11. As you might know, on J-basses, you can't use the kinds of pots you do on guitar, you need solid-shaft pots. So, I asked at the guy at the counter if they had any solid-shaft pots, they didn't. No big deal, I still needed to finish the body, which would take a while, so I put in an order for some. This was November 11th.
I call up in early December, they haven't come in yet. The guy I called said that Fender (where they ordered from) was very busy this time of year, with the holidays coming up and all. I called again near Christmas, and Fender was closed, so no pots. I called again in early January; Fender's still on vacation. So Wednesday, I called up again (I'd been waiting 2 and a half months!) and no pots yet. I told them how long I'd been waiting, and asked if I could just come in, cancel the order, get my money back and find a store that actually has them in stock, and the guy said yes. So, I call up the local Guitar Center, which is about 35 minutes away, so I don't go their that often. I ask their accessories desk if they have solid shaft pots, the guy puts me on hold for a minute, and asks what value I'm looking for. I tell him I wasnt 3 250k's, and 1 500k, and he said alright, yeah, we've got those, will you be coming today? I told him I couldn't come untill Friday, and he assured me he'd be working then, and that they had the pots at the accessories desk. So I get my money back from Sam Ash, and today I head over to Guitar Center.
I walk into Guitar Center and head over to the accessories desk. This girl who's about 22 is the only one there.
I say "Hey, is Mike in?"
She responds "Nah, mike just left a little while ago"
"Oh," I say, "Well, do you have any solid-shaft potentiometers?"
"Whaaaaaaaaaat? I've never heard of those."
I try to simplify it "You know, volume and tone controls..."
"Oh, yeah, we've got pots", she gets up, and hands me a split-shaft pot.
"Nah, this isn't what I need" I bring the pot up to her face, "See how the shaft is split there? I need one where the shaft is solid".
"I've never even heard of those man, lemme look", she hands me another split shaft pot.
"No, that one's split too."
"Nah man, we don't have them."
"You sure, Mike told me you have them."
"Yeah man, I've never even heard of those... Lemme check, maybe Gibson makes them..."
"I don't think Gibson would make them..."
"Nah, Gibson doesn't, what do you need these things anyway, if you don't mind me asking"
"On a J-bass, the knobs don't get pushed on, you screw them on with a little screw in the actual knob. Plus, the holes on the metal plate the pots go through are too small for the split shaft."
"Oh, well sorry, we don't have them."
"That guy Mike told me you did, is there anyone else I could talk to who might know about it?"
"I'm the Accessories Manager, I'd know if we have them."
"Damn, I just drove like half an hour to get here, you sure?"
"Yeah, lemme take your number and I'll have Mike call you."
So I leave my name and number and drive back to my house. I wasted like an hour and a half on a Friday night cause Mike told me that he had some **** that the "accesories manager" never even heard of. The gas I used because of all this crap probabally costs more than the actual pots are going to...
When I ordered the Warmoth body and neck, the neck didn't have holes drilled in it to be bolted onto the body. So, since I'm not a wood-worker, I brought it to Sam Ash to have this done. The guy finishes this up, does a fine job and gives it back to me on November 11. As you might know, on J-basses, you can't use the kinds of pots you do on guitar, you need solid-shaft pots. So, I asked at the guy at the counter if they had any solid-shaft pots, they didn't. No big deal, I still needed to finish the body, which would take a while, so I put in an order for some. This was November 11th.
I call up in early December, they haven't come in yet. The guy I called said that Fender (where they ordered from) was very busy this time of year, with the holidays coming up and all. I called again near Christmas, and Fender was closed, so no pots. I called again in early January; Fender's still on vacation. So Wednesday, I called up again (I'd been waiting 2 and a half months!) and no pots yet. I told them how long I'd been waiting, and asked if I could just come in, cancel the order, get my money back and find a store that actually has them in stock, and the guy said yes. So, I call up the local Guitar Center, which is about 35 minutes away, so I don't go their that often. I ask their accessories desk if they have solid shaft pots, the guy puts me on hold for a minute, and asks what value I'm looking for. I tell him I wasnt 3 250k's, and 1 500k, and he said alright, yeah, we've got those, will you be coming today? I told him I couldn't come untill Friday, and he assured me he'd be working then, and that they had the pots at the accessories desk. So I get my money back from Sam Ash, and today I head over to Guitar Center.
I walk into Guitar Center and head over to the accessories desk. This girl who's about 22 is the only one there.
I say "Hey, is Mike in?"
She responds "Nah, mike just left a little while ago"
"Oh," I say, "Well, do you have any solid-shaft potentiometers?"
"Whaaaaaaaaaat? I've never heard of those."
I try to simplify it "You know, volume and tone controls..."
"Oh, yeah, we've got pots", she gets up, and hands me a split-shaft pot.
"Nah, this isn't what I need" I bring the pot up to her face, "See how the shaft is split there? I need one where the shaft is solid".
"I've never even heard of those man, lemme look", she hands me another split shaft pot.
"No, that one's split too."
"Nah man, we don't have them."
"You sure, Mike told me you have them."
"Yeah man, I've never even heard of those... Lemme check, maybe Gibson makes them..."
"I don't think Gibson would make them..."
"Nah, Gibson doesn't, what do you need these things anyway, if you don't mind me asking"
"On a J-bass, the knobs don't get pushed on, you screw them on with a little screw in the actual knob. Plus, the holes on the metal plate the pots go through are too small for the split shaft."
"Oh, well sorry, we don't have them."
"That guy Mike told me you did, is there anyone else I could talk to who might know about it?"
"I'm the Accessories Manager, I'd know if we have them."
"Damn, I just drove like half an hour to get here, you sure?"
"Yeah, lemme take your number and I'll have Mike call you."
So I leave my name and number and drive back to my house. I wasted like an hour and a half on a Friday night cause Mike told me that he had some **** that the "accesories manager" never even heard of. The gas I used because of all this crap probabally costs more than the actual pots are going to...
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