Les Paul tone control knob

DeadandBuried

DeadandBuried

New member
Today I've experienced crackling and loss of high end on my Les Paul tone knob, bridge position. All the other knobs are fine, just this one. I initially thought it was dust or dirt so removed the back panel and sprayed it out with contact cleaner but to no avail. I've also removed the actual plastic dial knob from the screw so I can look underneath (also breaking it in the process....great). I find it if I push on it and give it a wiggle some of the high end comes back but then loses it again, which is baffling.

Before I resort to taking it to a tech to repair have I missed anything I should be checking?
 
Re: Les Paul tone control knob

Did you do any work on the guitar wiring around the time this started up?

The description sounds like capacitor is being shunted straight to ground.

Is the tone cap wired between the volume pot to tone pot (standard Gibson; as opposed to from the tone lug to the back of the tone pot, indicating someone modded the guitar).

If the tone capacitor is standard Gibson - going from volume lug to tone pot lug, I would next check to see if any ground wires are coming in contact with the capacitor leg that is on the tone lug side of the capacitor.

An easy way this happens is if all the wiring is braided 2-conductor and the braided shield of one of the wires comes in contact with a cap leg.
 
Re: Les Paul tone control knob

I had the bridge pickup changed in 2013 but nothing else done since. it looks like the tone cap is wired between volume and tone to me (though I'm not fully affiliated with the electronics inside). What colour would the ground wires be?
 
Re: Les Paul tone control knob

Ground likely would be all the silver braided outer shield on all the pickup wires, and possibly the same used to connect the components, or black insulated wire if someone replaced the stock wires between the components.

If no work was done on it recently, the only other possibility I can think of is the knob got turned too hard one too many times (or was knocked too hard in handling) and the wiper has exceeded it's correct travel on the resistor track - essentially broken.
 
Re: Les Paul tone control knob

Nothing has been done with any of the wiring as far as I know. Although when the pick up was installed 500k may have been switched in which could contribute?

I rarely use the tone knob on Les Paul's, (in fact on my main band guitar which is a LP Studio I have disconnected the pot cos I never use it and prefer a hotter signal bridge - straight into output) so I can't think it was turned too hard. It could have been knocked, however, yes.

If I do have to take it in what am I looking at for to be repaired in terms of parts?
 
Re: Les Paul tone control knob

Sounds like just replacing a tone pot, and possibly the cap. It's like $5-$15 worth of parts, maybe cost $15-25 for someone's time. You could DIY it for less than $10 if you are handy with a solder iron.
 
Re: Les Paul tone control knob

Time to take up soldering maybe. I just pulled the board out of a LP and wired it the old fashioned way. I checked resistance on the pots but didn't check rotation. Found out after the fact that one tone pot had a rough rotation. The biggest PITA in replacing it was getting the internal nut where I wanted it for knob clearance. After fussing with that for a few minutes, the actual soldering took all of 2 minutes.

I couldn't imagine having to take a guitar to a tech to replace a pot. The hassle alone would be worth the 100 bucks it would cost for a decent enough soldering station, some solder, and maybe some flux, de-soldering braid and/or a cheap solder sucker. Not a knock on anyone who doesn't do any DIY, just a suggestion to consider it and my opinion on why it may just be worth it to learn. I think this is a great example for considering it.
 
Re: Les Paul tone control knob

Yes, I would like to learn more about the soldering and the tech side of guitars, electrics and setup, etc. But I'm not experienced enough to handle those at the moment. That's if it is the pot as it could be something else. But its definitely that one tone knob as none of the others do it.
 
Re: Les Paul tone control knob

I think the question of getting a solder station is a question of how often you expect or intend to have your guitars worked on. If you just play and play and only have to repair a guitar once in 5 years, maybe it's more worth it to just take it to a tech.

If you want to learn and tinker with the guitar, swap pickups and try a number of things, then soldering is an obtainable skill and well worth it - it's very very satisfying to put your own guitar together and finally hear it growl through reasonably loud amp.
 
Re: Les Paul tone control knob

I have owned many guitars over the years. None has exhibited this issue. There is definitely something that needs to be done.

Is this a Gibson? I have played mine every single day for the last year and while a lot of the guitar shows that wear the electronics have been fine, even after my tinkering with them many times.


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Re: Les Paul tone control knob

For this particular guitar I don't intend to mess about with it, I like how it plays and sounds so I usually get it setup and play it.

But I do want to move into the technician side in my later years when I'm done playing in bands, I used to have some guitars set up regularly, esp before recording sessions and stuff. But if I can figure out how to do most of it myself its better.
 
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