stratocaster overhaul

[Matthew Hanley]

hey ppl, i wonder if any1 here knows how to overhaul a squier stratocaster.
at the moment my strats had its backplate removed, its scratchplate
unscrewed but is held firmly in place by the wires connecting the tone pots,
volume control and selector switch. im quite handy with a soldering iron.
at the moment, the volume control is very erratic and crackles when
turned. the same thing happens on my 30+ year old amp, is there a quick fix
for this? also the tremolo arm wont screw into the bridge, i think this is
because the pewter block's thread has been stripped, can i buy a new block
anywhere? its not the whole bridge that needs replacing, just the pewter (i
think its pewter) block the nut on the strings are secured into.
thanks for any input,
M@

[Lon Smith]

For the pots part. Go to the local Radio Shack and buy some electronics
cleaner. Spray it in and work the pot several times. Let dry. Try not to
get the cleaner on the paint.
"Matthew Hanley" <matthew_...@btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:bq5s4g$hup$1...@titan.btinternet.com...

[CyberSerf]

Matthew Hanley <matthew_...@btinternet.com> wrote the following:

> hey ppl, i wonder if any1 here knows how to overhaul a squier
> stratocaster. at the moment my strats had its backplate removed, its
> scratchplate unscrewed but is held firmly in place by the wires
> connecting the tone pots, volume control and selector switch. im
> quite handy with a soldering iron. at the moment, the volume
> control is very erratic and crackles when
> turned. the same thing happens on my 30+ year old amp, is there a
> quick fix for this?

Yes...it's called Potentiometer cleaner. It is sold in Radio Shack and other
electronic stores in a pray can. Simply spray the jack or inside the open
lug section of a pot, work in the solution and it should be smooth again.

also the tremolo arm wont screw into the bridge,
> i think this is because the pewter block's thread has been stripped,
> can i buy a new block anywhere? its not the whole bridge that needs
> replacing, just the pewter (i think its pewter) block the nut on the
> strings are secured into. thanks for any input,
> M@

Not a permanent fix, but if you wrap your trem arm with plumbers tape (it's
the stuff plumbers use to wrap the pipes threads with before they solder),
a few layers should do it. If it is really gone, you may have to re-thread
and get a larger thread on your arm....tap and die baby.

Cheers, CS
--
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The opinions, comments, and advice offered by me, are mine alone.
As such, they carry as much weight as a feather in a snow storm.
Gear Page at: http://www3.sympatico.ca/cybrserf/Gear.htm

[Pt]

Actually most volume and tone pots are sealed and lubricated units.
To clean them just turn the knobs back and forth quickly several
times.
No more crackeling.

Pt

[CyberSerf]

Pt <P...@home.com> wrote the following:

Pt,

Sorry man, but this is simply not true...most volume and tone pots have an
opening at the lugs (look underneath the lugs where they enter the
chassis...it's quite wide, you can't miss it)..in fact, *all* the ones I've
ever seen, and I've seen thousands, are open and they are most assuredly not
lubricated...these aren't machine heads, they are electronic components.
Potentiometer cleaner is made to clean the sweep armature and the lug
contacts...rather than simply abrading the contact to clean them (which is
what you do when you turn the knob back and forth) providing a temporary fix
(and over time the contact will have been abraded away so that the armature
will no longer touch the lug contacts), this treatment will provide cleaner
and smoother operation for much longer. Just a quick squirt is all it takes,
but be sure to use Pot cleaner/lubricant...WD-40 will not work (in fact, it
will coat the inside with silicon which is NOT conductive...Bad!).

BTW, volume and tone pots are typically the same types of logarithmic
(rather than linear) potentiometers (although some instruments have mixed
resistance such as 500K Volume and 250K Tone), the only factor that dictates
their different operation is that there is typically a capacitor attached to
the Tone pot which bleeds to ground...sometimes with a parallel resistor. In
any event, there is no such thing as a Volume pot or Tone pot, they are both
Log Pots. Linear Pots are more commonly used for household electronic
applications, but for guitars or musical instruments, you need to use a log
pot to get a smoother volume increase over the entire sweep of the pot
(rather than an abrupt increase about halfway with very little noticeable
difference afterwards).