Switch & Pot Question

[ridger]

On my Les Paul (and also on my Strat), I get some static when switching from pickup to pickup. Does it just need a little cleaning to remove the dust? If so, what do you recommend...electrical contact cleaner? Also, how would you tell if the switch or the pots need to be replaced? Thanks.

[A String]

Contact cleaner works great for a while. It's been my experience that once you use it, a residue builds up that attracts more scum. The remedy for this is to use more. Eventually, the switch stops working and then you replace it. As long as you are moderetly good at soldering, the job is very easy. Good luck!

[Gabriel E.]

Use "tuner cleaner". You can get it at rat shack. It cleans and lubricates at the same time. Use it very sparingly and make sure you don't get any on the finish. Best thing is to take the switch out when you do this. Also look for a loose connection - that could be a cause of the crackling too.

 

On a good quality guitar the knobs and switches should never need replacing. At least not within the first 20-25 years. You'll know they need replacing when they just stop working.

[Bbach1]

You can also blow off contacts with compressed air, but use the stuff in a can that is designed for electronic cleaning such as "Dust B Gone" because compressed air will contain moisture. Products like that do not leave any residue behind to promote dirt accumulation.

[Caevan O’Shite]

Yes, Gabriel E. speaks the truth!

 

Tuner cleaner is what you want. (Not that the canned compressed air that cwfno mentions is a bad idea, that'll work alright enough for a switch. But I wouldn't use it for a pot.)

 

Don't bother with the "Color Tuner" cleaner; the standard "Tuner Cleaner" will work perfectly. I got mine from Radio Shack, too.

 

While you're at Radio Shack, pick up a tube of their "Archer"-brand Teflon gel lube (Catalog/Item/Part No. 64-2301A); put a tiny (pin-prick) dab of that in the nut-slots and bridge-saddle-grooves, and on any non-electronic moving parts or points of friction (especially on a whammy-bar set-up). Works great! Your tuning-stability will improve. It's clear, and stays put quite well.

 

Anyways-

 

Spritz a brief blast of tuner cleaner spray into the switch or pot through the little red nozzle-straw that's provided- you may want to have a few paper towels or the like placed strategically around the switch or pot, to protect your finish from any excess splatter- and then work said switch or pot back 'n' forth to its full throw or rotation about forty times (an old "rule of thumb"). Then check to see if the crackles and pops are gone.

 

You may want to access these parts from the back/inside, as well... especially the pots. They'll benefit the most from this if you insert that straw into the opening in the pot-body in the back, next to the terminals that are sticking out of it.

 

Sometimes, simply doing the forty flips will do it even without the tuner cleaner.

 

I get this problem occasionally when I've been leaving a guitar out on a stand too much, letting dust get at it. An ounce of prevention...

[Shoes]

If you don't have access to Tuner Cleaner sometimes called Tuner Degreaser because it's to remove the grease they gob on them, you can try vodka or even cheaper would be alchol, methal hydrate or like type solvent that will leave the contacts residue free.

Q-tip / j-cloth & tweasers jug o cleaner and you're away.

 

Without major current running through these contacts the only action that wears them down is the friction or impact of coming together. Those long stemmed models like they used in older LP's was great when clean because it used the toggle as an actuator for a set of contact points rather than integrating it into the contact as a pole. It actually opens the undesired circuit. I always thought that was a cool way to approach it.

 

You can re-tin the contact points with solder and carefully file them smooth.

 

If you ever do replace them it's a good idea to bag the old parts for any future owner.

 

good luck with that.

[Caevan O’Shite]

Hah!

 

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[BillWelcome Home Studios]

Suggestion:

 

Before you resort to spaying anything into your switches or pots, try exercising them.

 

What happens:

 

Most often the problem is not dust. You get some burn (usually not dust, but electrical scorching) on the contacts. This works as an insulator.

 

Many times you can brush this off of the contact point by rapidly running the pot around a bunch of times, or rapidly switching between switch positions a bunch of times.

 

The advantage to trying this before moving to spray cleaners? Spray cleaners, even the really good ones (not to mention the stuff sold at Radio Shack)leave a slightly oily film which lubricates the connection. But it also picks up dirt and dust, which collects on the contacts and will eventually create a similar problem.

 

Just my opinion,

 

Bill

[A String]

Yes, like Bill said, the problem will compound as the residue collects dirt. I had a friend who worked in a nuclear power plant (No, his name was not Homer!), he gave us a can of this stuff that was designed for lubricating and degreasing the moving parts from a guided missile. That stuff worked great. Eventually however, it reached a point where it was just to gummed up to fix and a replacement was the only option.

[Guitarzan]

my guitars remain in thier cases when i am not playing them and i rarely have had pot or switch problems. i don't break strings either. an ounce of prevention.

[ridger]

Thanks for the tips. I tried the tuner contact cleaner from Radio Shack and that seems to have corrected the problem. I also bought the lubricant to add to the stress points of the strings. Thanks for the advice.

[Shoes]

Glad to hear you have that sorted out for the moment and perhaps for time in memoriam.

 

Watch the cleaner stuff on the guitar finish. Some of them eat laquer.