need new knobs

  • Thread starter Thread starter antichef
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antichef

antichef

pornk rock
I just got coil splitting tone pots in a SG copy that I have (actually my daughter's) and they work great. The problem is that the guitar has the traditional gibson-style tophat tone (and volume) knobs which are great for turning, but very difficult to grab and pull upward, which is what you have to do for the coil splitting pots.

So... I figure I need to replace them with something better. What do you think would look nice with a blue SG copy that would also be easy to pull up (assuming that they're all easy to push down)? I've never really used anything by the tophats or the clear cylinder ones that have numbers printed on a black surface on the bottom - not sure how easy those cylinder types would be since they're slick on the sides, but I might try them.
 
The cylindrical knobs you refer to are called "speed knobs" and I think they'd work fine.
 
Some metal knobs with knurled sides would work well.

knobs-metal.jpg
 
ocnor said:
Some metal knobs with knurled sides would work well.

knobs-metal.jpg
Click to expand...

Those would look perfect but look for some that have tiny little screws in the side that you can use to make sure the knob has a good tight grip on the shaft of the pots so that way when you pull up you won't be pulling the knobs off too.
 
thanks - I've got an extra speed knob or two, so I'll try those - if they're too slick, I'll look at something knurled.

I've seen those type of metal knobs before (actually even have them on a bass), but I was thinking that not having visible numbers would be a problem. Maybe not.

The knobs on the bass don't have set screws but do have a plastic internal knurl thing going on, so they grip pretty well, but can be pulled off.
 
Not to drift OT too much, but I just remembered I have another guitar that has metal knobs and some sort of switch on the tone knob (not a coil splitter b/c it's got single coil pups).

The switch, though is one that you push in and then it pops back out either a little bit or a lot, depending on the switch position - it's easy to use because you just hit the top of it. But... if the knob sits too low on the post, then it stops working because you can't push it down far enough to activate the switch. I'm pretty sure that knob *does* have a set screw, and I remember having trouble with it when the screw would work itself just loose enough to let go and then grab further down the shaft, disabling the switch. I gigged a lot with that guitar, but fortunately didn't rely on the switch feature too much.

The SG copy is the first time I've played one that has a simple push and pull switch - not sure which of those two interfaces I'd prefer.
 
I think those above (ocnor, kingofpain) might look well. And, yes they should have the screws. But be sure that the screw is inserted directly into the fork(?) of the pot/push-pull since the screw might crack it (or this was what I was told when I bought similar ones 3 years ago).
 
The chrome knurled knobs with the set screw is a good way to go with push/pull pots installed, I have several Teles with coil splits on the humbuckers and I love them. An added feature is that the set screw can be used as a gauge to let you know when the volume or tone are near their maximum setting.

I recently changed the pickups in my Epi firebird-I went from full sized humbuckers to mini-humbuckers and coil split them with push/pulls. I was able to use the standard Epi speed knobs-although 1 of them had a tendency to pull off. My unorthodox solution-:o-a bit of my terrier's dog hair in the knob, it holds tight and performs very well.
 
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