Service manual

Sinclair Community College | ETD 110 Guitar Service Manual

Pot Repair and Replacement:

� Screwdriver

� Wire cutters

� Guitar pick (optional)

� Soldering iron and solder

One of the parts commonly

mentioned on electric guitars are

the pots, but what exactly is a pot?

Pot is actually short for

potentiometer, a small device that

controls the flow of electric current

making it basically a glorified

resistor. A guitar will usually have 2

pots; one is for volume and the other

for tone. On the bottom of each pot

there are three lugs; the 2 outer lugs carry electric current to and

from the pickups, while the middle lug resists the voltage. When the

knob on the pot gets turned, the middle lug will resist more or less

voltage which causes the volume to either decrease or increase. The

only difference between the 2 pots is that the tone pot has a

capacitor installed that prevents high frequencies from reaching the

output jack and the amplifier.

Just like any other electronic component on a guitar, pots will

eventually wear out or break, and will need to be replaced.

Replacing a pot is simple, and very similar to replacing a pickup

selector.

1. Remove the knob