I bought a used Dot on eBay. Plays great, sounds great, looks great... except for those gold or bronse knobs! No offense intended if you have a Dot and like the stock knobs, but I thought mine would look better with black knobs (the guitar has the cherry red finish), since there is nothing else on the guitar the same color as the original knobs. I bought some Gibson speed knobs (also on eBay), and realized that I'm not sure how to remove the current knobs. Do I just grab them with a pair of pliers, put my other hand on the guitar body, and pull? Is there a special tool to do this with? I assume (I know, Iknow, there's that word, again!) that I would then simply press carefully on the new knobs to install them? Should I just take the guitar to a repair shop and have them do it? I've only had the guitar for about two weeks, having lusted after one for about four years, so I'd be very upset if I damaged it, especially since I haven't had it very long.
Any help would be appreciated.
BTW, to those who may be thinking, "Putting Gibson speed knobs on a Dot won't make it look like a Gibson 335!", my answer (no offense intended) is that I didn't buy a Dot with the plan on turning it into a less expensive 335 look-alike. I just think the black knobs will look better than the original knobs, plus the numbers will easier to read (my eyes aren't what they used to be! :shock: ).
Thanks again
First have a look around the side of the knobs to see of there is a set screw - if so the change is easy, just loosen the screws and exchange the knobs, not forgetting to tighten the neew screws!
If the are no screws, they're just push-fit knobs. There are several ways to get them off, but one that will not damage the finish is to take two pieces of string, each about 1 foot long. Stretch them under the knob, one piece at either side of the post. Twist the two pieces together at either side of the knob, bring the two ends together, over the top of the knob and pull. Twisting them together is totally necessary, it just stops the string slipping off too easily.
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The above is great advice, I'm just going to say that the way I prefer to remove the knobs is to take two thickish (>1mm if possible) plectrums and put them underneath the knob either side, then simply lift, the pot will slide off - unless it's screwed on.
Doug
Hmm, I've always just grabbed 'em and pulled hard :)
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Well, this is sort of off-topic, but I thought that it didn't justify a whole new thread.
For this Christmas I received a couple of new volume/tone knobs for my standard Samick bass (Squire-esque design & such). I easily popped the old ones off and placed the new ones on. The replacements are slighty larger but do not conflict with eachother's turning paths. The problem is that when they're in the 3 to 7.5 (about, no actual numerical markers) range it causes a loud humming. This did not happen with the previous stock dome knobs, and I've found the problem. The old ones' insides are made of plastic with a metal dome shell while the new ones (skulls :P) are solid metal. I'm guessing that the pickups are interfering with the pot-dial-things (when taking off the skull knobs I noticed that the problem persisted). So...must I sacrifice my cool knobs or do any of you have an idea? I've only played guitar for about a year and a half and bass for three months so I'm not much of a technician.
What a coincidence - I'm doing the same thing to my Epi Les Paul Standard in a week or so, when the parts come in! Those speed knobs look ugly as heck!
I pried one of them off to see whether or not the knobs would fit - definitely use the thick picks. Watch out in case Gibson tone knobs don't fit it - you might have to look elsewhere, like a parts site, to find ones that will fit the import guitars like the Epis.
As far as putting them back on, just remember where you had the settings, and slide them on accordingly!
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Thanks for the replys and great suggestions. I went with the "thick pick" approach. First, I set all the dials to lowest settings (that way, I could put the new knobs on with the '1' relative to my point of view). Then, I used two thick picks to remove the old knobs (I almost hit myself in the face with the first knob, it came off so much easier than I was expecting! :D ). Finally, I lined up and pressed on the new knobs. Personally, I think they are a big improvement, cosmetically, to the stock knobs.
Again, thanks for the input.
