Friday, June 16, 2017

UNO, game!


Dead electronics. L-R: 3-way selector switch, push-pull tone pot, volume pot.

The selector switch was stiff, connection was intermittent, I'd rather invest in a new one so into the trash bin it went. The first step in dealing with dysfunctional pots is to give it a squirt of contact spray. Maybe let it be for a minute before getting it to work but this pot was beyond stiff, it just won't budge. It's a dead pot. That capacitor had an unexplainable puncture & it felt oily so it's beyond saving. Lastly, that volume pot was also too stiff, too stubborn, too dead. 


All those parts came from my Uno War Zone guitar. New components were bought & the guitar brought to Beez yesterday. They were professionally replaced & the instrument was back to life in under 30min. This War Zone was bought in 2011, the pots went dead in 2013. This time both pots & 3-way selector switch went dead so it's about a 4-year gap between replacements. Electronic components are expendables, they have a finite life regardless of constant maintenance/ treatment. The onus is on the owner to make sure they last as long as they could & if an overhaul should take place, the owner should consider investing in better components to prolong usage. The default parts lasted for 2 years, thereafter I replaced them with Proline parts (Korean) & currently there are Gotoh components in there (Japan) plus an Ernie Ball (USA) selector switch. 

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