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About H-Bomb
Expertise
I'm the BS-artist's dream. I'm self-taught, and my technical understanding of musical theory is limited. However in many cases if I hear it and my A.D.D. isn't in overdrive I can figure it out. I relate more to classic artists like Angus Young, Keith Richards & Tony Iommi, but have figured out some of the tricks of the trade used by more modern players as well. I know anything you'd ever want to know about Gibson SG's & Flying V's, and am one of the few cats you'll find here in South Carolina who doesn't worship all things "Skynyrd". Always willing to go out of my way to help budding young players, and most of my students have been disenfranchised youth and females...being kind of the aging punk-rock/hard-rock guru I've taken many folks under my wing who might not have otherwise had the confidence. It's a pleasure to see someone succeed with things I've passed on to them. So try me, I might be able to help! I'm NOT one who knows a ton about vintage guitar values, dating or specs unless it's a Gibson SG, so if you have questions regarding other models of guitars you might want to ask someone else.

Experience
I've played bass, guitar, drums, lap steel & tinkered with several other instruments for over a decade. I've unfortunately not found my 'way' yet and remain a semi-pro, but have had enough experience to write a book.

Education/Credentials
School of Rock, baby!

Past/Present Clients
I currently provide rock guitar lessons to students ranging from 7 years of age to 24 years, and am the de facto gear tech for my band and some other musicians when they let their equipment go. Want a no-nonsense, everyman's answer to help you along? I'll do my best!

You are here: Experts > Music/Performing Arts > Musical Instruments > Guitar - General > volume problem

Guitar - General - volume problem

Expert: H-Bomb - 10/7/2009

Question
Hi, I own a Gibson sg with all original hardware including electronics. The problem is, when I adjust the volume on the bridge pickup, the volume goes totally off at "7" on my knob. As for the neck, the volume goes off at "0" like normal guitars do. I find this really annoying because even a slight turn on the volume knob can significantly alter my volume.
Is it bad wiring, bad pot, or bad cap? please help me

Answer
You very well could have a faulty or damaged volume pot on the bridge pickup. I usually only back off a hair when I use my volume control as a dynamic tool, so for me as long as it's all-on or all-off I could care less. But if you're using it for swells and more variable settings then I can see where it'd be a headache. I would recommend simply swapping out the pot with a nice new Alpha (good price, nice product) or CTS (nicer, but more expensive) 500K AUDIO-TAPER pot for best use of the volume spectrum. Actually in most of my live guitars I've dropped the entire harness out (so if I ever want to make it "stock" again) and just wired myself new harnesses, particularly in those cases where I've dropped in some GFS pickups and push/pull pots for coil-tapping. A bad cap will only affect your tone control though, so most likely you're looking at a bad volume pot.

Thanks for writing!

H

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