L R Baggs pre-amp volume control

[Ricardo52]

The volume control on the LR Baggs pre-amp on my thin body, under saddle pickup, no sound hole, acoustic/electric Crafter is cutting out. I had to remove the knob and wedge something next to the shaft to avoid having the volume suddenly drop off. It's clearly broken internally unless the problem is as simple as one of the wires coming loose. Control cleaner didn't work. Are these small volume controls available anywhere? StewMac doesn't sell them. I'm considering either shorting out the wires and controlling volume using the bass-mid-treble sliders (probably the easiest solution) or installing a new full size control near the pre-amp. I haven't opened up the pre-amp box yet to see if it's just a loose connection or how difficult it would be to cut the wires at the broken control and solder two longer wires to the new control. I want to avoid buying a new pre-amp. Any advice? Is it even possible to replace these tiny controls? Should I buy a 250 ohm or 500 ohm control? I will probably need a long shaft since the sides of this guitar are about 3/8" thick and it seems the long shaft controls are only 500 ohms. I can mount a normal shaft control (250) on the front of the guitar if necessary, but I would prefer putting it on the side.

[DeepEnd]

Are these thumb wheel controls just inside the soundhole? You can contact LR Baggs here: http://www.lrbaggs.com/support. If they can't help, you can order a Schatten control from these guys: http://www.lmii.com/products/mostly-not-wood/pickups-%E2%80%93-electric/schatten-thumbwheel-controls.

[Ricardo52]

Thanks for your response. It's a volume control that is inside the preamp box on the side of the guitar. There is no sound hole in this guitar. I haven't opened the box yet, but it's not very big so I assume the volume control is considerably smaller than the typical control found on any electric guitar. Maybe it's the same control as the one you wrote about. I may have to replace the entire preamp, but I'm trying to avoid that as the Baggs preamps are probably expensive. I don't even know if it's possible to replace the control, which is why I'm considering shorting the wires and permanently making the output at the maximum level. I can't find any information about this on the internet. Maybe the best option is to buy a Fishman (or other brand) preamp to replace it. The problem is the guitar is only 1 3/4" thick and most preamps are designed for thicker guitars.

[DeepEnd]

Sorry for the confusion. If you posted pics I can't see them because I'm at work. Have you tried contacting Crafter: http://www.crafterusa.com/#!contact/c24vq? If they can't help, again, you may be able to contact LR Baggs directly. You could also install an endpin preamp and bypass the existing preamp completely: http://www.amazon.com/LR-Baggs-ENDPIN-PREAMP-STRAPJACK/dp/B006X0TS6S/ref=sr_1_1?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1434331826&sr=1-1&keywords=baggs+endpin+preamp. You wouldn't have volume or tone controls though unless you installed them: http://www.amazon.com/LR-Baggs-Element-Active-Control/dp/B001E95KI8/ref=sr_1_13?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1434331677&sr=1-13&keywords=baggs+endpin+preamp.

[WRGKMC]

You didn't mention if the volume is a slider or turn type pot with a knob. The sliders/pot are special made stuff. Finding a replacement will be most difficult.

 

I would attempt a repair on the pot first. You'd need to get the unit out and disassemble it. If you take pics at that point and post them I can advise you. Here's one of many sites you can goggle on their assembly/disassembly.

 

Both sliders and turn pots can be disassembled in many cases. Turn pots usually have small metal clips that hold the back of the can on which also hold the put together. What usually happens is the pot takes a blow and these tabs bend and loosen the back of the can. The fix is easy, take needle nose pliers and crimp the tabs back and it tightens the can. This pushed the slider back down against the resistive carbon pad and makes positive electrical contact again.

 

This is essentially the same fix with sliders. The metal tabs hold a long triangular piece in place which holds the slider and electrical contact together. Re crimping the piece in place is relatively simple. In some cases 1/2 drop of crazy glue can help secure it but you want to use the original clips if possible first.

 

If either are tables, you may need crazy glue to hold them together. Some much of this miniature stuff is made of plastic junk now. One shot and they fall apart. Again, I've had many cases where I've been able to glue the components together again. You just want to be sure you press it together and make sure the slider turns like its supposed to before securing it. Watch the glue too. You just want to secure the back in place. If you use to much you can get it inside and get it on the pad of the slider then you can kiss it goodbye.

 

If non of that works, go on EBay and buy another. You can buy generic preamps for $10 on EBay that work perfectly fine. If you want to buy a name brand one the tone may be a little better, but the copies coming out of china are nearly as good as any stock guitar preamp I've heard.

 

if you find one of a similar design I bet you could even take a pot out of it to replace in your Baggs. You'd be surprised how many manufacturers use the same sources.

 

By the way, that pot in there is likely 10K or 100K ohms depending on the circuit. 250K or 500K pots are used for passive magnetic inductive pickups only. You're dealing with a crystal Piezo element with an extremely high impedance and a preamp circuit that has allot of gain. They usually use standard audio pot values which can be anywhere for 1K 10K, 50K or 100K. I doubt they would be any higher and 10K but you can get youself a $10 volt ohm meter and test it. They even write the values on pots most of the time.

[Phil O'Keefe]

I'd definitely contact Crafter and / or LR Baggs. One or the other will probably be able to tell you what specific part you need, and may even be able to sell you one directly.