Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

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Wondering what to do here. I'm taking the control knobs off my 4001 pickguard, and one of them is seriously stuck.

I've tried two things.

> I've unscrewed the set-screw, shot a little bit of contact cleaner in the hole (forlorn hope), and still it is absolutely stuck.

> I took a pair of pliers, and pulled up on it like mad.....and it won't budge.

I could over-rotate it, in hopes of breaking whatever bond it has with the pot shaft, but I'm concerned that might damage the pot.

Any thoughts?

thanks -

Richard

How close is the bottom of the knob to the pickguard? If there is some clearance, you could wedge a small flat-tip screwdriver between the pot's nut and the bottom of the knob. Then twist the screwdriver's blade sideways to apply leverage to the two parts. I somehow aquired a cool little forked screwdriver-like tool. The fork has a slight upward cant to it, giving it great leverage. Makes most knob removals a breeze.

We have a bunch of clever folks here, so if that doesn't work, I'm sure someone else will have another solution. Good luck!

If the advice Forrest gave you does not work (I have a similar tool btw for removing knobs) I would suggest a little more destructive persuasion. C4 always works but if you don't like big bangs and lots of flame.........try vice grips and crush the knob.

winston wrote:.........try vice grips and crush the knob.

Ah yes, Brian! "If it doesn't move, force it. If it breaks, it needed replacing anyway."
Richard, try squirting a little penetrating oil in the screw hole instead of contact cleaner. Let it soak in for a little while, then try removing the knob.

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Guys, thanks for the responses. I've tried them all, except for Brian's C4 idea.

Still stuck.

So........I'm on to plan B, which is to forget about the whole thing. Once I realized my last choice would be to destroy the knob.....I thought I'd just forget about it, and leave it as-is.

So thanks for the ideas, I'll hopefully use them in the future on a slightly more cooperative knob.

best -

Richard
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Pad the knob and grab it firmly with a pair of vise grips. OK to over-rotate it if you do so slowly and feel your way as it loosens up. More contact cleaner through the hole helps while you're doing this. As you rotate, edge it upward in a spiral until it comes off.

Sometimes, people over-tighten the set screws which will gunge up (like that cool technical term?) the pot shaft. If this is done a few times, it can make it really hard to remove the knob, especially if someone forced it to go on before.

After the penetrating oil idea (wd-40 sort of works, a real penertating oil like Kroil, PB Blaster, or even Liquid Wrench is better), you can carefully try turning the knob to the end of its travel and forcing it "just a bit" to try to get to loosen. Don't torque on it too hard though as you can damage the pot if you twist too hard. If it moves just a hair, turn to the other end of travel and do the same, all while pulling up on the knob. Sometimes, with a few back and forth movements, it'll start to come loose. If you get any movement of the knob relative to the shaft, keep at it until it comes off (or you decide to give up because it just ain't happening).

If you do get it off, carefully file any burrs or whatnot off the shaft to make it nice and smooth before replacing the knob...

Edit: I see Paul posted a similar plan while I was typing...

Carefully ..

The carefully use of an ordinary hairdryer (plus some aluminum foil for protecting the other parts) could deliver the desired result...

cjj wrote: a real penetrating oil like Kroil, PB Blaster, or even Liquid Wrench is better, If you do get it off, carefully file any burrs or whatnot off the shaft to make it nice and smooth before replacing the knob...

PB Blaster works great BUT it stinks SO BAD that you'll have to hang up the 4001 in the shed for 6 months to air it out....and any oil might stain the pickguard.
That stuff is for use on outside objects only.....it's really serious skunk juice

360dave wrote:

cjj wrote: a real penetrating oil like Kroil, PB Blaster, or even Liquid Wrench is better, If you do get it off, carefully file any burrs or whatnot off the shaft to make it nice and smooth before replacing the knob...

PB Blaster works great BUT it stinks SO BAD that you'll have to hang up the 4001 in the shed for 6 months to air it out....and any oil might stain the pickguard.
That stuff is for use on outside objects only.....it's really serious skunk juice

Yes, just the tiniest drop through the set screw hole...

Hotzenplotz wrote:The carefully use of an ordinary hairdryer (plus some aluminum foil for protecting the other parts) could deliver the desired result...

!!!

I prefer to go from soft to hard. Oil can go into the pot and destroy it.

The foil is for those who are very much in fear about the rest of the instrument, especially the scratch plates.

On the other knobs can you see the back of the silver disc through the knob if so you could remove the silver disc, perhaps another way to access the shaft and give it some tweaking.