I need some experienced advice how to fix this issue: My Grand Stick is three years old and I bought it new but nevertheless the volume pot on the bass side has been crackling when I adjust the level. I did open it up and spray the pot with this fix-electric-stuff fluid but it did not help. I could still perform and record with the Stick if I made sure I never touched that volume control knob. But now the problem has escalated into a real show-stopper! The Stick has been slammed with a constant low frequent hum and buzz that gets worse when I touch the block (pickups cover/housing). I think I have reason to believe that this is also caused by that bass side volume pot so now I really need to find out the specifications so I can run out and buy a new pot to replace the bad one.

For today's recordings I was lucky to find a musical possibility of using my SG-12 instead but in case I really need the Grand sound I would have to swap the PASV-4 blocks but then my SG-12 wouldn't be playable... so I'm hoping to find out that potentiometer specification ASAP.

Står det inte på potten vad den har för värden? Är väl lite standard att alltid skriva ut det. Elfa har det mesta vad det gäller elektronik. Jag har haft två Stick:ar med PASV-4-mick och båda har strulat. Den ena Stick:en sålde jag till en akustiker som var väldigt duktig på elektronik och jag tror att han bytte ut samtliga pottar i micken. Och den andra kommer jag byta mick på. På båda började det med att volympotten började kärva och sen vart det skit med tonpottarna också efter ett tag. Beställde en ny PASV-4 från SE när jag beställde NS/Stick:en. Min gamla Stick är från -04 så snart 10 år gammal men den har strulat länge. 5 år minst fast det har varit hanterbart. Nu har den brakat ur helt. Har aldrig någonsin haft problem med någon Stickup mick och då har jag ändå haft 6 stycken Stick:ar med Stickup micken. Blandat skitgamla och nya. Har en känsla att Villex stoppar i skitpottar i PASV-4 micken. Det verkar vara en hel del som strulat. Ursäkta inlägg på svenska men jag är på luren och har skitbråttom. Försöker översätta inlägget senare ikväll. //J




----------
From ze iPhoooneeee

I had exactly the same problem on bass side of my stickup. I've called Stick Ent. and asked Cambria for pot specs, so I could find a substitute. She later responded via email that they are sending me a replacement, since "there isn't a local electronics store that you can get one". So I suggest you to contact Stick Enterprises with this issue

Funny thing, I have received the replacement pot months ago, but haven't installed it yet - I found a position where it sounds, and started using pedal for volume adjustments. Though I will probably have to fix it finally before my first gig

You could open up the PASV-4 and simply bypass the pot by soldering the wire at the middle pin of the pot to the pin that is NOT grounded. That would give you max volume.
Be sure to make a photo of the wiring before..
Good luck,
Jaap

It's a good temporary solution, I think.

I don't have volume pots on my pickups, and I don't miss them.

THank you all for the feedback. I think I will try to bypass the pot and use pedals for shutting down the bass side when needed. Hoping this will fix the earth/ground issue too.

It is a bit difficult to see the pins of that pot so I'm thinking that it might be a better idea to simply remove the two cables goes to that volume pot from the input jack?

Or the opposite: joining them. I'll try both to see what happens. There is also this issue with the volume pot messing up earth/ground so I don't want it in the loop at all.

Hi Per,

hmmm... I'm afraid it's hard to give advise from a distance. I have the old model PASV-4, and I rewired it years ago, so my wires have different colors and a different schematic. And the newer PASV-4's are completely different again, with the small PCB's behind the pots.
So yes, it's a matter of trying. If there's wires without insulation, these are ground wires. One of the outer pins of the pot should be connected to that, and I would leave that intact. The other outer pin should be coming from the pickup (either directly or indirectly), and this wire should be connected straight to the wire that's on the middle pin.
Hope this makes sense... connect the 2 wires that are NOT the ground
Good luck, Jaap

Thanks, that was good information. I think I can fix this now. Trial 'n' Error is my middle name Luckily the block design lets you change one cable at a time and plug it in to test PUs with a tuning fork to see what happens.

<work> soldering-swearing-soldering-OUCH-burning finger-swearing... </work>
FOUND IT!!!!
Now I have a non humming PASV-4 and it feels great! And my pickup house is cool and personalized with a mysterious black hole on the bass side. Will put some fabric on the inside where the defect potentiometer used to be. What a great day - I feel like a genius!

(EDIT: I was sadly mistaken here. Side-stepping the crackling bass side volume pot did not fix the earth issue. I got rid of the zipper noise when using that pot but still there is hum now and then when touching the chassi).

An exciting thought hit me: Since the Villex block design is so easy to serve one could easily make a custom pickup house to try out all kind of other pickups. Yes, I know someone on this forum did that, but I can't recall who. I'm wondering what my Grand would sound like with a DiMarzio Dual Sound? (a fav guitar PU of mine)

Congratz Per!
About experimenting... I've been doing my share of that. I changed the wiring of the PASV4 so that both sides have 5 switch positions:
1. Neck
2. Neck + a bit of bridge
3. Neck + bridge
4. Bridge + a bit of neck
5. Bridge
So, the rotary switch is kind of a stepped blend pot, and the out-of-phase isn't there anymore.
The great thing about the Block modules is that you can remove it by loosening 2 screws, so it takes minutes to swap pickups. So, experiments don't harm the Stick itself in any way. I made myself a kind of ACTV2 by making a wooden housing with 2 EMG FT pickups. The bass pickup is more angled, so that the lowest bass strings have more definition. You can hear it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNrrnaP6Ia4
Regards, Jaap