I recently went through a similar exercise looking for a knob for a blackface Fender amp. The numbers aren't quite right. You would think with modern CNC manufacturing techniques, a perfect match could be achieved.
Ran into that same problem once when I wanted to replace my reflector knobs on my SG Special with the witch hat knobs. Luckily i ran into the same ones you mentioned that aren't accurate at a retailer and avoided purchasing them, and it is odd that Gibson uses those cheap knobs on their premium exclusive guitars. Countering that I discovered these guys on Amazon.... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NWB9MCM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 They're made for the Telecaster, can't remember which type but yeah had to make them fit onto my pots but it eventually worked out. The material isn't plastic at all, its some sorta 'bakelite" material? They're very hard and unlike plastic, cannot be dented almost resin like if you ask me. Well anyway lemme shut up and heres the pics... man i luv that guitar, ugh...
thanks for sharing, and posting photos. Worth a thousand words for sure. Those look great, and I have pondered that very set. The only issue I noticed with the fender style knobs, is that they have the set screw design. Does it work good, is the screw and eye sore? Also, do they come in different spline styles. Gibson is fine spline and wliphone is coarse. How did you ensure they would fit?
But but but ... ishhh. The fonts are all wrong. Look at that straight leg on 9 and same on 6 pointing up, and the stubby 8. What about that fat bottom 5 ? Ewwww ! Sorry ... I couldn't resist
Ha! yeah man, I totally judge a guitar by the font continuity in its knobs, everything else is sweatin the small stuff lol
Honestly I didn't get that deep in my decision on buying them, I just did not like the standard witchhat knobs that are commonly sold for Gib/Epi's, they feel and look cheap. The Telecaster knobs feel great, tough, good grip touch and have more of an angle than those cheaper ones other than that, they're just knobs nothing more. Only reason I replaced the original knobs was becuz way before i bought the guitar and played it at GC I made up my mind if I ever bought it, it would rock witch hats. Oh and the inside screw just makes them uniquely mine, none of my jam session buddies even notice or care. lol
Yeah, I'm not exactly looking down at the bridge volume knob while I'm playing and thinking, "[email protected]! Look at that lousy thing!" I like 'em better than the top hats and black switch tip that came stock on the Epi. I wanted to reproduce the feel of playing my old Special as much as I could. If there was something closer to original I didn't know about that would be great but I'm not gonna spend big $$ on vintage knobs and then mess them up to fit on the Epi pot shafts!
To pancake81: Do you actually think that there is a soul alive who'll come up to you at a break at a gig to criticize you that your SG is inauthentic because the damned numbers on the knobs aren't facing the "right" way? I have a '69 SG Standard which came with witch hat knobs. I swapped them out for Gibson gold speed knobs, swapped out the original ABR-1 bridge for a TonePros locking equivalent, installed a String Butler (it does make a difference!) screwed to the face of the headstock(!), and replaced the Gibson original tuners with Sperzel locking tuners. If some dude came up to me to point out those mods, I'd take a hammer to his head. (I have kept all the original parts.)
fair comments there Brooklyn. Aside from my one point regarding the set screw, my questions were more focused on fit and finish. The OP mentioned that he had to modify the amp knobs to fit. So are the coarse spline that we’re pushed onto fine spline, vice bersa...? I just didn’t want to pick up a set and then have them not fit is all
Amp set screw knobs are designed for pots with 1/4" smooth shafts. So no splines in the knob hole, and the knob hole is a little oversize for both US and metric pots. It'll just drop right onto a guitar pot, then you tighten the set screw to hold it in place. On split shaft splined pots, you should either align the set screw with the split in the shaft, or fill the split with something hard. (I cut small rectangles out of an old credit card -- usually takes 2 pieces to fill the split.) If you don't do that, you can squeeze the 2 parts of the shaft together and collapse the split. If you try to put regular knobs back on a collapsed shaft they'll just fall off. You can open the split back up by prying the split back open with a screwdriver, but with that much bending there's a high risk of snapping off a part of the shaft. Oh, Stew Mac sells conversion sleeves for split screws on splined shafts. They're just a C-shaped band of brass that drops over the pot shaft. Centers the knob and lets you put the set screw anywhere without worrying about alignment or squashing the shaft. If you put set screws on without conversion sleeves, resist the temptation to overtighten the set screw. Just barely snug. If you overtighten you can mush up the splines, and regular knobs won't go back on unless you use a file to reshape the splines.
Don't forget the originals always have funk in the side grooves. I tried to clean the ones on my 69 SG Std. but they wouldn't clean up with a tooth brush and I didn't want to try more invasive methods. Besides it makes them look more original. Thanks John
