Knob Removal

I'm curious to know whether others have also experienced problems removing the knobs on their control pots?

In the past seven months I've purchased two Tributes, a 2018 Kiloton Bass and a 2019 ASAT Special. The knob on the tone control of the Kiloton can be easily removed by hand but not the volume control knob. On the ASAT neither can be removed by hand. I've never before purchased an instrument with control knobs that defy being removed and now I have two of them.

In fact when the ASAT arrived the knob on volume pot was scraping the control plate so badly it was preventing the knob from completing it's travel and shutting down the volume pot. Using a pair of padded pliers I was able to lift it a couple of mm and enough clear the control plate so that the pot would operate normally. But even this took a significant amount of strength and effort.

I've been working on my own instruments for over 30 years and in my judgement exerting anymore upward pressure on those knobs with pliers than I did would have risked pulling the shaft right out of the pot. In fact a good friend with a US Kiloton had this happen to him and a friend whose a G&L dealer also had the same experience at the G&L shop and in both cases the pots and pickguards were destroyed.

I understand G&L is converting to higher grade solid shaft pots on it's US production models but as of yet there's no indication of what and when they plan to offer a solution to Tribute owners. IMHO this is a design/engineering/manufacturing issue that will need to be corrected before anyone will be able to replace a broken pot, simply swap one for another or in the case of the Kiloton replace the pickguard if they wish as I do.

Craig, have you or others ever experienced this and do you have any further information on a planned remedy?

Here is my recommendation:

IMO, there might be some issues which might be covered under warranty (defective knobs and/or pots). As per the Tribute Warranty Card,
you need to contact the G&L Service department. See the Tribute Warranty Card for complete details. Here is a link to a copy of the
Tribute Series Warranty Card (pdf).

Hope this helps.

As someone who mods a lot of guitars, there is *nothing* I hate more than removing knobs. I don’t think G&L is alone on this; my guess is there are max only a few reasonable suppliers of pots/knobs, none of them have extraordinary QA for tolerances, and so they either require a vice to remove or slip on/off too easily; have observed this on plenty of Squiers/Fenders/Jacksons etc. at many price points.

For that reason I prefer solid shaft pots, but not all knobs (Strat for example) have grub-screw versions. It’s particularly cruel that they install these fingernail removers on something that you need your fingertips to use. If there’s damage I’d invoke the warranty- but I don’t think there’s much G&L (on the Tributes in particular) could reasonably do with commensurate effort to the issue, in response to what’s more or less an industry endemic thing.

You can source a knob puller from Stewmac.

Here is my recommendation:

IMO, there might be some issues which might be covered under warranty (defective knobs and/or pots). As per the Tribute Warranty Card,
you need to contact the G&L Service department. See the Tribute Warranty Card for complete details. Here is a link to a copy of the
Tribute Series Warranty Card (pdf).

Hope this helps.

Thanks Craig. I'll contact them for an answer.

As someone who mods a lot of guitars, there is *nothing* I hate more than removing knobs. I don’t think G&L is alone on this; my guess is there are max only a few reasonable suppliers of pots/knobs, none of them have extraordinary QA for tolerances, and so they either require a vice to remove or slip on/off too easily; have observed this on plenty of Squiers/Fenders/Jacksons etc. at many price points.

For that reason I prefer solid shaft pots, but not all knobs (Strat for example) have grub-screw versions. It’s particularly cruel that they install these fingernail removers on something that you need your fingertips to use. If there’s damage I’d invoke the warranty- but I don’t think there’s much G&L (on the Tributes in particular) could reasonably do with commensurate effort to the issue, in response to what’s more or less an industry endemic thing.

Amen, same here. I'm constantly working on or thinking of working on mods or sometimes doing repairs or setups for a friend. It something I actually enjoy doing when I have the time for it. IMHO an instrument has to be serviceable in the field by those qualified to do so and plainly I own two G&Ls that are not.

I see little sense in tugging on the knobs until I do manage to pull the shaft out only to have that require a warranty repair when I already know the risk involved with even trying it. IMHO is these pots need to be replaced with solid shaft pots and knobs with grub screws so that they can more more easily removed.

The real question is will G&L agree to this and can it be done locally through our G&L dealer in Denver? I have a good friend in California whose a dealer who can always help but why ship the instruments out of state for that kind of work and have them out of commission when it can be done here by a qualified tech?

It's my understanding that G&L will begin using the same Bourns pots on all Fullerton builds that are used on their Custom Shop builds and it would probably be a good idea to do the same with all Tribute models as well. I've been told they're working something out but not what it is or when it will be available.

While I can appreciate that this may be an industry wide issue I can honestly say that I've never run into any before that simply defy being removed without risk of damage and as I've posted even that dealer friend had it happen while in the G&L shop so they're certainly aware of the problem and the need for a proper fix.

I had this same issue with a USA made SC-2 that I bought brand new last year. I loosened the set screws all the way on both knobs and I couldn't get either one out. It was ridiculous. Felt like they used some sort of glue...

I had this same issue with a USA made SC-2 that I bought brand new last year. I loosened the set screws all the way on both knobs and I couldn't get either one out. It was ridiculous. Felt like they used some sort of glue...

Thank you for responding with your own experience. I'm trying to accumulate as much information on this as I can. So this has happened even with pots and knobs that do use a grub screw? Interesting.

Another bassist friend of mine has a US SB-2 and has also had an issue with his. He said he felt like they were hammered on with a mallet and my comments would be much the same with mine.

So far all of these instances have happened with instruments purchased within the past year so if this is a more recent issue I'm hoping to alert G&L to it quickly so changes can be made as soon as possible.

I can't help but think this is a warranty issue so getting it taken care of before it impacts 100s of buyers would be in G&Ls best interest. I'm considering a US build myself later this year but don't want to end up with a third instrument that will need a replacement of pots and knobs before it's 100%.

You can source a knob puller from Stewmac.

I've seen them and I really don't think the $10 version would be any more effective with those G&L dome knobs than the padded pliers were. The Schatten version may but at $75-$80 shipped it's not something anyone but a full time tech could justify cost wise.

As buyers we shouldn't need something like that every time we need to remove a knob from our instruments. That's like only treating the symptoms and not the source. Seems to me the remedy is using pots and knobs that can be more easily removed to begin with.

I'm not talking about simply difficult to remove I'm talking about risky to even attempt it without the high probability of causing damage to the pot itself. If these were older instruments I'd risk it and simply replace the pot with a more correct one but that shouldn't be necessary on brand new instruments, even imports.

I agree with you completely. The guitar should be built such that issues like you are having don't make their way to the customer. They should be set up properly and playable as well. Unfortunately that is frequently not the case, and even us G&L fanboys have to admit that Q/C on some of the Tribute guitars can be sketchy at times. I was just trying to offer potential assistance to you. Seems like your only other choice, since it is a new guitar, is to contact the dealer for warranty service.

I agree with you completely. The guitar should be built such that issues like you are having don't make their way to the customer. They should be set up properly and playable as well. Unfortunately that is frequently not the case, and even us G&L fanboys have to admit that Q/C on some of the Tribute guitars can be sketchy at times. I was just trying to offer potential assistance to you. Seems like your only other choice, since it is a new guitar, is to contact the dealer for warranty service.

One thing among many I do love about my G&Ls is they are the nicest finished instruments I own and that also includes those of close friends I've also seen and played. Even my Tributes are on a level with others costing far more.

Fit and finish, pickups, saddle-lock bridge, tuners, properly cut nuts, all have been great and setups I prefer to do on my own anyway so that's not a big deal for me if one arrives needing it. But it's some of these minor and major QC issues that should have been caught during an inspection somewhere along the line that are most annoying. They are obvious enough that IMHO they should have been caught.

For example. A new Kiloton I purchased last June had a truss rod nut that could not be engaged to make an adjustment. I've been doing my own tech work for over 30 years and neither I or the dealers tech could resolve that one. The ASAT I just received a week or two ago had a knob that was scraping the control plate preventing the volume from shutting off completely and it took a major effort just to raise it a MM or two so it would clear. Many would have simply sent it back to the dealer. A friend received a brand new US built SB-2 with scratchy pots and another a Tribute JB that could not be intonated because seemingly the bridge was mounted incorrectly. Another with a new US L2000 build had an issue with the neck binding that required sending the bass back for a fix. And of course there's this issue of the non-removable knobs.

These are all issues that have taken place within the last year and also the kind of issues with brand new instruments that can take some of the joy out of receiving them only to find something was overlooked and needs fixing. I have become quite loyal to the brand as are all of the others I've mentioned. All of us have multiple G&L instruments some import, some US, and some vintage collectable versions. Many who post here are much the same and are equally loyal to the brand so we'd like to see this improve and reporting our experience I would hope may help G&L see where they need to improve. The intent is to help not to harm their reputation.

My personal feelings are come on G&L you're better than this.