Parts for an L-2000 tribute

[doctorpeanut]

Hello

I am currently looking for some replacement parts for my L-2000 tribute but I can't seem to find them anywhere, partly because I don't really know what to look for:

The first one is a 0-shaped ring (washer?) that used to be part of the tuner. It used to be sitting in that hole:



The part itself looks like this:



Would anyone happen to know where I can get one of these?

The second thing that I'm looking for is a pot, one of mine seems to have reached the end of its life span. The G&L website has them listed as "POT - TRIBUTE SERIES - LONG SHAFT" and mentions three types, 250k, 500k, and 1Meg. Unfortunately the 1Meg (which is the one I am looking for) seems to be unavailable. Are there any known "drop-in" replacement pots? It seems there have been other people trying to find suitable replacement parts but I could not find anything that looks like it would fit.

While the first issue is mostly just cosmetic, getting a working replacement pot would be great.

[DanDoulogos]

The part you mention appears similar to a special kind of slotted washer, an example of which I've included in a picture to (hopefully) help in a brief explanation:


In your image the slot looks milled rather than punched as the slot in the image above. If the part is milled it is likely proprietary, meaning you won't find something off the shelf to replace it. Since it would be way cheaper for the makers of your tuner to buy mass-produced slotted washers than to mill their own - it follows that no one is mass producing the size of slotted washer you would need.

That's my guess. If you have a friend who is a machinist or own their own CNC router, you could give them the part and ask them to mill you another, but, lacking this, it would cost more to have the part milled for you, than to buy a new set of tuners.

For the 1MB pot. I don't think G&L makes their own potentiometers, so even if you're concerned about keeping all the parts in your guitar "G&L" sourced, you can drop any long shank 1MB audio tapered pot in, and it'll work fine. You can find them at StewMac or even on Amazon. They are very common and inexpensive enough for you to "splurge" on getting the more expensive ones (which will be almost certainly be a little better than the ones that come standard in the Tribute model, as part of cutting the cost for the tribute involves using less expensive components).

I'd definitely check out StewMac - if for no other reason than the reviews there will be coming from people who bought pots for their guitars. In other words, the reviews will be informed and pertinent to your usage.

Hope that helps.

[Craig]

You might want to contact the On-Line Store manager at webstore@bbesound.com, here is what is on the G&L main website Support page:

Questions about transactions made at the G&L Online Store

Please email the Online Store manager. The repairs manager does not have access to Online Store transactions or inventories.
The Online Store manager can only respond to questions about transactions and parts availability.

Hope this helps.

[doctorpeanut]

Thanks, both of you.

@DanDoulogos: while I don't know anyone with a CNC router, a buddy of mine has access to a laser cutter; maybe he can cut something out of some kind of plastic that will work, thanks for the suggestion. As for the potentiometer, so far I have not been able to find a matching one (reverse audio, 1 Mohm, long shaft); the Alpha Control Pots on StewMac look promising but alas the only long shaft model is 500k.

@Craig: Thanks for the link, I sent an e-mail.

[DanDoulogos]

Yeah. Reverse tapers are getting a lot harder to come by, even for the more common pot values (250K, 500K etc.). If it were a linear pot, I'd say just wire it backwards, but although that will "work" with logarithmic tapers, you'd get all the finesse on the wrong side (at the bottom rather than the top) of the taper. I hope you can find one soon. It's annoying for anyone to need a part that they can't seem to find.

With regard to milling an acrylic part with a laser cutter. I'd be interested to know if that works. One non-conventional way of possibly getting such a replacement part milled out of, say, Aluminium, could be to post a request in the X-Carve forum on Inventables.com. There are a lot of hobbyists who would look at making something small like that as a community service. I wouldn't be surprised if someone offered to make you one for free. They're a really great group.