Maestro - SS-3 Sustainer pots

aka180 · Post by **aka180** » 07 Nov 2020, 06:38

I just picked up one of these and it's been pretty glitchy. I tried cleaning the pots but they still seemed bad. The level pot was cutting right out below 8. I opened it up and the carbon is completely gone. Ditto for the sustain. Anyway all this to say does anyone know the value of these? I can't seem to find a schematic. Is there a way to tell by the markings? I know one set of numbers represents the manufacturer and the year/week of its build not sure what the other set means. Both pots have the same markings

mozz · Post by **mozz** » 07 Nov 2020, 11:35

Can't you just measure them?

toneman · Post by **toneman** » 07 Nov 2020, 15:08

mozz wrote: ↑07 Nov 2020, 11:35 Can't you just measure them?

not if the carbon is deteriorated.

make note of the numbers ON the pot--that might be a clue...
OR
just substitute a 50K or 100K pot and see what happens.....
it would be good to watch things on a good scope.
this is a classic box!!!
goodluck!

mozz · Post by **mozz** » 07 Nov 2020, 22:18

You can measure them even if they are open end to end, which i doubt. Use the outside lug and the center lug, turn and watch the meter. You can see if they are linear or log. Estimate from half open. If the 2 pots are exactly the same, i doubt very much they are worn both the same.

plush · Post by **plush** » 08 Nov 2020, 10:03

mozz wrote: ↑07 Nov 2020, 22:18 You can measure them even if they are open end to end, which i doubt.

Yep, but they may show you 2-5x resistance if they are worn out. So, measuring will do almost nothing.

mozz · Post by **mozz** » 08 Nov 2020, 18:14

Either they are really cheap pots or someone was wacking them 0-10 all day long.

137 is CTS. Claiming to be worn, if you measure 260k, they are not above 250k. If you measure 1.4meg, chances they are 1 meg. Not too hard to figure out. Put a meter on it and do a sweep. Find one for sale on reverb or ebay and ask the seller to measure for you.

CheapPedalCollector · Post by **CheapPedalCollector** » 08 Nov 2020, 20:05

Someone probably used brake cleaner in them and destroyed them.

aka180 · Post by **aka180** » 12 Nov 2020, 09:54

mozz wrote: ↑08 Nov 2020, 18:14 Either they are really cheap pots or someone was wacking them 0-10 all day long.

137 is CTS. Claiming to be worn, if you measure 260k, they are not above 250k. If you measure 1.4meg, chances they are 1 meg. Not too hard to figure out. Put a meter on it and do a sweep. Find one for sale on reverb or ebay and ask the seller to measure for you.

They're scrapped. The carbon is gone completely so measuring across the outside leads gives an open circuit. One was already gone and the other one just flaked off and crumbled. Never seen that before!

I'll keep an eye out for one on sale though. I like that idea.

aka180 · Post by **aka180** » 15 Feb 2021, 19:19

So for the record, it's 10kA for the volume and 100kA for the sustain