Ibanez ATK Volume Pot...

[fivebass52]

Hey guys, just bought an Ibanez ATK300L off of FB Marketplace here on Oahu from a military kid for $200... includes the Ibanez hard case... and even a Nirvana guitar strap! It's a light Amber... I bought it literally 5 minutes before my weekly Wednesday night blues gig. I had the the seller meet me at the gig, I plugged it into my battery powered Roland bass cube; sounded fine, so I handed over the cash, tuned it up, and played it for the next two hours on my gig. The Volume knob seemed a bit loose, but I figured it was just a matter of tightening the nut. Tightened the nut, but the volume knob is screwed... the volume, goes round-and-round...

Anyone know where I can source one of these? Not been successful so far searching the internet. Also, I've noticed how the lugs go up into the board, and the shaft is solid...

[fivebass52]

According to the serial #, this bass was made in August 1995, at the Cor-Tek factory... I'll post photos in the next day or so...

[fivebass52]

Bueller.... Bueller... Anybody?

[bobjones2260]

Sorry, I am so far out of the loop, I dealt with a similar problem, on our PA speaker one of L1 main coil for the crossover went. I troubleshot it down to the part but I could not find it anywhere. I had a great local tech repair it and it he found it. I was really bummed knowing all that I know about electronics but I could not find this part anywhere but again I no longer do repair stuff on the side so I lost connections to all the places I would have gone.

I can only suggest that if you know a good Ibanez tech they may have a drawer with pots like this just sitting around. I will look but like you I doubt the internet will help.

On a positive note, congrats on the bass!

[fivebass52]

Sorry, I am so far out of the loop, I dealt with a similar problem, on our PA speaker one of L1 main coil for the crossover went. I troubleshot it down to the part but I could not find it anywhere. I had a great local tech repair it and it he found it. I was really bummed knowing all that I know about electronics but I could not find this part anywhere but again I no longer do repair stuff on the side so I lost connections to all the places I would have gone.

I can only suggest that if you know a good Ibanez tech they may have a drawer with pots like this just sitting around. I will look but like you I doubt the internet will help.

On a positive note, congrats on the bass!

Appreciate the feedback... living in Hawaii, there are no Ibanez techs here, but there are a couple of guitar hshops I can call to see if they might have some spare Ibanez boards lying around... Bought this bass for $220, and thought I got a killer deal. Was in such a rush to buy it, and start my gig a few minutes later, I didn't take the time to really look for problems like this, and the very minor scratches I found, and a fairly deep dent on the back side, although it didn't crack the finish. All in all, it sounds great, and ya'll know how rare these are becoming these days...

I'm going to search AllParts etc...

[Jeroen]

I'm no electronics specialist, but that looks like a fairly standard panel-mount pot. A panel-mount pot usually comes with straight tabs that can be bent up or down. Shouldn't be hard to find . The back of your pot doesn't mention if it's linear or logarithmic, so I'm assuming it's linear. That would be great, because there won't be a difference in functionality whether you wire it up lefty or righty (whereas wiring up a log pot in reverse is a very bad idea, because all the reduction of the pot will be in a very small area of the turn). Do check first if the pot currently in your bass has a split shaft or a solid shaft and if the shaft diameter matches, because it would be a shame if the stock knob wouldn't fit anymore.

[fivebass52]

I'm no electronics specialist, but that looks like a fairly standard panel-mount pot. A panel-mount pot usually comes with straight tabs that can be bent up or down:





Shouldn't be hard to find
The back of your pot doesn't mention if it's linear or logarithmic, so I'm assuming it's linear. That would be great, because there won't be a difference in functionality whether you wire it up lefty or righty (whereas wiring up a log pot in reverse is a very bad idea, because all the reduction of the pot will be in a very small area of the turn).

Thanks Jeroen... where did you find this? the only other feature that would nice to have is, it's a solid shaft, although I'm sure I could deal with this type of shaft if it was a true 20k ohm pot... and I like how the lugs can be bent up to go through the pc board...

also, however the board is wired for volume is how it would be soldered back in... I don't recall if the leftys had a true left handed twist or not...

[Jeroen]

Thanks Jeroen... where did you find this? the only other feature that would nice to have is, it's a solid shaft, although I'm sure I could deal with this type of shaft if it was a true 20k ohm pot... and I like how the lugs can be bent up to go through the pc board...

also, however the board is wired for volume is how it would be soldered back in... I don't recall if the leftys had a true left handed twist or not...

Ha, I was just editing my post to address these issues
I googled "panel mount a20k potentiometer" and got several hits for webshops here in the Netherlands, but most results were for split shaft pots. I did a quick search and found this, among some other options: https://www.surplussales.com/Potentiome ... ted-7.html
Top left is a 20k pot with a D-shaft that gets close I think? I can't tell from your picture what the outside diameter of the pot housing is, but this may be similar. I think 0.67" equals to 17mm, yours looks pretty similar?

[fivebass52]

Thanks Jeroen... where did you find this? the only other feature that would nice to have is, it's a solid shaft, although I'm sure I could deal with this type of shaft if it was a true 20k ohm pot... and I like how the lugs can be bent up to go through the pc board...

also, however the board is wired for volume is how it would be soldered back in... I don't recall if the leftys had a true left handed twist or not...

Ha, I was just editing my post to address these issues
I googled "panel mount a20k potentiometer" and got several hits for webshops here in the Netherlands, but most results were for split shaft pots. I did a quick search and found this, among some other options: https://www.surplussales.com/Potentiome ... ted-7.html
Top left is a 20k pot with a D-shaft that gets close I think? I can't tell from your picture what the outside diameter of the pot housing is, but this may be similar. I think 0.67" equals to 17mm, yours looks pretty similar?

Jeroen - just tried to order this pot... there's a $25 minimum order before this company will ship parts... and, after going round-and-round with a service rep from Ibanez (who told me these 20k-ohm pots are no longer made), I'm going to to have to call every authorized Ibanez repair shop in America, to see if any of them has any old ATK boards or pots lying around... fortunately, the pot is in the full volume position; I just cant adjust it... this is Not a very commonly used pot!

[fivebass52]

Jeroen - just sent the company a mercy letter, groveling to any musicians who might be working for the company, to show mercy on a bass player from a little Island out in the big Pacific Ocean.... will see If I pique their sense of humanity...

[Jeroen]

I wonder if a 25k pot might work too, if all else fails. They are what's commonly used as a volume pot in many active basses.
Good luck, I hope you can work something out with the store!

[fivebass52]

I wonder if a 25k pot might work too, if all else fails. They are what's commonly used as a volume pot in many active basses.
Good luck, I hope you can work something out with the store!

I'll consider the 25k... and will let you know if my groveling plea to the Nebraska company bears fruit....

[fivebass52]

I guess I didn't grovel hard enough... this is the letter I sent to surplussales.com... three day later, no reply...

Hi Guys,

any musicians in your company, that may feel sorry for a bass player from Hawaii, who needs a single 20k-ohm pot for his Ibanez AtK bass? Ibanez no longer has a 20k-ohm in stock, and these apparently are very rare in the volume pot world…

I tried to order “1” from your website, but I need a minimum of $25 to get shipping… and at .40-cents each, I’d have to buy about 62 of these pots… again, I only need one!

Begging for mercy here… and willing to pay for Priority Mail to Kailua, Hawaii, 96734… you guys are literally the only store out there where I’ve been able to find this pot… can you make an exception for a humble bass-guy, who lives way out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean?

Hoping… and Aloha,
Ian Chames
Kailua, Hi
96734