Are pots supposed to wobble?

[Matt300ZXT]

These CTS pots I removed from this Les Paul I graciously saved from a life of being owned by that dude that either did, or paid someone to do hack jobs on some of it, have a wobble to them. I've disassembled many pots before (on old Atari paddles to rebuild them) and the base of the bronze shaft wobbles left and right on all of them. It's like someone disassembled them and the tabs weren't pushed down tight enough to lock it in place. Also, the part of the pot the legs are attached to wiggles up and down just a little bit, like those tabs aren't fully depressed down either. Are all CTS pots this way? If someone replaced them in the past, there is no need to disassemble a pot, so I was just curious. I don't mind buying 4 new ones if they aren't supposed to be this flimsily contructed, as if they are usually rock solid from the factory, I don't know if I want to trust these to last for years.

 

[Erock]

I haven't had new CTS pots with a wobble. Sounds like it took a hit and bent the shafts. Luckily it didn't look like any damage if that's the studio.

 

[Matt300ZXT]

The pots are straight and all. The bronze shaft rotates clockwise/counter clockwise would probably be a better description. I've just never felt pots basically only halfway put together, whether from the factory or someone getting inside them to clean the carbon track and regrease it or something. I'm going to order new ones just to be safe.

 

[rushcentrale]

No, they shouldn't wobble.

 

[Floyd Eye]

No, they shouldn't wobble.

This.

 

[mnemonic]

You can use pliers to clamp those tabs down tighter so the casing isn’t loose (if that is what you mean), I’ve done that before and it fixed weird noise issues I had with a guitar (also a CTS pot).

I also have a couple CTS pots that have some side-to-side play in the shaft. I have CTS pots in most of my guitars because I love the feel (not too tight, not too loose) but I’ve not been impressed with the quality control over the last few years. I recently got some full size bourns to try, they feel totally ungreased though, not sure if I should do something about that. Haven’t put them in anything yet.

 

[griff10672]

Only the really good ones wobble .....

 

[BeZo]

Replace them.

 

[harddriver]

CTS pot are usually pretty good. You can have a little endplay with any pot but they should not be loose or wobble excessively.

 

[Findthetone1]

I've found that if they were made by Weebles they wobble.

Pots are relatively cheap. Replace them.