Replacing electronics parts on your .strandberg* instrument
Every .strandberg* guitar or bass has a handful of key electronic parts: pots (the knobs), switches, output jacks, and a few capacitors. Whether something has stopped working or you just want to tweak your tone, it helps to know a bit about how these components behave.
Pots (Potentiometers)
A pot is simply a variable resistor. It controls volume or tone, but there’s no such thing as a “volume pot” or “tone pot” in a technical sense — that’s just how it’s used in the circuit. The differences between pots come down to their resistance and taper. Resistance affects brightness: higher resistance lets more treble through, giving a brighter sound, while lower resistance cuts highs and warms things up. That’s why single coil pickups often pair with 250K pots and humbuckers with 500K. Active pickups usually need even lower values or the knobs won’t behave as expected. We use 25K pots in our guitars with active pickups .
Taper describes how the resistance changes as you turn the knob. Logarithmic, our audio taper (A) pots, which we use on all .strandberg* instruments, feel smooth and natural, as the change in volume or tone sounds even to your ear. Linear (B) pots feel like nothing happens until you’re almost at the end of the turn. It’s a little counterintuitive, but that’s just how our ears perceive changes in sound.
If a pot starts to crackle, it’s usually due to oxidation on the carbon track inside. Often, just spinning the knob repeatedly or using a bit of electronics cleaner will fix it. If not, replacing the pot is the easiest solution.
Switches
Switches come in all shapes and sizes, and the good news is that they usually don’t affect your tone. Most .strandberg* guitars will accommodate any switch of the same size and form factor. You can swap a 3-way for a 5-way, or vice versa, without worrying. Even better, many switches can be rewired to achieve different configurations if you’re up for a little tinkering.
If a switch starts crackling or failing, it’s usually because oxidation has formed on the contact points or a metal part has bent slightly. A little cleaning or bending the contact back into place often restores proper function. Otherwise, replacement is straightforward.
Output Jacks
We usually use stereo jacks on our guitars. Passive guitars will work fine with mono jacks, which connect the signal and ground. Active guitars however need a stereo jack, which adds a third connection for the battery. You can use a stereo jack on a passive instrument without issues, but a mono jack on an active instrument will keep the battery on all the time, draining it fast.
Jacks, like switches, can develop crackling from oxidation or bent metal. Gentle cleaning or realigning the metal usually fixes the problem, and if not, a replacement is simple.
Other Components
The capacitors in your tone control shape which frequencies get rolled off when you turn the knob. Higher-value caps remove more treble, giving a darker sound, while lower-value caps preserve more highs. At .strandberg*, we usually use 0.022uF or 0.047uF, but any cap that fits and sounds good is fine.
Most of our guitars also include a treble bleed circuit on the volume pot, which keeps your tone bright even when lowering the volume. The specific cap and resistor values we use (680pF and 150K) give a balanced sound, but you can experiment with different values if you want a slightly different feel.
Replacing parts on your .strandberg* is rarely complicated. The important thing is to pick components that sound right to you and fit properly. Clean the pots, switches, and jacks occasionally, and don’t stress about matching the originals exactly, your guitar will work just fine with a little personalisation.