Removing the control knobs on your guitar or bass, use a spoon silly but it works!!

WT. Foster Guitars Tech Tip of the day April

At some point in the life of your guitar or bass, you’ll want or need to remove the control knobs from the volume and or tone pots. Now before you reach for a flat-head screw driver to help yank off a tight fitting knob (or knobs) just stop! A screw driver might get the job done, but will in most cases also damage your guitar in the process. There are a number of tricks you can use to yank off a tight knob, you can order a knob puller from Stewmac ranging from 9 to 50 bucks probably your best bet for safe removal! but one of your best friends in a pinch is a spoon! This is particularly useful for guitars with carved maple tops like our model F8001 DLX PRO or Les Paul style guitars. Place a soft cloth on the guitar’s body and lay a popcycle stick on top of that, then insert the spoon tip under the edge of the knob with the bowl of the spoon on the popcycle stick using the spoon as a lever. Because spoons have a convex shape this acts like a fulcrum.You might need to move the spoon to several different positions before finally easing the knob off. Patience here is key! Gouging the top of your guitar is never fun and always hard to fix so remember the mighty spoon is our friend for knob removal…

 

 

Stewmac model P-51 knob puller