Guild B302 repair questions

[JRK]

Hey fellow Guild lovers. I'm in the process of fixing up a B302 bass. I accidentally broke one of the pots while removing the knob, so I'm replacing them all with 500k ones, which I've read give you more tonal flexibility.
These are the ones I got: Bourns 500K SHORT SPLIT Shaft Audio Potentiometers + (2x) .022uf Orange Drop Capacitors
My questions are:
1. Are these pots a good choice for this instrument?
2. I noticed that my old knobs are fine spline, and the new pots are coarse spline.
Will the Newark St. Collection knobs work on these pots?
3. Does anyone know of a detailed description of how to properly adjust the bridge on a B-302? I'm a little confused by the 3-screw setup.
4. Is there a smart way to remove stubborn knobs?
Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[lungimsam]

1. Those pots and that cap are very nice and should work great on any bass. If you want brighter, go to a 1MEG volume pot. Darker -250k.
2. Not sure. But this is why I only use solid shafts on all my basses now- even if that means I can’t use Guild knobs. If the number and size of the splines match up, it will work. Whatever you do, don’t push too hard or else you’ll break the pot.
3. No, never used this bridge. My guess is slacken strings and adjust height with the three big bolts. This may be of help- https://www.talkbass.com/threads/qu...t-screw-fix-for-guild-b-302-or-b-301.1098144/
4. Smart way to remove wrap a shoelace or rag, or other like object around post, under the knob and start pulling up with steady pressure while rotating the lace or rag around the post. Rag works best.

 

[fronobulax]

Welcome. Newark Street knobs are sized for metric shafts which might not matter if you are replacing pots.

@The Guilds of Grot has several basses with the same bridge so maybe he'll be able to chime in.

 

[chazmo]

Ignorant question, by why do the pots break? Is there some fatigue in the metal and/or are the posts hollow? Just curious. Is that a common problem with Guilds as it sounds like it really shouldn't be!

 

[JRK]

1. Those pots and that cap are very nice and should work great on any bass. If you want brighter, go to a 1MEG volume pot. Darker -250k.
2. Not sure. But this is why I only use solid shafts on all my basses now- even if that means I can’t use Guild knobs. If the number and size of the splines match up, it will work. Whatever you do, don’t push too hard or else you’ll break the pot.
3. No, never used this bridge. This may be of help- https://www.talkbass.com/threads/qu...t-screw-fix-for-guild-b-302-or-b-301.1098144/
4. Smart way: wrap a shoelace or rag, or other like object around post, under the knob and start pulling up with steady pressure while rotating the lace or rag around the post.

Thanks for the reply! I'm glad those pots are solid. I've been playing for a long time but haven't really done much repairing. I guess I can try the knobs and if they don't work, return them. Solid shaft is a good idea but I really like the look of the G shields. I didn't think of the shoelace thing! Thanks for the tip!

 

[JRK]

Welcome. Newark Street knobs are sized for metric shafts which might not matter if you are replacing pots.

@The Guilds of Grot has several basses with the same bridge so maybe he'll be able to chime in.

Thank you!

 

[lungimsam]

Rag method of knob removal:
Step one - wrap the edges of the rag all the way around and under the edges of the knob.
Step 2 - pull with steady pressure.

 

[The Guilds of Grot]

@The Guilds of Grot has several basses with the same bridge so maybe he'll be able to chime in.

You rang?

There's not all that much adjustment on the Bridge. The two big screws in the back raise and lower the Bridge. The screw with the Starwheel lwts you level the Bridge if you so desire. The screw in the above link is not the correct screw!!!!

 

[lungimsam]

Here’s a visual with the correct screws:

 

[JRK]

Rag method of knob removal:
Step one - wrap the edges of the rag all the way around and under the edges of the knob.
Step 2 - pull with steady pressure.

excellent. this will save me trouble in the future. thank you!

 

[JRK]

Here’s a visual with the correct screws:

Thanks for the pics. So do you try to keep the bridge level or does it matter much? Does it affect the tension, tone, etc?

 

[JRK]

Ignorant question, by why do the pots break? Is there some fatigue in the metal and/or are the posts hollow? Just curious. Is that a common problem with Guilds as it sounds like it really shouldn't be!

Mine broke because I'm a caveman and tried to yank the knob off at a dumb angle. The whole shaft popped out and now it looks like an extra output jack.

 

[chazmo]

Ah, I see, JRK! Thanks for the explanation. I was having trouble understanding what was breaking.

 

[chazmo]

Oh, and welcome to LTG!

 

[lungimsam]

Thanks for the pics. So do you try to keep the bridge level or does it matter much? Does it affect the tension, tone, etc?

I have only used the Gibson three-point-bridge and with that one the two back screws stay lower than the one in front so that you have a break angle over the saddles, which exerts downward string pressure on to the saddles.
Keep in mind, there will come a point (at least with the Gibson) that the front screw may eventually limit the travel of the rear screws when the angle gets too steep. Then you would have to adjust the front screw to create more travel for the rear screws.
Not sure if this is the case with the Guild three point bridge or not but you are in the right place and I am sure the B302 owners here will chime in to give you the low down.

Eventually, I replaced both of my Gibson three point bridges with Hipshot Supertone bridges for easier adjustability and better tone.
Not sure they would fit on a Guild.
The Guild bridge looks way nicer and already has string spacing adjustment built into it so I would keep it on my bass if I had one!

 

[JRK]

I have only used the Gibson three-point-bridge and with that one the two back screws stay lower than the one in front so that you have a break angle over the saddles, which exerts downward string pressure on to the saddles.
Keep in mind, there will come a point (at least with the Gibson) that the front screw may eventually limit the travel of the rear screws when the angle gets too steep. Then you would have to adjust the front screw to create more travel for the rear screws.
Not sure if this is the case with the Guild three point bridge or not but you are in the right place and I am sure the B302 owners here will chime in to give you the low down.

Eventually, I replaced both of my Gibson three point bridges with Hipshot Supertone bridges for easier adjustability and better tone.
Not sure they would fit on a Guild.
The Guild bridge looks way nicer and already has string spacing adjustment built into it so I would keep it on my bass if I had one!

Thanks for the info. I just did some research on break angles and am excited to to get the bass feeling snappy.

 

[lungimsam]

When did you get the bass? Got any pics? Would be cool to see it!

 

[JRK]

When did you get the bass? Got any pics? Would be cool to see it!

Here it is! Still waiting on the new knobs. The pot replacement went well. I got it a couple of years ago. I actually had a B302-AS that got stolen after a gig many years ago. Played all sorts of basses in the interim, but nothing quite feels like a B302, so I bought another.

 

[JRK]

The knobs arrived today. Just in case anyone's curious, the current Guild Newark St. Collection knobs will fit the Bourns course spline pots.

 

[lungimsam]

Thanks for the pics and info!!! Beautiful bass!