Ibanez pot shaft length

[CubanB]

Does anyone know the required shaft length for Ibanez RG guitars? I know that the whole size is a little smaller than US based pots, but I usually fix that with a pencil and some sandpaper. But I want to buy some push pull pots, and have a hard time understanding if they'll fit or not.

To further complicate things, I've seen stories if people saying they don't fit length wise, when using long shaft push pull pots. Seems Dimarzio would be a safest bet, but just wondering if anyone knows the mm? 10mm 12mm etc? The stock pots are Alpha but I'd like to use USA pots.

 

[KGWagner]

I'm not sure what you're asking, but I always buy long shaft pots when given a choice because you can make them work in short shaft places, while short shaft pots won't work where long ones are required. To use the long shaft part in place of a short, you simply adjust the height where the backup nut is threaded. This pic might make it a little clearer...

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That pic shows mounting on a pickguard, but where long shaft pots are needed more often are in bodies that are rear-routed and the pot mounts in a hole in the body itself, which I think is how most RG-series Ibanez are done.

 

[AdmiralB]

I think his point is that the RG is so thin that a P-P pot with a long (i.e. Les Paul USA) shaft won't fit in the cavity.

I think the shortest P-P pots are the new CTS with the little PCB, but they're only shorter than a Bourns by about 1/16".

OP, if you want some measurements of P-P pots, I (or, I'm sure, many others here) can provide them for you.

 

[KGWagner]

I see. That makes more sense.

 

[T Dizz]

I would check the Jemsite forum.

 

[CubanB]

Thanks guys, yeah.. it'll be a few weeks until I buy anything, so it's all just planning in advance. Admiral B was right. It's quite complicated because the cavity is quite small, where the border of the cavity is vs the tone control hole. It's made for an Alpha mini pot. I fit a CTS standard pot into my other RG earlier in the year, but that was without being able to fit the lock washer on it. It could fit into the cavity but barely.. and I had to widen the hole. All that's needed is an extra few mm of threaded shaft length, instead of the CTS length. But in that case, KGWagner is right. Always safer just to buy long shaft pots (will do that from now on) but for the push pulls it's a bit more complicated. Do to the switch part which can be a problem putting the cavity cover back on.

I like the look of the CTS ones, but they might be a bit fat for the cavity. I'll look into it. I guess the safest bet is Dimarzio, I'm already emailing them about pickups/wiring, so I'll ask about the PP pots. And also keep searching other places for info.

 

[AdmiralB]

Bourns pots are the smaller 17mm style; I can't imagine that they would be too wide for your application.

If the bushing issue is a question of being able (or not) to use the toothed washer, there are various thicknesses available. I often have to use the thin ones when I'm mounting Fender 'pickguard' pots.