Gibson Les Paul Studio 1983

[Myrk-]

Basically the neck tone pot is crackling when its used- I'm pretty sure it needs to be replaced (or dipped in electronic cleaner fluid stuff). Anyways, 500k pot sound a good supplement for the current 300k?- I've heard it makes the sound less muddy and weak.

On that note though, how do I pry out the current pots from thier metal housing plate inside the cavity? Do they need unlatching and desoldering for each one? Finally, anyone know if the 1983 model (first studio model which was released in electric blue colour) is made of mahogany or alder (or something else?)

[crafty]

There's no "prying" involved to get the pots out of the cavity. You take the knobs off the outside and remove the retainer nuts on the outside. Then you can pull out the plate with the pots on it. 500k may be a good replacement, but it depends on the pickups that are in there. If you have the pickups with double rows of screws, I'd stick with the 300k pots.

Also, the body should be the maple/mahog combo, albeit with several pieces of wood and maybe even a pancake of mahog for the back. It should also have a maple neck.