Improving push/pull pots with Fender-style “bell” knobs

First, let’s agree that push/pull pots are amazing. In most cases, it’s the perfect way to add a convenient switch without drilling into the guitar or pickguard. These can be used for many useful things such as splitting pickups, series/parallel, phase, high/low-pass switches, etc. About the only negative I’ve found with these is, regardless of the manufacture, the “feel” of the knob is commonly looser than standard potentiometers. This isn’t a deal breaker for me and can be mitigated somewhat by things like huggas. Regardless, I’ve had better luck with these over the push/push style and S1 switches.

Typically these pots are paired with metal, knurled dome knobs because they have a great grip and are easy to operate. I tried these on my white strat, but I just couldn’t get into the look/feel on this particular guitar. I really like the traditional “bell” knobs. Not only do I enjoy the functionality of the numbers, but the texture is comfortable and look is classic. …but with push/pull pots extra effort is required to pull the pot out. In fairness it’s not too bad and can work, but for me, it requires gripping at the very bottom of the knob with my fingernails. This requires more concentration than it’s worth, especially when I’m focusing on making music.

Lucky for me, a nice fella on youtube already solved this problem:

I liked this video so much that I contacted him and he made me a set of these knobs for my strat! (this was really nice as I don’t own a drill press) So far I’ve been loving them. They feel great, look great, and are functional for the push/pull pot I have for my high-pass filter. Perfect.

I really like the look of the O-rings.

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