Gibson knobs

**plasticpigeon** · 10-28-2022, 05:27 PM

And while I am referring to the plastic things that assist in turning the pots, I could just as easily be referring to the people running the company. I bought a set of Gibson branded top hat knobs as I stupidly thought that these would be the best quality and most appropriate for a Gibson guitar with CTS knobs. Wrong! The bloody things didn't fit, they were knobs for the smaller metric pots with 18 splines or whatever. My guess is they have bought a load of Chinese knobs, carried out no inspection, put them in Gibson branded packaging and marked them up 300%.

**hotpepper01** · 10-28-2022, 06:32 PM

Finding the correct knobs for your guitar can be challenging. I tried to find the correct witch hat knobs for my 77 L5CES and 2 times I bought something online that I thought was the correct set. Sometimes if you look online, the font is a giveaway, others have the numbers upside down or the number of splines can be incorrect. There are many ways to get stuck with a drawer of knobs that dont fit, but might get in handy in the future.

**ThatRhythmMan** · 10-28-2022, 08:04 PM

I think it would be far more likely they are counterfeit.

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**Litterick** · 10-28-2022, 08:59 PM

Did you buy them from Gibson? Could they be counterfeit knobs?

**Jimmy Mack** · 10-28-2022, 09:51 PM

Or....the reflector top part falls off, or they break in half for no apparent reason.
A new marketplace.....JustKnobs! Ugh.

**plasticpigeon** · 10-29-2022, 04:45 AM

Originally Posted by Litterick

Did you buy them from Gibson? Could they be counterfeit knobs?

I got them from what I believed was a reputable UK seller, as in a proper shop with a physical premesis, not an ebay reseller or anything like that.

**Doctor Jeff** · 10-29-2022, 08:27 AM

Yeah knob buying is a challenge.

The original Gibson knobs were not exactly super high quality. That’s why there’s such a market for replacement knobs.

And my guess is that all these parts that are sold through GC with the Gibson name on them are made in a factory in China.

All my Gibsons have original knobs though.

**plasticpigeon** · 11-07-2022, 09:13 AM

Just a little update. I bought some Hosco knobs that were specifically for CTS/American pots. They fitted a lot better but were still tight. I then thought I would try a "Gibson" knob on a loose old 24 spline pot I had. It was very tight but it did fit, so I have to take back what I said about Gibson they did sell me the correct knobs. However the splined part of the hole in the knob was quite short so the knob sat very high on the pot, so I think the Hosco ones were better in the end. It seem that knobs and pots vary so much, even between ones with the same number of splines that it is good to have a selection to choose from and except that there will need to be a bit of experimentation involved!

**jads57** · 11-08-2022, 01:51 PM

Take a file and boar them out until they fit.

**Jimmy Mack** · 11-08-2022, 08:03 PM

Originally Posted by jads57

Take a file and boar them out until they fit.

I would not recommend that - for several reasons. (I have tried it and the knobs tend to fall off, on their own time schedule)

**Rograt** · 11-08-2022, 08:46 PM

Don’t get me started on this. The knobs cracked on my 2003 R9 and they cracked on my 2018 R9. I didn’t abuse them. For the most part they just sat there.

You can get a 70 year old Les Paul where the knobs are still fine. Go figure.