Wot Stan sed.
As suggested...BUT.
Beware ...... the pots [USA standard] recommended are 10mm diameter, not the [Asian / Jap] 8mm diameter holes that are routed in your body ATM.
You NEED to enlarge the Tone/ Volume pot holes on your guitars body first.. if changing to these pots ..also need new knobs to fit these pots as well, as the ones that come with the kit will no longer fit on the new pots.
I've just done this process on two kits...recommend getting a 10mm drill bit, run the drill in reverse to enlarge the current 8mm holes to reduce the possibility of splitting the ply top....once the hole is enlarged, then give a brief shot at drilling it forward to clear any scraps...be careful...very easy to stuff up.
IMHO better cleaning the enlarged holes with a craft / Xacto knife ...it is that easy to botch this job with a drill.
You can get Pots/ knobs from here.
http://www.realparts.com.au/electronics.html
Last edited by Tweaky; 12-02-2016 at 08:36 PM.
I file out the holes from 8mm to 10mm gently with a round file.
I am facing the same issue with my ES. Gibson has a pickguard over the top of the hole at the top on the side with the electrics. You could enlarge the upper hole and if you do not like your job, cover it with a pickguard. The acoustics would not be significantly impacted either way. I wonder is this is Gibson's strategy to hide an entry hole.
I took a look at the 17mm Bourns and Alpha pots with push-pull switches. I have to say they certainly don’t look very different. Aside from the slightly larger diameter of the shaft it’s hard to tell what’s different. Has anyone compared with an Ohm meter?
I haven't got much experience with the 17mm pots, but I have pulled apart a lot of 24mm pots (long story), and I always check them with an ohm meter before putting any pot in any project. I can tell you that 24mm Alpha, Bourns, CTS and CME pots have similar tapers, and are of very similar manufacturing quality. Bourns, CTS and Alpha are very similar when you take them apart. CTS is different, but it is more the way the resistor wafer and wiper are mounted--which is why they are stiffer to turn. The manufacturing quality is about the same in all of them.
It seems totally possible that the Alphas are less consistent in their quality control than Bourns. On the other hand you can get four Alphas for the price of two Bourns. As long as you check them on a meter against a pot you know is good before putting them in the guitar isn't it about a half dozen of one six of the other?
At the risk of saying something heretical, enlarging the holes seems like a lot of trouble to go to when there are pots available that look to be of nearly identical manufacturing quality. That said, if no one has done it, I'll sacrifice a couple to see if I can see a difference in the guts or on the meter.