Dangers in the "parts bin"!

[deepestend]

Just a quick one here... total comedy of errors in a recent electronics repair. All about the dangers of old parts lying around in the parts bin when you forgot that they were there in the first place.

My Lakland Hollowbody was wired VTVT with a three way switch. The three way switch was a cheapy and bent so that the contacts weren't being made. I tried to fix it, but quickly realized that it was just going to break again, so abandoned it.

Tried to replace that with a blend knob from my parts bin-- kind of redundant to have VTVT with a blend, but I wanted to give it a go. Could not seem to get it to work.

Then my soldering iron heating element broke. I had another, but of course you can't fix a soldering iron without a soldering iron. So, ordered a new wand part off of amazon.

Tried to sub in a 4 way rotary from the parts bin I had and also couldn't get that to work.

Tried just a straight jazz bass VTB setup and also couldn't get that to work.

It was all driving me a little crazy! I couldn't figure out what the issue was.

So, I had some relatively new V T B components-- not the values I wanted, but fine-- and wired up a fresh harness. Worked first time. No issues whatsoever.

Because I was still annoyed by the early failures, I went back and wired back in all of the old components one by one-- and wouldn't you know it, had a bad blend pot, old tone pot had a bad capacitor, and I'm fairly certain the rotary also is broken. At least I now know that I knew what I was doing.

It's all the dangers of an old "parts bin" pile. I have had some of those components for so many years that I forgot why they were in the bin in the first place. They are now in the garbage.

 

[Zooberwerx]

Just a quick one here... total comedy of errors in a recent electronics repair. All about the dangers of old parts lying around in the parts bin when you forgot that they were there in the first place.

My Lakland Hollowbody was wired VTVT with a three way switch. The three way switch was a cheapy and bent so that the contacts weren't being made. I tried to fix it, but quickly realized that it was just going to break again, so abandoned it.

Tried to replace that with a blend knob from my parts bin-- kind of redundant to have VTVT with a blend, but I wanted to give it a go. Could not seem to get it to work.

Then my soldering iron heating element broke. I had another, but of course you can't fix a soldering iron without a soldering iron. So, ordered a new wand part off of amazon.

Tried to sub in a 4 way rotary from the parts bin I had and also couldn't get that to work.

Tried just a straight jazz bass VTB setup and also couldn't get that to work.

It was all driving me a little crazy! I couldn't figure out what the issue was.

So, I had some relatively new V T B components-- not the values I wanted, but fine-- and wired up a fresh harness. Worked first time. No issues whatsoever.

Because I was still annoyed by the early failures, I went back and wired back in all of the old components one by one-- and wouldn't you know it, had a bad blend pot, old tone pot had a bad capacitor, and I'm fairly certain the rotary also is broken. At least I now know that I knew what I was doing.

It's all the dangers of an old "parts bin" pile. I have had some of those components for so many years that I forgot why they were in the bin in the first place. They are now in the garbage.

You threw something away?!? You’re gonna get banned from the website plus lose your man-card for 3 days.

Riis

 

[deepestend]

You threw something away?!? You’re gonna get banned from the website plus lose your man-card for 3 days.

Riis

I should have thrown it all away years ago!

Three "nights" of free time spent trying to troubleshoot my work when the components were DOA.

 

[ardgedee]

You threw something away?!? You’re gonna get banned from the website plus lose your man-card for 3 days.

When I have bad parts I'll coil and tape them (if they're cords) or bag them with a label that says what's wrong with them. This way they can remain useless without being thrown out.

 

[deepestend]

I used to work in the Sadowsky shop for a few years, but after COVID I just switched to working on their website/social/etc. from home and went back to school.

BUT when I moved all my stuff out of my bench, I think I accumulated a bunch of stray parts that had been hanging around forever... now I know why they were there!

 

[deepestend]

When I have bad parts I'll coil and tape them (if they're cords) or bag them with a label that says what's wrong with them. This way they can remain useless without being thrown out.

After this, I'm starting to think that sometimes you need to just throw stuff out.

 

[ardgedee]

After this, I'm starting to think that sometimes you need to just throw stuff out.

To be fair to myself, when something is truly useless it's thrown out; I try to only hang on to items that can be broken down for potentially useful parts. For example cables often fail near one end, so if one can be reused as a shorter cable it can be worth keeping.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

I feel for you. I’ve had to make myself throw out non-functional pots, switches etc. to keep the same thing from happening because my natural inclination is I can fix that or I can do “x” with it. Never quite seems to happen however.

 

[kleinenenten]

When I have bad parts I'll coil and tape them (if they're cords) or bag them with a label that says what's wrong with them. This way they can remain useless without being thrown out.

Exactly as they should be. I have a similar system, and just went through and organized a bunch of stuff after messing with my rigs. The instrument cable labeled "Bad/Fix" remains untouched, unusable, and unfixed! It's a simple fix, even for my unskilled hands, I just haven't done it. Need to get a new end or two - not sure anymore at this point. But I did fix a few other rather small issues that I've been having once I rifled through my "extras" and found stuff I forgot I had!

 

[deepestend]

Just came across this in a reading:

Hoarding Disorder: Difficulty discarding or parting with possessions, regardless of their actual value. Living in an overly congested and cluttered life surrounded by an accumulation of possessions.

 

[nickpc]

Going through my dad's garage after he passed away I came across so much stuff - various old wood screws with a single slot on the head, bolts with square heads, a box of 1"-4" pieces of aluminum wire... and all rusty and gunky as could be, much of it probably older than I am! I took most of it to the dumpster (no, not all - I am my father's son!!) in the retirement community he had been in and, sure enough, 3 other old men came swooping in on their golf-carts to grab the stuff!

I really wish I'd had some way to get the "U.S. Gauger's Office" sign home with me. That was pretty cool. Totally useless, but still pretty cool. (If you know what that is you'll know why).

Q: What do you do with a 1" piece of scrap aluminum wire?
A: Nothing - let your kid deal with it after you're gone!

 

[Engle]

I’m guilty of keeping marginal parts, but have learned to chuck them. Cables? Cut the ends off, then throw away!

 

[Diminishedfilth]

My last parts bin had some less than attractive components, like Ibanez, MIM Fender Jazz and Telecaster pickups, pots and bent plate bridges, etc. Nothing I could ever imagine reusing, so I put up the whole tote for $20 on Craigslist when we last moved, and it sold within the first 15 minutes. Everything else we posted took days and a couple weeks to sell. Never would've expected the kind of demand for any of it, but it seemed like a steal to a lot of techs around here. My only regret was that I forgot that there was a set of Gibson bass tuners in there.

My current parts bin is specific to only a couple of basses, and I only kept those parts in case I decide, or have to sell those two.

 

[WRM]

When I have bad parts I'll coil and tape them (if they're cords) or bag them with a label that says what's wrong with them. This way they can remain useless without being thrown out.

In Aviation, we would identify scrap/unrepairable parts by painting them with red paint or attaching red tags (Att.). Just mark the bad ones w/red sharpie?...

 

[tr4252]

I have 2 file boxes full of guitar junk, and that's my limit. They sit quietly in the attic. I have left over pieces from my $40.00 Airline guitar I bought in '64. Anybody need a single 60's Bassman tilt back leg (don't know what happened to the other one)? How about a bridge cover for a '59 Duo Sonic? Pickups galore that I'll probably never use, etc. Also a bunch of instrument catalogs from the 60's. I don't really need all that stuff, but it's strangely comforting to have it around.

I keep new parts in those plastic Harbor Freight boxes with the compartments. Those I can trust but I test them anyway where applicable. When I do use old components, I test them before wasting time on bad parts.

I had a job in a junkyard decades ago, and it was a source of old military items like WW2 bomber engines and peculiar radio gear. Lunchtime would find me out on the lot with wire cutters, screwdrivers etc. I never had any problems with the vintage electrical/electronic components I salvaged from the military stuff,

Tom

 

[BuddhaFingas]

I can't imagine installing electronic components without testing them first. I have had too many "Bad Out Of Box" experiences.

Especially simple passive parts. The days you save will be your own!

 

[BlueTalon]

I have 2 file boxes full of guitar junk, and that's my limit. They sit quietly in the attic. I have left over pieces from my $40.00 Airline guitar I bought in '64. Anybody need a single 60's Bassman tilt back leg (don't know what happened to the other one)? How about a bridge cover for a '59 Duo Sonic? Pickups galore that I'll probably never use, etc. Also a bunch of instrument catalogs from the 60's. I don't really need all that stuff, but it's strangely comforting to have it around.

This reminds me of something. One of my professors in college had been the pastor of a church, and during his time there, one particular old lady died. She had been alive during the depression. He tried to explain to us that people then didn't throw away anything, because you never knew what might be useful, and a lot of stuff you just couldn't get.

So as they were going through her things they came across a box labeled, "Bits of string, too small to use."

 

[B-flat?]

If you can't fix it with a sledge hammer, it's broke and you should have replaced it in the first place.

 

[Leigh Semmens]

My late wife saw the value of my keeping something "just in case". Many times I was able to cobble together something to get us working again. I've accumulated tons of junk over the years. I'm getting better, and have started to dispose of some stuff that I'll never use and that means not only guitar related stuff!

 

[Malak the Mad]

This reminds me of something. One of my professors in college had been the pastor of a church, and during his time there, one particular old lady died. She had been alive during the depression. He tried to explain to us that people then didn't throw away anything, because you never knew what might be useful, and a lot of stuff you just couldn't get.

So as they were going through her things they came across a box labeled, "Bits of string, too small to use."

Your professor is spot-on. This sounds a lot like my Great Grandmother. She lived through the Great Depression, so getting her to let us take and/or throw something away was like pulling teeth. Only, in her case, instead of string, it was the classic "ball o' rubber bands" among tons of stuff from the '50s, '60s and '70s.