[sdiy] Oberheim OB-8

[Tony Clark]

   Hi Kevin & list,

> >You know doof, these pots are extremely hard to come by.  Not only 
> >is the spacing of solder pins not found on any currently 
> >manufactured pots, but the shaft-length is also an odd size.  A few 
> >hours of research and you'll come to the same conclusion.

   I'm currently restoring an OB-8 and have to replace literally _every_ 
front panel pot on it (it's a sad case, but at least the owner bought it 
dirt cheap!).
   Anyway, as you say, there are no direct replacements for it, but I 
have found a suitable replacement that involves only a small amount of 
wiring work:

   Page 1064 Digi-Key  P/N: 450D502-7-ND  5K 1" D-Shaft Flat

   Two main issues with this pot:

   1) You'll have to run wires from the solder-eyelets to the PCB
   2) The D-shaft is backwards to the original so they have to be
        mounted 180 degrees around.  Good thing you have to do 
        step 1 anyway!

   Otherwise, the shaft length is perfect, just about 1/16" higher than 
the original, which keeps the skirt of the knob just off the panel surface!

   As Kevin has also mentioned, cleaning old pots isn't necessarily the 
best solution and I will always replace old scratchy pots when I can.  
I've seen some pots where the conductive track has been worn down next to 
nothing and no amount of cleaning will ever bring that back!

   Good luck with the OB-8!

   Tony

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