| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
stahlhart
Platinum Member
1318 Posts |
 Posted - 05/10/2006 : 17:25:06
|
My CS-2 arrived yesterday, and in the process of putzing around with it, I noticed something on a Boss pedal that I never had before -- the three knobs were pushed onto control shafts that are knurled/split.
All the other pedals in my collection have flat surface control shafts, where the knobs are held in place with a set screw. These are the old style Boss pedals with the silver or gold insert knobs, by the way.
I then retrieved the junk parts MIT DS-1 from the bin that I had had for a few months, and lo and behond it has the knurled control shafts also. So it doesn't seem to be a chronological thing, as the CS-2 is an older MIJ with paper serial number label. Or perhaps this CS-2 is late MIJ, and it's closer to the MIT DS-1 than first appears?
Is there any chronology for this, or is it just a random production quirk?
C.K.
|
|
|
jack
Platinum Member
USA
1418 Posts |
Posted - 05/10/2006 : 18:02:52
|
| To me it sounds like it might just be a random thing. If Boss does not make their own knobs, then they just have to go with what is available in the market, and most likely they used knobs obtained from different manufacturers throughout the production period of various pedals. Or maybe when they moved operations to Taiwan, they still had a lot of MIJ inventory that they wanted/need to use up. Has anyone thought of that being a possibility, MIJ labelled pedals actually being made in Taiwan for a brief period of time? Because it seems like when most businesses move there is often a changeover period where things are a mix of the old and new operation before the new operation fully takes control, and I'm just wondering if there might have been a period like that with Boss in making the move from Japan to Taiwan. |
 |
|
|
Dingus
Silver Member
USA
472 Posts |
Posted - 05/10/2006 : 18:17:55
|
| I am a little confused on what we're talking about here. Can someone post a pic of both a Knurled and a Flat control shaft. |
|
|
|
stahlhart
Platinum Member
1318 Posts |
Posted - 05/10/2006 : 18:28:58
|
I think that it would be a significant issue as far as replacement parts go. The knobs with the set screws are easy to find (you can get four at Radio Shack for $2.99), but those that are internally molded to fit the knurled shafts are probably going to be darn near impossible to find. And knobs are one of the few things that end up requiring service on a compact pedal.
The set screw knobs do work on the knurled shafts, though, so for operational reasons it isn't an issue, but originality for the sake of colectibility would be affected.
C.K.
|
|
|
|
stahlhart
Platinum Member
1318 Posts |
Posted - 05/10/2006 : 18:39:55
|
quote:
Originally posted by Dingus
I am a little confused on what we're talking about here. Can someone post a pic of both a Knurled and a Flat control shaft.
Here are a couple of photos of a knurled shaft pot:
...and here's one with a solid, or flat surface shaft:
There also a "D" or half-moon shaft, which is common on older U.S. made Electro-Harmonix pedals and some amplifiers (my Ampeg has them). It's solid/flat surface, but with a flat side (looks like a "D" when viewed along the axis of rotation).
C.K.
|
|
|
|
stahlhart
Platinum Member
1318 Posts |
Posted - 05/10/2006 : 18:46:38
|
On a knurled shaft, the knob will push on, and then is held in place by friction (usually there's a split in the shaft to provide some additional outward push to hold the knob). On potentiometer shafts with a flat surface, you need the set screw to hold it.
The half-moon shafts sometimes hold the knob with just friction, or sometimes the knob will have a flat spring steel insert for the flat side, or a split compression ring around the outside circumference of the internal part of the knob that fits over the shaft (much easier just to see than to put it into words here  ).
C.K.
|
|
|
|
phostenix
Gold Member
USA
754 Posts |
Posted - 05/10/2006 : 19:14:30
|
My observation is that the older pedals have the smooth shaft/set screw knobs and at some point they switched to the splined shaft/all plastic knob.
Splined shafts/knobs are faster to assemble without the set screw adjustments.
I always assumed the change took place with the move to Taiwan, but I've never really tracked it.
Grace and peace,
Steve
|
|
|
|
Dingus
Silver Member
USA
472 Posts |
Posted - 05/10/2006 : 19:21:23
|
| Thanks again by the way for the pictures, that's all I needed. I guess I had always called the knurled ones "ribbed", but knurled is probably the correct technical term by definition. |
|
|
|
stahlhart
Platinum Member
1318 Posts |
Posted - 05/10/2006 : 20:15:28
|
quote:
Originally posted by phostenix
My observation is that the older pedals have the smooth shaft/set screw knobs and at some point they switched to the splined shaft/all plastic knob.
Splined shafts/knobs are faster to assemble without the set screw adjustments.
I always assumed the change took place with the move to Taiwan, but I've never really tracked it.
That's exactly what I'm thinking now -- that this CS-2 I just got is late production MIJ.
This might also be a way to roughly "date" pedals -- in other words, if it were MIJ you could ask the seller if the knobs have the little screws holding them on; that would be something a lot easier and less invasive to check rather than removing the bottom plate and examining things internally. It's probably going to be tough to pin the switchover date down firmly, but it might help point towards earlier production MIJ units.
C.K.
|
|
|
|
phostenix
Gold Member
USA
754 Posts |
Posted - 05/10/2006 : 21:28:07
|
quote:
Originally posted by Dingus
Thanks again by the way for the pictures, that's all I needed. I guess I had always called the knurled ones "ribbed", but knurled is probably the correct technical term by definition.
Actually, knurled usually is a term associated with knobs (the outside edge where you grab it to turn it, not the inside shaft hole). Pot shafts are typically referred to as splined.
Grace and peace,
Steve
|
|
|
|
stahlhart
Platinum Member
1318 Posts |
|
|
phostenix
Gold Member
USA
754 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2006 : 00:54:18
|
Those people probably use words like irregardless, too. 
Grace and peace,
Steve
|
|
|
|
bossarea
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
3652 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2006 : 13:36:41
|
I think that the pots used on Boss pedals are in most cases made by ALPS or Taiwan Alpha. The newer pedals with all black knobs sold today use D shafts but earlier pedlas has used both splined and round shafts.
I haven't researched this as I always thought that they started using splined shafts at the same time they stopped using set screw knobs. I may have been jumping to conclusions. |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
Knurled Vs. Flat Control Shafts
