Replacement pots for 1987 Hohner B2A

[Doug Florence]

The pots on my trusty headless Hohner B2A have become unacceptably noisy. The serial number suggests it is from 1987 so that isn't surprising. I do find this bass useful for travelling or jam sessions where there is no space and it sounds good.
I am trying to replace the pots but have hit a few issues. The original pots have a 3/8" threaded shaft so the holes in the body are about 9.5mm diameter. They are long shaft mini pots e.g. total length about 27mm and body about 17mm diameter. 2 x A500ohm for volume  and one B500k ohm for tone. I have spent hours looking for the exact replacement pots and they just don't seem to exist.

 

Modern mini pots generally have a 7mm thread which is loose in the hole. There isn't room in the cutout for full size pots which do have a 3/8" threaded shaft. I can probably make a short bush to space the shaft out with some 3/8" brass tube 18SWG brass tube, but that will be a bit fiddly. Also the inside of the body cutout is not parallel with the outside so the pot doesn't sit flat. I might be able to get a chisel to it, but again rather fiddly. A drastic approach would be to take a fretsaw and remove the cutout entirely and replace it with a home made brass fascia plate which I can paint to match the black gloss guitar, but that is likely to look a bit of a botch.

[tauzero]

You could use M7 spring washers to space out a 7mm thread pot: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/363082401549