Stellartone's products are manufactured to the U.S. standard ⅜" diameter bushing size. This is the control size used in the majority of electric guitars built from the 1930's to the present day. ⅜" diameter (9.5mm) is slightly larger than the 8mm diameter controls which may have been installed in your guitar.

Metric guitars can easily accommodate ⅜" standard controls, by slightly enlarging the 8mm mounting hole to ⅜".

You can determine the size of your guitar's mounting holes without opening the guitar or removing a pot. Just remove a knob, and check the size of the hex nut underneath with a wrench, socket or nut driver. ⅜" controls use ½" hex nuts, while 8mm controls use 11mm hex nuts (~7/16").

If your guitar was originally equipped with metric pots, you cannot swap for any standard controls without slightly enlarging the 8mm holes to accommodate ⅜" standard-size bushings. This is a minor improvement that will be invisible once either size control is re-installed. If you do not want to enlarge the metric mounting holes in your guitar, you will not be able to use any standard ⅜" components.

This is an easy procedure if you use the right tools and techniques, and takes only a few minutes. For best results, this should only be performed by an experienced person, such as your local guitar tech.

Note: Before ordering components, or enlarging a metric mounting hole, verify that standard controls will fit within the control compartment of your particular metric guitar. It is possible that your guitar is built to non-standard specifications, or has room for only miniature components. Just measure the diameter of the pots; standard ⅜" and 8mm bushing pots are both 15/16" wide.

To download a series of five photos showing one technique for enlarging 8mm holes to ⅜", click here.

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