indeed the exact fuse that was expected to blow was fried. i couldnt find a 1206 fuse at frys, and couldnt bear to be without my music for my upcoming roadtrip, so i jury-rigged an axial picofuse onto the pads. i guess it's better then the piece of wire i was thinking of using, but still not ideal. i'll have to order some fuses from digi-key.

now, on to the knob repair: i plan on troubleshooting that next week, but is there a part number for the transistor so i can get one ahead of time?

thanks for all the help
-ted