Picguard giving away at the jack.

jsa0100 · #1 08-26-2008, 05:11 PM

I have a 2001 p-bass.
At the jack plug the picguard gives a way, and a bulk
appears just above it. Especially visible when plugged in.
Also i have noticed that this picguard is a bit softer
than most older p-basses.
However i prefer this one because i believe it's more crack
resistant than the older ones.
So do i fix this ?
I prefer to keep the instrument original so i want add an extra screw. Can i use something hot to reshape the picguard.
Other ideas ?

Widdershins · #2 08-26-2008, 05:26 PM

So it's bent?

You could take it off, place it on a flat surface, put a few sheets of paper over it (for protection) and heat it with a clothes iron...

62bass · #3 08-27-2008, 03:27 AM

I've had a couple P bass pickguards do this-one of them an old one with nitro pickguard. I think it's just a natural consequence of not enough material trying to support a highly stressed area. Those jacks get a lot of strain put on them at times.

What I did on two of them was to reinforce the pickguard underneath by epoxying on a large metal washer. The inside diameter of the washer was just large enough to allow the jack to fit inside. It worked and didn't cause any other problems. It didn't do anything about the crack. I didn't worry about that just knowing it wasn't going to break right off.

Pilgrim · #4 08-27-2008, 03:01 PM

The first thing to note is NEVER plug in directly without looping your cable through your strap. One good tug on that cable and the P-bass PG can break.

I also recommend using a cable with 90-degree angle plug on that instrument. When you loop the cable through your strap and have a 90-degree plug in the jack, there's almost zero stress on the PG.

bassbully · #5 08-27-2008, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pilgrim

The first thing to note is NEVER plug in directly without looping your cable through your strap. One good tug on that cable and the P-bass PG can break.

I also recommend using a cable with 90-degree angle plug on that instrument. When you loop the cable through your strap and have a 90-degree plug in the jack, there's almost zero stress on the PG.

+1 on the angle plug. I hate a straight input plugs to much chance for it to get hit and stress the input jack.

Pilgrim · #6 08-28-2008, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassbully

+1 on the angle plug. I hate a straight input plugs to much chance for it to get hit and stress the input jack.

Thanks. I don't use a straight-in plug on any bass I play. They are all safer to play with 90-degree plugs.