Pickguard issue on new MIA Jazz Basses?

[sonofdeacon117]

Hello, i'm fairly new here so i hope this is in the right section!

I recently bought a new MIA Fender Jazz Bass and was wanting to change the pickguard from white to black. I ordered a genuine fender jazz bass pickguard but i'm having some real problems with it.

1). I made sure that the pickguard had the same amount of screwholes as the one that came with the bass, and that the trust rod notch was also in the same place (where the neck connects to the body). The pickguard i ordered is a genuine, 3-ply black pickguard from fender.

2). The pickguard is exactly the right shape, but when i attempt to put it on it's an incredibly right fit around the bass of the neck. I can manage to get it down with some difficulty, but when i do this the screwholes aren't aligned correctly and the pickguard won't stay down tightly on the right side.

Any ideas on how i could sort this out? My bass is one of the new fender models...is there some sort of slight difference between the pickguard on the older ones?

James

[Slowgypsy]

It sounds as if you did everything right. And the new pickguard should really just "pop in" and be good to go. But in this world of mass production, sometimes s**t happens. Here's 3 options you have:

1 - return and exchange the pickguard. However there's no guarantee that the new one will fit any better.

2 - Bring it to your local shop and let them slightly sand/file the area around the neck so it fits better.

3 - Do it yourself. If you look at the pickguard, and if it seems that if the area around the neck were just a tad larger on one side, that the pickguard would fit better... sand and/or file that area. If you don't feel comfortable doing this, see #2.

[sonofdeacon117]

Hey thanks for the advice!

I just took the bass to a bass tech/specialist and we managed to get the pickguard on okay, i was just being too careful with it!

The real problem is the screwholes, they simply won't align properly They seem to fit the pickguard that came with the bass perfectly, but when we attached the new one, about 5 of the holes are off. I could force them im but then i'd be doing damage to the body. Looks like it's also an issue with my bass, it's just one of those annoying things really, i guess i could try again with another pickguard, but like you said, with mass produciton these problems sometimes occur. I can't fault the bass sonically, but i expected a little more care with this area. Looks like the white pickguard will have to do.

[96tbird]

If the holes are EXACT to the old PG, then it can only be the fit at the neck causing you grief. You did say the tech forced it on at the pocket. The tech is not very good if he didn't help you line it up!!! Never go back there! The only remedy is filing the neck pocket of the PG until it lines up. It's so easy to do, just take your time with a 1" fine Metal working file, continuously checking the fit. File material away on the SAME side of the pocket to the direction you want the PG to move. Think of it as a pivot from the bottom of the neckpocket. File from the bottom of the pocket gently out towards the tip of the pocket, light pressure. Maybe three strokes and try the fit. Repeat as needed. Smooth out with fine sandpaper.

Because the pivot point of the PG adjustment is at the pocket Tiny amounts of material will make a huge move the farther away from the pocket the screwhole is. FOLLOW? Once you are done, you will not be able to see ant huge gaps at the PG pocket. If,as you said, you can force the screws in at an angle, you don't have much material to remove; a couple hairs will do it, HONEST!

This is easy and you will be happy that you did it yourself! I wouldn't take my dog for a bath to that tech.

[sonofdeacon117]

^Thanks for the reply! I don't think i properly explained what the bass tech did though...he's a great tech and i've known him for years We didn't force the pickguard on so to speak, we noticed that it was a little tight around the neck area and decided to slightly sand down the pickguard so that it would fit better. We managed to get it on that way.

However, the pickguard still wouldn't properly slide into place, we noticed that the real problem was where the pickguard connects to the tone/volume controls...it was slightly too big and overlapped by a few millimetres. I pretty much gave up but decided to have a try at sanding it down yesterday night, and i managed to get it on properly Two of the screwholes don't align exactly with the pickguard, but i can live with that, the bass looks much snazzier now!