Fender JMJ Mustang pickguard swap...lost a year off my life

You’d think this would be simple enough...I’m a reasonably mechanically minded person, and a pickguard replacement is usually as easy as tying your shoes, but this one...ugh.

The difference is that the pickups are attached to the pickguard itself...rather than being screwed into the body. This means taking off the strings (not a big deal), and with the pickups soldered in place, figuring out how to get the springs between the guard and pickups to stay in place while you line up the screws — all while the magnets in the pickups cause the little springs to shoot to the side/top/underneath...anywhere but where they need to be.

I picked up the JMJ (my second) from a great seller on TB that I met for a face to face sale. There’s nothing wrong with the aged pearl guard; in fact, I like it. However, I found an eBay seller making aged tort guards for the JMJ, and I thought it might make it just a little different. Quality is excellent, by the way. How hard could it be? Hard, very hard, is the answer...

The new guard was not shielded, so I added copper tape to the new guard, as the PO had the pickup cavity shielded. I ended up using just a dot of Gorilla adhesive to keep the springs on the guard so I could screw it on. End result...

 

How come you’re thinking of swapping the pickup? What do think it’s lacking?

 

Sure, it was this one, here...hope it's OK to post eBay links. Fit was perfect...all holes were perfectly aligned and beveled.

Replacement pickguard for Fender Justin Meldal-Johnsen Road Worn Mustang Bass | eBay