I thought I'd share a little tip (as the kids would say..."a hack"). I discovered a way to keep the output jack from rotating while you're tightening the locking nut. Normally, you should remove the pickguard so you can hold the output jack in place. You don't want the output jack turning which can potentially break a wire or cause a soldering tab to contact the copper foil in the control cavity.
I was about to remove the pickguard so I could properly tighten the nut when an lightbulb came on over my head. I have a set of Craftsman files which includes a size 8 bastard (round) file. Size 8 means it's 8 inches long but the diameter and taper is what is important. If you have size 8 bastard file you can insert it into the output jack and apply a little pressure. It will hold the output jack in place while you tighten the nut and it doesn't affect the contacts. I'm sure I'm not the first one to think of this. I've been doing it the hard way for years.
Stew Mac sells a unique tool for this affectionally called "Jack the Ripper" and cost about $50 USD. It might be worth buying for a pro luthier since it would get a lot of use but it's not something the average bass player would want to buy.
I was about to remove the pickguard so I could properly tighten the nut when an lightbulb came on over my head. I have a set of Craftsman files which includes a size 8 bastard (round) file. Size 8 means it's 8 inches long but the diameter and taper is what is important. If you have size 8 bastard file you can insert it into the output jack and apply a little pressure. It will hold the output jack in place while you tighten the nut and it doesn't affect the contacts. I'm sure I'm not the first one to think of this. I've been doing it the hard way for years.
Stew Mac sells a unique tool for this affectionally called "Jack the Ripper" and cost about $50 USD. It might be worth buying for a pro luthier since it would get a lot of use but it's not something the average bass player would want to buy.
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