Jazz bass control cavity cover replacement

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Charlzm

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Mar 25, 2011
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#1
I am building a Frankenbass with the body of a Squier Jazz as the foundation. I want to put a pre-amp in, which is causing me a little anxiety, since the pots that are already wired into the pre-amp harness are from a Warwick. They don't fit through the holes in the original chrome control cavity cover.

I could try to route out the metal piece, but since these parts are relatively inexpensive, I figured I would just buy a new control plate with openings sized for the Warwick pots.

However... I either can't find can't find any measurements listed for replacement plates (which leads me to assume they are identical to the Fender/Squier standard) or the size listed is the same as what's on there now.

Anybody know of a source for J-Bass control plates with alternative control hole sizes?
 
#4
Charlzm said:
Thanks for the tip - will have to measure the pots I have. There seem to be one or two there that are not pre-wired that might fit the bill.

EDIT - they have smaller holes, not the larger ones I need. Dang.
Click to expand...

You can enlarge those holes with a reamer or a 3/8" drill bit if you're careful. It's standard practice when replacing pots on Squiers.
 
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#8
Lownote38 said:
The reamer is only a few dollars, and I purchased one for the very reason you need one. Since I got it, I've used it for a bunch of other projects. It's a good tool to have.
Click to expand...
Do you remember where you got your reamer? I looked for one, all the ones I could find locally were slightly too small, I think they maxed out at 1/2", and I needed 9/16. All the larger ones I found online were pretty expensive.
 
#9
Gilmourisgod said:
Do you remember where you got your reamer? I looked for one, all the ones I could find locally were slightly too small, I think they maxed out at 1/2", and I needed 9/16. All the larger ones I found online were pretty expensive.
Click to expand...

Home Depot. They had tons of them in different sizes. The one I got was to make a Japanese Fender control plate fit with normal sized CTS pots, and when I got the holes big enough, I still had plenty of room to go bigger. I asked a local repair person here what to do when I had to rebuild that wiring harness for a friend, and she showed me the reamer she used. I didn't want to use the mini pots that the MIJ Fender basses had at the time.
 
#10
Dang! My local HD sucks, it's about half the size of most HD stores, their inventory is pretty thin. I know I looked there a while back. I don't see anything that looks like a traditional tapered Luthier's reamer, but they do have step drills graduated in 1/16ths like this one, which would have worked nicely widening my tuner holes to 9/16". Something like this might work for the OP. They have the advantage of being self-centering, but I'd still want to use a drill press through a metal control plate.
Kawasaki Titanium Step Drill Bit-841344 - The Home Depot
 

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#11
Gilmourisgod said:
Dang! My local HD sucks, it's about half the size of most HD stores, their inventory is pretty thin. I know I looked there a while back. I don't see anything that looks like a traditional tapered Luthier's reamer, but they do have step drills graduated in 1/16ths like this one, which would have worked nicely widening my tuner holes to 9/16". Something like this might work for the OP. They have the advantage of being self-centering, but I'd still want to use a drill press through a metal control plate.
Kawasaki Titanium Step Drill Bit-841344 - The Home Depot
Click to expand...

Check the Home Depot website. If your local store doesn't have what you need, the website should, and you can order it.
 
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