Danelectro - getting into control cavity

hessodreamy

Just picked up a dan dc59 12 string. It's pretty sweet but I need to sort out some of the wiring. However I can't get the control plate off. I've removed the 3 screws but it seems to be stuck down somehow. Is this normal? Is there a knack to getting it off?

ICBM

Sounds like someone might have glued it down, or used double-sided tape... they often rattle annoyingly, so it's possible someone has fixed it like that.

I would try to lift it by first lowering the neck pickup as far as you can - you can do that from the back of the body - so you can get something under it where it won't chew up the finish. If that doesn't work, protect the body with some masking tape and lift it with a fairly strong blade like the larger one on a Swiss Army knife.

hessodreamy

Yes, it turns out they stick it down with double sided tape at the factory. Who does that? Anyway, managed to follow Danelectro's advice of wiggling a spatula underneath the pickguard!

ICBM

Interesting… I wonder if they've started doing that because of the complaints about rattling - I've worked on a couple of them and they weren't stuck down.