How do you make an accurate scratch plate template?

thecolourbox

It's for an SG, I've got the original one here that came with the kit and it doesn't quite fit, the holes for the bridge are not quite in the right place so I can't move the bridge up and down to the fullest in order to get the action right

I've found a website that offers custom ones including a vinyl record one, but I need to make a template. I obviously can't use the original for the bridge holes, how do I trace where the holes need to be?

Thanks all

Modulus_Amps

a kit and it doesn't fit.... hmmm send it back

Can you make a paper/card template, then draw an outline drawing scan it in, use a trace function on a cad or graphics program, make sure it is scaled correctly and send to the make, easy.... or not if you don't have the software

thecolourbox

Thanks dude, I've already been sent a replacement body as the first one wasn't quite aligned with the pick up cavity - the whole build has been a right ball ache and I've given up involving the manufacturers as they've been pretty useless all through apart from sending me the replacement body.

I'll try the software thing but I don't really have anything that does that, they might have differing at work though.

Safe to say if I could have my time again I wouldn't bother doing a kit at all but it was a gift so I have to finish and use it now

olafgarten

If you know where the bridge holes should be, and have a flatbed scanner, you can draw them on and send it to me, I'll turn it into a template.

thecolourbox

Thanks, I don't have a flat bed though either Haha. The problem is the (forgive me I don't know the technical terms) bits of the bridge that stick into the holes in the guitar are very much stuck in, otherwise I'd just use paper to trace them and effectively bodge the hole through so it was exactly in the right place. I was way of trying to get them out as it will mark the guitar but I think I'm going to have to - hopefully any marks will be underneath the plate when I get it in place anyway

Sarge

Bridge post removal is easy once you know how.
Take a cylinder, piece of copper pipe or similar that has a bigger diameter than the bridge post in the body, place it over the post and put a washer over the top then your bridge bolt through the cylinder into the post bushing and simply sceew the bolt clockwise, the bolt stays where it is and the bushing draws up out of the body.

Sarge

http://m.instructables.com/id/How-to-remove-Tune-o-Matic-bushings-from-Les-Paul-/

Like this

thecolourbox

Thanks but sadly I have neither a cylinder not a bolt. I might broach the subject of giving up with my girlfriend who originally bought it me then try and get some recompense from the manufacturer

Sarge

Good luck












quitter

thecolourbox

Lol thanks, wouldn't be the first time

thecolourbox

You can see how bad it is here
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a639/matthew_goodwin1/Mobile Uploads/IMG_20160314_202033_zpsbsvnklkk.jpg

Sarge

You can make a short cylinder out of many household items mate, try a bodyshop/lush shampoo bottle top and cut a hole in the top, cut the length down short enough so the post bolt will grab in the bushing.
A cotton reel?
Water bottle top?
Pritt stick lid?
Use your imagination, I did it with a sander vacuum attachment cut down to size with a washer on top.

breakstuff

You wouldn't want to do it on an expensive guitar but I removed the bridge bushing on my Vintage brand les paul with a claw hammer :-O

Plenty of padding under the head of the hammer (an old tea towel) and used the very end of the claw.Worked a treat.This is before I'd heard of the method described above and yes,I now realise it's totally the wrong way to go about it

underdog

Or put something inside the bushings that's hard then screw in the bridge studs that should also lift them out

Sarge

breakstuff;1005067" said:

You wouldn't want to do it on an expensive guitar but I removed the bridge bushing on my Vintage brand les paul with a claw hammer :-O

Brutal!
Love it.

WezV

I think I have actually done all of those and think each method has its place. Normally I use a small bolt in the hole and screw the post in, but that gets risky on thin bodies. The tube and washer solution works just as well and is safer on the thin bodied guitars but can mark the surface if not careful.

Then you get the ones where nothing but brute force will do. Usually because some git epoxied them in. Usually I heat the difficult ones with the soldering iron before trying the above methods again... But the claw hammer has still been known to be called upon when all else fails. And I have only cracked one body in the last 15 years.

9 times out of 10 its a piece of piss though

eSully

underdog said:

Or put something inside the bushings that's hard then screw in the bridge studs that should also lift them out

This is the best way for me. Took the bridge off my Epiphone without a mark. Drop a screw or thin piece of metal in the bushing and screw the bridge screw in. It will pull it out of the bosy enough to be able to grab it safely with a pliers or your hand and get it out.

Corvus

As Sarge said lots of stuff will do. This happens to be a Ford Mustang roll-bar bush and a bit off an dismembered exercise bike, just stuff from the stash of tat that might be useful one day-

http://www.alleykat.co.uk/images/stuff/lp/pulled_bush_2.jpg

A trip to homebase or the like will snag bolts for pennies, M4, M6 and M8 should fit about anything metric. You could grab a round file as well and hog out that p/g hole a bit. It might be a bit oversize when done but won't notice much when the bridge is over it, doesn't look like there's more than a couple of mil to shave out.

thecolourbox

Thanks guys I will look into What I can do this weekend I think. The pickguard is not repairable as it has splintered a bit so even if i got the bottom side of the hole big enough, the gap at the top side would be too big and there are the shetter marks all round the holes.

I'll just keep the pickguard to use it to make the template for the replacement one.

FelineGuitars

The cylinder can just be a hole drilled through a scrap of wood or mdf - big enough for the bushing to pass through and small enough for your washer  to sit on the top without falling in.

olafgarten

For the scratchplate you can also look here. See the bit about the guitar/bass not being listed.

http://www.originalscratchplates.com/