Model 6 Ugly Switch-Modification! Help?

[saintrico]

Hi fellas, I just bought a gorgeous Model 6 with the JT6 this morning. It's a gorgeous dark sparkle blue color and the neck is probably the best Charvel neck I have ever encountered. I've owned several before, but man, this one is the stuff!

The previous owner kept it free of dings, no cracks, no belt buckle rash and the JT6 is completely perfect. He had the original pickups replaced with Duncans with weird wiring that I can fix, no problem.

HOWEVER....he had the three mini switches taken out, and a 5 way switch put in, complete with a routing job between two holes of the mini switches. OUCH!

I have seen this "upgrade" before with different levels of finesse. Now I'm faced with the decision of leaving it be, or rewiring it with the three switches and having this slot and two extra screw holes, or somehow filling up all holes and starting over again. Have you guys seen someone do this? I know how to fill all the holes, but man, I do not have the energy to refinish this whole guitar. Think I can color match some paint and blend it, or dream on?

Any input appreciated. Any links to Model 6's fixed from this travesty also appreciated! Thanks!

[dg]

One thing I've seen people do is put a small oval switchplate over the 5-way switch to cover the evidence of the mini toggles. I'm going to PM a pic of a friend's Soloist to you & you can decide what you think of that. IMO, a fill of that slot is liable to be pretty visible without a full refin, but it all depends on how perfect you want it to look.

[straycat]

I would fix the holes and refin but that's just me.

[Rich#6]

I would leave the blade switch and put in 2 pots and a mini toggle just to fill in the holes(or wire em up).

[TexasTwang]

I would leave the blade switch and put in 2 pots and a mini toggle just to fill in the holes(or wire em up).

I would probably do this...after I found the perp that did it, and beat him like a rented mule.

[RacerX]

I would probably do this...after I found the perp that did it, and beat him like a rented mule.

Dude, you've been reading too many Harmony-Central reviews, haven't you?

[saintrico]

One thing I've seen people do is put a small oval switchplate over the 5-way switch to cover the evidence of the mini toggles. I'm going to PM a pic of a friend's Soloist to you & you can decide what you think of that. IMO, a fill of that slot is liable to be pretty visible without a full refin, but it all depends on how perfect you want it to look.

DG, I sent a PM back to you. Thanks so much for sending that picture. I think it looks fantastic and is perfectly functional. I prefer having a 5 way switch there, even if it isn't original specs. It will be more functional in my opinion.

I can't wait to find this switchplate and get this guitar nice and restored. What a great find!

Thanks!!

As far as refinishing it, I don't want to deal with that. With a neck-thru and binding, it's just more work than I really feel the energy to take on. That's a heck of a project. And this paint is in nice condition. One good buffing and all those swirls will come out and the original deep blue will look incredible!!

[dg]

I'm waiting to hear back from my friend, but I think his switch plate may have been made for the guitar, probably out of thin pickguard material. The only off-the-shelf one I can find is this type, for Ibanez S-Series guitars:




They carry them here:

http://www.ibanezrules.com/parts.htm

but it may not fit exactly right or cover everything that needs covering, so I'd probably cut something out of black pickguard material.

[dg]

saintrico, I heard back, and he said the work was done by a luthier & he's not sure exactly what he did, but most likely it was a piece cut just for his guitar. It shouldn't be too hard to shape something up yourself, notch it, & match it up to the switch's screw holes. That's probably what I'd do rather than order the Ibanez plate & hope it matches & covers everything up. Stewmac has the material for about $13, or maybe somebody who cuts their own guards can send you a scrap of black single-ply. It won't take much.

[saintrico]

First off, I'd like to thank DG for this awesome solution and all the help. This is the route I'm taking (no pun intended) and I wouldn't have thought of it without your excellent suggestions. I'm quite grateful!

I made a bunch of measurements to find out what I would need to cover all the holes, center the switch slot, etc. I gave them all to my talented wife (she's a graphic designer) and she made a FANTASTIC template in Adobe Illustrator with all the proper dimensions.

I have a friend who's a machinist at the defense labs and he said tooling this piece would be very simple. I think it's going to look great!

Thank you! I will post pictures when it's done. I KNOW there are others who want to get rid of the three switches, or even worse, have bought a guitar with a hatchet job like mine had.

[saintrico]

Hello amigos!

Well, it took me a really long time to get this guitar finished and take pictures. There were a lot of glitches along the way. I ended up redoing the entire electronics and it sounds great now. Fret level and crowning, deep body buff, soaked and cleaned all hardware, etc. It's really beautiful now.

The machinist FINALLY finished the switchplate. He's a busy guy, but he did a great job and now has the template so that he can easily crank these out in case other people need them.

[Hellbat]

Looks great!

[Grandturk]

Nice!

[6string40]

cool...looks better than the 'bubbly' ibanez type anyway imo

[warlok]

I'd like to see the whole thing, can you take a pic of the whole body?