Mezcalhead, thanks for the link to the '63 Jag thread. I hadn't seen that before, but it was very cool. The one I was thinking of wasn't with a Jaguar, it was a Jazzmaster with the tub in the main cavity. Glazier's points make sense for the flat plates, but are they used on the tub, too?
Glimmertwin, we'll soon see what the Allparts guard looks like. That's the one I ordered. If the post office is open tomorrow, I'll pick it up.
Let me take this opportunity to thank GuitarPartsResource for 1. not answering my e-mail, 2. taking three days to get around to shipping my order, 3. sending me two 1 M Ohm roller pots instead of one 1 M Ohm and one 50 k Ohm pot like I ordered, and 4. selling me a control bracket with holes too small to fit their own pots. Impressive!
I picked up a pre-CBS bridge on ebay. Here it is disassembled for cleaning. Hope that mangled low "E" spring doesn't cause any trouble. Looks like it came out of a pre-CBS Bic pen. Plenty of crud mojo in there!
Looks better now. Complete with rust spots to show where the saddles go.
A close-up of one the bridge holes. I think the original thimbles must have been rocked out rather than pulled straight out.
New pickups from Mr. Novak.