Convert Pawn Shop VI to vintage specs?

[Marc]

Hi,

been away for some time (years actually). I am about to buy a Pawn Shop Bass VI after not playing since 2008 after a hand injury and some other problems abd sold all my vintage kit off.

Anyway - I see someone had put three micro switches in the place of the Strat switch on their Pawn Shop VI and I could see that the routing looked like it would take the three way chrome switch.

My question is:

Is there someone who could make a pickguard that would fit with the hole for a three way jag switch? And who made those chrome control plates a few years ago in small runs? Are there any around?

The rest looks straightforward.

Thanks

[SneakyT]

Hi,

been away for some time (years actually). I am about to buy a Pawn Shop Bass VI after not playing since 2008 after a hand injury and some other problems abd sold all my vintage kit off.

Anyway - I see someone had put three micro switches in the place of the Strat switch on their Pawn Shop VI and I could see that the routing looked like it would take the three way chrome switch.

My question is:

Is there someone who could make a pickguard that would fit with the hole for a three way jag switch? And who made those chrome control plates a few years ago in small runs? Are there any around?

The rest looks straightforward.


Thanks

I'm in the process of doing the layout now but it's a bit of work. The body route is certainly not in the proper place. It is the proper size for the four way plate but not the three and not in the proper position for either. It's really gonna come down to how much modding you are comfortable with and how important original looks are to you. From a functionality standpoint the easiest option would be to make a guard with holes for the 4 switches and mount them to the guard. I'm more in for doing it full on with a route to put the four switch plate in the proper location but I'm sure most wont want to take it that far. I'm looking at a few different options for people but I've just got to find the time to prototype them. As I get more time to prototype each version I'll be sure to post them here.

[Marc]

Hi,

I probably wouldn't go that far myself - if there was a pickguard that allowed the readily available jag 3 way in the 'wrong' place that would do me.

I will probably just use microswitches along the horizontal route from the strat switch...

[mcjt]

the PSVI is 30" scale, and not 30.3 like the "original" VI or at least my USACG VI i assembled.
Due to the placement of the bridge vis-a-vis the tremolo, you won't be able to make it more vintage correct.
Not a big deal, but just wanted to mention it.
No-one makes a chrome control plate yet. it will have to be different from the vintage shape, due to the different bridge-tremolo-pickguard placement. But the 3 switch Fender plate can be had on ebay for under $10.
Pickguardian now makes a PSVI guard.
i have a psvi and a usacg VI and i am debating if i need to keep both------
Good luck!

[ohm-men]

Hi Marc! Nice to see you here back again....I sure remember your suberb vintage collection...
Hopa all is well with you!

[Marc]

Hi - yes all is well.

Every one of the vintage went

such is life

[SneakyT]

the PSVI is 30" scale, and not 30.3 like the "original" VI or at least my USACG VI i assembled.
Due to the placement of the bridge vis-a-vis the tremolo, you won't be able to make it more vintage correct.
Not a big deal, but just wanted to mention it.
No-one makes a chrome control plate yet. it will have to be different from the vintage shape, due to the different bridge-tremolo-pickguard placement. But the 3 switch Fender plate can be had on ebay for under $10.
Good luck!

The guards I'm designing would incorporate the original lower control plate into the design. It will of course not be 100% vintage correct. Thats actually one of the reasons it's taking so long to design. Getting the lines to flow with the original lower control plate is a bit of a pain. The upper control plate options are no big deal. I have moved the upper control plate around quite a bit in my layout and personally like it in the vintage position but the others are not that bad. I'm really trying to put a lot of thought into my templates so people will have the option to do as little or as much as they want. Really feel that with the price point on this thing it'll lend itself to mods. So if you guys are looking for any other options let me know.

Hi,

I probably wouldn't go that far myself - if there was a pickguard that allowed the readily available jag 3 way in the 'wrong' place that would do me.

I will probably just use microswitches along the horizontal route from the strat switch...

I definitely had planned on doing one of these. The route is a bit big for the jag plate. Once I have a jag plate in I'll have more info on how it will mount.


This is taking longer than I'd like but I've had a lot going on these past few weeks. Hopefully I'll have some pictures up soon.

PS anyone have an affordable source for a decent Tort material? WD looks nice but it is really pricey. I would like to keep the prices on these reasonable. I have a good source for all non-celluloid (white, mint, black..etc).

[ketri]

Today I got my pickguard made by pickguardian. It's routed for a 3-way switch plate and three Jaguar pickups. So far I've only held it over the bass and the holes don't line up with the pawn shop pickguard. I'm ok with some adjustments on the body but I want to be able to reverse it to the original pawn shop setup.

By the end of next week I'll have some time to try it on. But I still miss the rest of the parts; bridge pickup, switch and master plates.


Got it of ebay and the seller traced his master plate on a piece of paper so I'll try to make som sort of master plate (plexi or metal) 'til stereordinary makes a new batch of plates.

Hopefully I'll have the time to upload some images tomorrow.

[DasBeef]

Try contacting this guy.....
Gavs Guitar Garage
for custom made plates. He has a friend who made me a whammy bar, and reckons he can do control plates in stainless with a polished finish, provided you get sizes/templates. Been meaning to do a proper post about it. I shall try to get it up soon.
Gav himself has worked on my guitars, and has done an excellent job.

[SneakyT]

I'm in talks with somone currently about accurate plated repro plates. Who knows if it'll pan out but his work is really nice. We will see.

[cmatthes]

I stopped by a great little Bass shop outside of Boulder, CO a few days ago, and the owner was converting/modding a Black PS Bass VI exactly like you're mentioning. He had also been working with Tony at Pickguardian to get a better guard (with a 3 slider plate, and cut to take the lower chromed control plate).

Reach out to Pickguardian - sounds like Tony's been doing a few of these guards.

[mcjt]

Cool.
In January, spoke to Tony and offered to send my guard to him once i got my VI. but the VI had a paint flaw and went back to Fender. By the time i got a new VI, Tony had a working PSVI template.
As Pickguardian is probably the best place to get offset guards, it would be great if someone worked with Tony to make a compatible modified VI control plate. Also where to exactly place the 3 or 4 switch slider plate.

I stopped by a great little Bass shop outside of Boulder, CO a few days ago, and the owner was converting/modding a Black PS Bass VI exactly like you're mentioning. He had also been working with Tony at Pickguardian to get a better guard (with a 3 slider plate, and cut to take the lower chromed control plate).

Reach out to Pickguardian - sounds like Tony's been doing a few of these guards.

[mcjt]

i want to turn my PSVI into this:

[SneakyT]

Ok it's been a long time coming but I've finally designed a conversion pickguard for the Pawnshop Bass VI. It took some time as it had to be designed from scratch. I was also waiting for the plates to become available again and now they are. You can get them from Marc Rutters. He doesn't have them on his site yet so you have to email him info@ruttersguitars.com. The pricing is $35.00 control plate $20.00 switch plate or $50.00 for both. I haven't quite settled on a price for the guards but will have these available in the for sale section in the next couple of days. I have ample black material and limited amounts of celluloid tort, black pearloid and parchment. The guard in the picture is mint but it's a bit too green for my tastes so i'll be sourcing a new supplier for mint (I really like eyguitars mint but their recent shipping hike has priced it out). I can do modern or vintage bevel (pictured is vintage). The guard was designed to do as little modification as possible (i.e. no body routing) so it will not be completely vintage correct. It will require some rewiring and drilling of a couple of new holes as well as swapping out the tone potentiometer for a smaller one in order to get the bottom plate to fit. Only two of the screw holes are not covered by the original guard if you are worried about returning it to original condition. I will offer the three jag pickup configuration as well as the PSVI pickup configuration.

Without further ado..



My camera is pretty old so apologies for the not so great pictures. I'll have more close ups soon as well.

[SneakyT]

Ok I've done a bit more prototyping and here are the options that will be available. All will be available with either Jag or JM pickups in the bridge position.
1)Guard as shown with holes for both plates.
2)Guard with four holes for switches and cutout for bottom plate.
3)Guard with four holes for switches but original pickguard over control cavity.

I don't have pictures of the last two as I have just laid out the template. I have yet to hear any feedback from anyone on the original layout so I'm reluctant to start using up pickguard material if no one is interested.