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10
Telecaster Control Plate Upgrade
www.AweSome-Guitars.com
Solving Installation Issues
Here is how to solve installation issues that involve insufficient body cavity width and/or depth.
1. The mounting holes for the
Telecaster Control Plate
Upgrade do not line up with the body mounting holes.
Loosen (but do not remove) all switch mounting nuts so that the
Pickup Switch Upgrade
TM
product can be
slightly "Shifted" to achieve the needed adjustment. If that doesn't work then see item #2 (below).
2. The
Telecaster Control Plate
Upgrade does not fit into the body cavity because of there is not enough room.
It appears Fender never imposed rigorous standards on their manufacturing
partners
in China, Malaysia,
Indonesia, Mexico, Korea, India, etc. Because of this, some instruments were made with a control plate body
cavity that is slightly smaller than the cavity in the
standard
American instruments. Further, some instruments
may have a body cavity depth with two different levels and may require some material removal so the
Telecaster Control Plate
Upgrade will completely lay flat into the body cavity.
To solve these body cavity width and depth issues, you can use a power drill with a rotary file to remove a small
amount of material on either side of the body cavity. You should only remove enough material to permit
installation. Typically, removing 1/32” off each side will be adequate to solve this issue.
The illustrations (below) identify how to use the electric drill and rotary file bit to remove excess material on
each side of the body cavity. Also illustrated are two common rotary file bits. The top one is a rasp bit, the
lower one is a scraping bit. Either will work.
When using this procedure, it is recommended that you enlist the help of a friend to firmly hold the guitar body
while removing the unneeded wood using the rotary file. Using a blanket or other material between the guitar
body and the working surface will prevent the bottom of the body from being scratched.
