My first post, hello! and a question

[skiltrip]

Hi there! My first time here. Good to be here. I just acquired a Epiphone Dot in a trade with a friend. It's in decent shape, a few things here and there over the years got overlooked or whatever.

 

The one thing that I'm trying to work out how to fix is...

 

The nut on the input jack is on crooked, so it's kind of forced onto the threads if you know what i mean. And the jack is not tight to the body, so it's putting weird pressure on the body's finish when you put the plug in or take it out.

 

I'm trying to figure out how to get that nut off of the jack (cause it's kind of jammed on there crooked like I said). I don't want the jack to fall inside obviously. Any idea on how you'd go about this. I really want to get this nut off and then try to get it on the right way flush with the body. (hopefully I can even do this and the threads haven't been damaged.

[tggshow]

Not sure where you liv, but you can always search out a guitar show and find someone who can help you with your quandry.

Have you ever been to a guitar show? They have lots of them in Texas and one of the collest and newest shows is the Texas Gun And Guitar Show in Hillsboro, Texas. I am sure if you do a google search with the name you can find it. Plenty of new and vintage gear and admission is only $5, a great deal for this economy compared to other shows that cost $15 to $25 to get in.

Check it out and let me know what you think!

[spitball]

Do you think the nut can be loosened with needle-nose pliers?

[skiltrip]

Do you think the nut can be loosened with needle-nose pliers?

 

Only if I could manage to hold the jack part of it steady. Right now, the jack is loose, but the nut is jammed on crooked.

 

I shake my head an wonder how people let stuff like this happen to guitars in the first place. But I'm determined to nurse this axe back to health, cause she's got potential.

[dem00n]

Did u ask in the epi fourm?

[Dynadude]

You should be able to bend a piece of heavy wire into an "L" shape, and push it up through the jack from the inside. The lower F hole is plenty big for access. By heavy I mean like a welding rod, or something really heavy. You don't want the jack to turn much or you could pull the wires loose.

 

Once you get the wire in place, the jack will only turn a little, so you should be able to work the nut loose with a good box end wrench. Don't use pliers or channel locks. They will just slip off and ruin your day.

 

Also wouldn't hurt to lube the nut and threads with drop of light oil before going at it.

 

Once you get it off, you can hold the jack in place with the wire untill you get the nut back on straight. It would be better to have a new/good nut ready to replace the cross threaded piece.

[bobv]

Dynadude's got you covered. That's probably the best advice. Get in there and get rid of the original jack - not just because it's crossthreaded, but because they didn't use a good quality Switchcraft jack to begin with.

 

If you can't get the jack steady with a stiff wire (you should, though), there is a gadget sold by LMI that has a cam on it that holds the jack from outside while you tighten or loosen the nut. I'd go with holding it in place internally first, though, and a probe or stiff wire should work. Generally you use a piece of fishing line or dental floss to fish the new jack into positon.

 

Most Epis do not have the notch under the bridge pickup to fish parts in and out, but it's worth looking there to see if there's room to get the old jack out. You might be lucky and have lots of wire running from the toggle switch to the jack, otherwise you have to loosen the switch, too.