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Post subject: Scratchplate Lifting
Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 12:49 pm
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The scratchplate on my 1989 American Standard Strat has started to lift with the highest point about 2mm away from the body immediately above the top height adjustment screw for the neck pickup. I have tried to refit the scratchplate by loosening the screws, pressing it flat and tightening them but it is still raised.

Does anyone have any suggestions why this has happened and what I can do to stop it getting worse or perhaps get it to lay flat again? Or are there just 2 options: Live with it or replace it?


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Post subject: Re: Scratchplate Lifting
Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2016 1:25 pm
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Double sided tape works

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Post subject: Re: Scratchplate Lifting
Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2016 10:58 am
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fifty4 wrote:
Does anyone have any suggestions why this has happened

Wood shrinks and expands with age and humidity. (Some of the earlier 50s/60s pickguards were prone to shrinking too.) So buckling or screw holes that tear isn't all that uncommon. Perhaps especially for the transition years for Fender, where wood was used that wasn't always all that well dried.

To fix, if your guitar is in a stable environment, you can replace the pickguard. If the screw hole positions have moved too much, you may have to fill some of the existing holes and drill new ones.
If you want to keep the existing pickguard, and it doesn't flatten out after being unscrewed, it can be heat-pressed to become flat again.

After that, as long as the guitar is kept at relatively stable humidity, it should be stable and you won't have to go through it again.


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Post subject: Re: Scratchplate Lifting
Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2016 1:31 pm
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Thanks for the suggestions.

I'm not too keen on double sided tape as I will no doubt want to remove the scratch plate at some point in the future. But I will see if I can make some adjustments to the screws or flatten the current one.


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Post subject: Re: Scratchplate Lifting
Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2016 10:21 pm
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You could maybe try a wet(damp) towel wrapped around the pick guard while off the guitar of course and an iron, not to much heat, it could delaminate if its a 3-ply. May be worth it to just get a new one, but either way you got to take the pickups, pots, etc off.


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Post subject: Re: Scratchplate Lifting
Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2016 1:22 am
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sfceric64 wrote:
You could maybe try a wet(damp) towel wrapped around the pick guard while off the guitar of course and an iron, not to much heat, it could delaminate if its a 3-ply.


Hmmm......

I think better luck might be realized by clamping the pickguard between a couple of pieces of plywood and hitting it with a hair dryer.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Scratchplate Lifting
Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2016 2:32 am
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Retroverbial wrote:
sfceric64 wrote:
You could maybe try a wet(damp) towel wrapped around the pick guard while off the guitar of course and an iron, not to much heat, it could delaminate if its a 3-ply.


Hmmm......

I think better luck might be realized by clamping the pickguard between a couple of pieces of plywood and hitting it with a hair dryer.

Arjay


+1
8)

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Post subject: Re: Scratchplate Lifting
Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2016 2:48 am
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fifty4 wrote:
Thanks for the suggestions.

I'm not too keen on double sided tape as I will no doubt want to remove the scratch plate at some point in the future. But I will see if I can make some adjustments to the screws or flatten the current one.



+1000


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Post subject: Re: Scratchplate Lifting
Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2016 4:44 am
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fifty4 wrote:
Thanks for the suggestions.

I'm not too keen on double sided tape as I will no doubt want to remove the scratch plate at some point in the future. But I will see if I can make some adjustments to the screws or flatten the current one.



You can still remove the scratchplate afterwards. Nothings gonna get through that urethane clearcoat so don't worry about that

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Post subject: Re: Scratchplate Lifting
Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2016 7:43 am
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I guess what I would be looking at is whether or not the plate is warped when at rest, ie: not installed on the guitar. That situation may be fixable but I doubt it could be done quickly.

It may also have grown or shrunk and the screw locations on the body may no longer be optimal for the plate. If that's the case there may be no cure, short of elongating the holes.

There is the option of simply replacing it.
Might be a while before an '89 accrues any collector value so keeping it original may not be all that important over the short term.

Arjay's idea might very well work for a warpage issue, particularly if done over a long period of time, like a couple of years.
Placed between two flat surfaces, like ¾" G1S plywood with 50 or 100 lbs. of weight on it, stashed away in a corner somewhere for a few years, it could very well straighten out if warped when at rest. It didn't warp over night so I don't imagine it will straighten out over night. Maybe a couple sheets of parchment or even just copy paper between the plywood and the plate (both sides) could keep glue or sap from the wood from leaching onto the plate's surface over time. May also protect from grain pattern being embossed into the surface. Not that G1S ply would have much sap leakage or grain pattern to give. Better safe than sorry, though.
:idea:

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Post subject: Re: Scratchplate Lifting
Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2016 10:04 am
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80% of guitars have this, it's normal. I would leave it alone and not sweat the small stuff, nothing is perfect.


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Post subject: Re: Scratchplate Lifting
Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2016 6:31 pm
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Retroverbial wrote:
sfceric64 wrote:
You could maybe try a wet(damp) towel wrapped around the pick guard while off the guitar of course and an iron, not to much heat, it could delaminate if its a 3-ply.


Hmmm......

I think better luck might be realized by clamping the pickguard between a couple of pieces of plywood and hitting it with a hair dryer.

Arjay



That's exactly what I was gonna say. Practical and effective.

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