How to flatten a '60s scratchplate

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Vinkie
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How to flatten a '60s scratchplate

Post by Vinkie » Mon Nov 06, 2006 4:48 pm

Although I saw some comments about flattening I'm still not really clear about how to go around it. The plate on my Jaguar is curled up (at most about 2mm) on three different spots and I'd like to flatten it. Do you just clamp it inbetween some flat surfaces and maybe weigh it down, do you apply any heat? How do you prevent the plate from cracking?

Any help is much appreciated.

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Re: How to flatten a '60s scratchplate

Post by zhivago » Mon Nov 06, 2006 4:51 pm

Doug will tell you exactly what he used, but the general idea was clamping it between two glass sheets and leaving it in the warn Florida sun :)
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Re: How to flatten a '60s scratchplate

Post by Vinkie » Mon Nov 06, 2006 4:56 pm

zhivago wrote: Doug will tell you exactly what he used, but the general idea was clamping it between two glass sheets and leaving it in the warn Florida sun :)
Man I wish I had some warm Florida sun over here right now 8)

Sounds very doable to me, I wonder how long it takes for a plate to settle.

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Re: How to flatten a '60s scratchplate

Post by fullerplast » Mon Nov 06, 2006 5:08 pm

That's it basically. I sandwiched it between two thick plates of glass, secured it with three C-clamps, and left it in direct sun for about a week. I turned it every other day or so (but I never basted it with butter or added spices).

After it was flat, I filed all the openings with a jeweler's file to compensate for shrinkage, periodically setting it on the body for a fit check. After everything fit (mainly the pickups and brisge thimble holes, that was it.

This was a pretty bad one, I about shit when I took it out of the box. But it turned out well, as you can see in the photos of Misty...

8)

P.S.  Don't use an electric heat source, it may flame up. Really!
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Re: How to flatten a '60s scratchplate

Post by Vinkie » Mon Nov 06, 2006 5:13 pm

Thanks for the lowdown Doug, much appreciated. I'll be gentle and skip electrical heat to prevent flame-out situations :-X

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Re: How to flatten a '60s scratchplate

Post by mezcalhead » Tue Nov 07, 2006 12:35 am

fullerplast wrote: as you can see in the photos of Misty...
:)

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Re: How to flatten a '60s scratchplate

Post by zhivago » Tue Nov 07, 2006 2:26 am

fullerplast wrote: This was a pretty bad one, I about shit when I took it out of the box.

:D :D :D :D :D

:)
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Re: How to flatten a '60s scratchplate

Post by Vinkie » Tue Nov 07, 2006 3:20 pm

zhivago wrote:
fullerplast wrote: This was a pretty bad one, I about shit when I took it out of the box.
:D :D :D :D :D
:)
I was thinking of this post today as I shipped of a Fender Pastorius Jazz Bass to a customer in the NL. It had been in our store for a while and the extra tortie scratchplate that came with it looked like a badly decayed Pringle crisp  :-X
I told my Boss: "I know what to do! All we need is two glass plates, a few clamps and at least a week of warm Florida sun!" We had a good laugh over it and substituted a new plate.

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