1999 H-150 - original wiring? Also - tightening output jack?

[Alex94706]

I recently picked up a 1999 H-150CM in Vintage Sunburst, with the original Schaller Golden 50 pickups. I am going to swap in a Schaller "2 in 1" humbucker (hot, like a Super Distortion with 12 hex polepieces) to the bridge position and rewire the controls to 50s style wiring.

Wanted to know whether the current wiring looks to be stock, or whether a prior owner might have done a pot / cap upgrade.  Can anyone with a late 90s H-150 verify from the attached gut shot whether it appears to have the original pots and caps?

One additional question: the output jack is a little bit loose in its physical mounting (not in the electrical connection). It's pretty tough to get a wrench or a pair of needle nose pliers on the mounting nuts on the inside of the cavity.  Any recommendations for tightening this type of barrel jack?  Only thing I could think of would be to desolder the wiring connections and hold the mounting nut with needle nose pliers while turning the barrel jack from the outside and then resoldering, but if there's a way to do with without desoldering / resoldering I'd like to know.

[PunkKitty]

That's a beautiful 150. The wiring looks original. Barrel jacks are the bane of guitar repair. You will probably need to desolder it in order to tighten it. The pictures threw me off. Normally Schallers have two screws on each side of the pickup. These only have one. I thought they were Duncans until I looked at the color of the hookup wires. I suspect that the pickup rings were changed at some point.

[Alex94706]

It's possible that rings were changed. I looked at the underside of the pickups and they're definitely Schallers, with matching 1999 manufacture date stickers.

I added the Schaller fine-tuner tailpiece and the amber speed knobs; may ultimately go with gold speed knobs. Bridge is a little corroded; I have a new Schaller bridge to replace it with when I do the pickup swap.  Also removed the original pickguard and have it stored in the case.

[mars_hall]

Loosen the jack nut and put a large washer on it whose hole is the diameter of the jack and tighten.  The washer will hit the edges further up from the wooden channel.  Could also use a short bushing.

[Jaguarguy]

I use this to tighten the jacks on my guitars.

 

http://jacktight.com/diy-guitar-repair-tools/

[pressure]

I posted this in the wrong thread an hour ago.

https://www.stringsbymail.com/jacktight-output-jack-repair-tool-for-guitars-basses-and-more-7033.html

[Alex94706]

That JackTight tool looks nice, but it seems to be made for jacks with the hex nut on the outside of the guitar, not the inside like the barrel jack on this Heritage.  I'm not seeing how you'd get the JackTight tool into the cavity and over the barrel jack threads to tighten the nuts.

(And even if the hex nut were on the outside, I'm not sure what the JackTight does that you couldn't do with a socket on a screwdriver-handle mount.)

Now I'm considering drilling out the hole for the barrel jack and putting in a regular Switchcraft jack with a plate when I re-do the wiring. Talk me out of this ...

[mars_hall]

34 minutes ago, Alex94706 said:

That JackTight tool looks nice, but it seems to be made for jacks with the hex nut on the outside of the guitar, not the inside like the barrel jack on this Heritage.  I'm not seeing how you'd get the JackTight tool into the cavity and over the barrel jack threads to tighten the nuts.

(And even if the hex nut were on the outside, I'm not sure what the JackTight does that you couldn't do with a socket on a screwdriver-handle mount.)

Now I'm considering drilling out the hole for the barrel jack and putting in a regular Switchcraft jack with a plate when I re-do the wiring. Talk me out of this ...

Step away from the drill and put your hands on the car...

[PunkKitty]

44 minutes ago, Alex94706 said:

That JackTight tool looks nice, but it seems to be made for jacks with the hex nut on the outside of the guitar, not the inside like the barrel jack on this Heritage.  I'm not seeing how you'd get the JackTight tool into the cavity and over the barrel jack threads to tighten the nuts.

(And even if the hex nut were on the outside, I'm not sure what the JackTight does that you couldn't do with a socket on a screwdriver-handle mount.)

Now I'm considering drilling out the hole for the barrel jack and putting in a regular Switchcraft jack with a plate when I re-do the wiring. Talk me out of this ...

I've done that before on a cheaper guitar. It was messy. I suggest getting a professional to do the work if that's what you want to do.

[High Flying Bird]

If you can handle a soldering iron replace the barrel jack.  To get it out you may be able to use a deep set nut driver or a socket.  I have never tried it but it is a thought.  Keep the amber knobs.  They look perfect to me.

[Genericmusic]

 

[DetroitBlues]

17 hours ago, PunkKitty said:

That's a beautiful 150. The wiring looks original. Barrel jacks are the bane of guitar repair. You will probably need to desolder it in order to tighten it. The pictures threw me off. Normally Schallers have two screws on each side of the pickup. These only have one. I thought they were Duncans until I looked at the color of the hookup wires. I suspect that the pickup rings were changed at some point.

Pickup rings on Heritages are prone to break because of the awesome carved, deep-dish tops they used to make.  

[davesultra]

The Schaller pickup rings were especially prone to cracking on carved tops. I’ve drilled out a barrel jack hole 1 time. I used a forstner bit on a hand drill. It went “meh”, so it can be done.

[Alex94706]

Earlier, I wrote: "That JackTight tool looks nice, but it seems to be made for jacks with the hex nut on the outside of the guitar, not the inside like the barrel jack on this Heritage.  I'm not seeing how you'd get the JackTight tool into the cavity and over the barrel jack threads to tighten the nuts.

(And even if the hex nut were on the outside, I'm not sure what the JackTight does that you couldn't do with a socket on a screwdriver-handle mount.)"

Just looked at the tool again. I'm a dummy (or I don't have the attention span to watch videos online). Now I think I understand that it grips the jack from the inside so you can tighten the mounting nut without the jack turning too. Still don't think it's quite what I need. I like the suggestion above to use a couple more washers or some kind of bushing to grip the inside curve of the wood while placing the nut further away from the wood so I can get a wrench or socket on it.  Since I'll have to remove it anyway to get it out of the way for rewiring I'll take care of it then.

Thanks for the tips, all.  The H-150 is going to be a good complement to my Stat.

[Millennium Maestro]

The pots and wiring don't seem original,  They look like CTS pots... Original have solid tops, caps look original... You have a nice guitar there

I will try to get you a photo for reference.

[davesultra]

3 hours ago, Millennium Maestro said:

The pots and wiring don't seem original,  They look like CTS pots... Original have solid tops, caps look original... You have a nice guitar there

I will try to get you a photo for reference.

It could very well be stock wiring, as I’ve had a few “H” guitars that had stock CTS “dishback” pots. Most notably my old ‘89 H-357.