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Fitting Graphtech Ghost saddles to a Jazz Bass

First job was to modify the bridge plate so that the wires from the piezo saddles would pass though. The holes were drilled just large enough for the plugs to fit through and the edged chamfered with a countersink bit to avoid any sharp edges and chafing of the delicate wires.

The hole positions were transferred to the bass body so that a channel could be routed.

A Dremel tool and Stewmac router base were used to rout a channel for the piezo wires.

Here is the assembled bridge.

Here's a shot of the completed piezo channel.

It was decided to place the piezo junction box under the bridge pickup. This was because:

  1. the wires wouldn't reach the control cavity,
  2. space in the control cavity was at a premium and
  3. it seemed like the best place!

Here is the bridge fixed to the bass with the wires passed through to the bridge pickup rout.

A battery box was routed for.

And fitted to make battery changing a snap.

Here's the control cavity. New pots were fitted and because a volume control was required for the piezo circuit, the magnetic pickups were given concentric volume controls.

The blender circuit board fitted nicely in the bottom of the control cavity, requiring just a slight undercut with a chisel make it fit.