The Electra Forums

NOOB to the board so please bear with me if these questions have been ansewred previously.

My X410 has no serial numbers whatsoever. No signs of a refinish and in excellent condition. My Aria guitars always used the common ink stamp markings. Didn't Electra use the same type of markings? There is no sticker either and no sign of one being there, but the poly finish may not show signs of the sticker after a good cleaning...

Just trying to get an idea of when/where/what factory she was made in. I also need some advice on replacing the toggle and jack switch. I'd like to keep it as near to original as I can but the jack switch and toggle are giving in after all these years and I still want to play her!

I'll offer up a few details hoping it may help to date her. It has the peace sign Electra tuners that have gold tulip buttons and the bases/bodies remind me of Gibson Super 400 tuners in that they have a mounting screw on both ends but one end is rounded and one angular/flat sided like the vintage Gibson/Kluson tuners. The headstock is a 70s Gibson style open book and bound in tortoise. The headstock has a wood overlay and the Electra brand name and peace sign. It has the standard jet wing inlays and tortoise bindings with a rather thin/narrow neck and a neck volute. Came with what appears to be original gold hardware and clear pick guard with gold mount and plexi-glass support. The neck pup ring and bridge pup rings are black and the same size but the neck ring is mounted backwards. The neck binding has tiny white micro dot sized fret marker inlays starting at the first fret and then moving to the third etc... like most guitars. I haven't taken the pups out to check them yet but they sound nice and warm.

The only issue is the factory arch top style tail piece allows the open low E and A to rattle some. Any suggestions/assistance would be greatly appreciated. I'm sure someone on this board has some answers for me.

Thanks in advance, Dan

Yes but... there are some models which didn't get serial numbers. I've seen several Monarks that didn't, and odds and ends of other models. TOo few to tell yet if there's a pattern, but yes, it does appear that it may orignally not have had one with the usual number stamping that most got.

A Jazz Strad is a really nice guitar- got pics of it to share?

Jacks and toggle switches are two hardware details that do give out over he years. At the risk of being non-original I'd recommend replacing them with modern pieces without hesitation. You may need to do some hunting to find a close match, for instance in the case of toggle switches it can be hard to find one with the same stalk shape as original. But it's worth it to have it in good working order! (I would keep the originals in a ziplok bag in hte case if it has one)

I'm not clear exaclty how the tailpiece is allowing the low strings to rattle? is it like they're too low and rattling at the higher frets? Could it be a neck/truss rod thing?

I recently replaced the toggle switch on my workingman. I used one from stew-mac that worked but was a tight fit. I noticed that the existing switch was very simple and if I bent the contacts a little it would work again. I confess I left the new on in but you may want to try that.

A normal switchcraft jack should work but be sure the threaded portion is long enough. Good Luck

Thanks for the replies guys,

It seems to be a sympathetic vibration. Kinda' like there's not enough downward string pressure on the bridge. The action and intonation are perfect right now and I can play at the first fret with out any issues. I admit this is the first guitar I've owned that didn't have a stop style tail piece so I'm not to familiar with the trapeze and its idiosyncrasies yet. If I apply finger pressure on the the low E/A behind the bridge the strings won't rattle but they're sharp of course... I could probably replace the nut and raise the action there but I really hate to if there's another course of action I could take.

I've changed pots, jacks and switches before but never in a hollow body guitar. This is the first hollow body I've owned that I'm actually bonding with so these issues never came up before. What's the deal on swapping these parts on a hollow body? Do all the pots and wiring need to come out and the soldering is done outside the guitar and then everything fished back through? As there's no access cover I've been waiting till I get an ideal of how to approach it.

I can snap some shots of it tomorrow. Can I use photobucket and the img files to post pics in the thread?

Dan

Hey Dan -

I'd love to see some pics. I have a supposed-Burgundy Pro that's a bit odd. You can read all about it in the Unknown or Un-Identified Models forum in the Electra Mystery Jazzbox thread (I just posted some more there).

I'm slacking on the pics sorry... I did take a pup out to give a look inside and see if I can't get a handle on the switch and jack replacement. The inside looks to be a bit different from Gibsons I've seen. The routing beneath the pup is much deeper and the top looks like a two ply laminate. The pups are ink stamped but not quite like those "Supers" I saw pictured in the mystery thread. The ink stamping is larger and the numbers begin with 26XXX. I'll pull them again and get some pics up if the weather holds out until Tuesday. The jack seems to be glued??? in place by a former owner and the nut will not release. There isn't much room to work around so changing out the jack is on hold for a minute until I can get to it without doing any damage.

Still hoping for good advice from someone who's been there before on replacing the jack and switch. So far I'm going with fishing line to tie off the jack and switch so I can easily (if that's possible...) pull the new switch and jack back into (or close to) there homes.

I still haven't fixed the buzzing problem on the low E/A strings. Raising the action didn't help too much as it appears a previous owner cut the nut too shallow on those strings. I hate to replace the nut as the guitar appears original and the poly finish is really thick around the nut and neck/peg face.

I've a few others to play so this isn't high on my priority list but I do want to get it "right" in the not too distant future.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Dan

If the nut is to shallow you can have it filed deeper or do it yourself if you are up to it. If what you have is a sympathetic vabration, some hollow body players put a small stiff piece of foam rubber between the offending string and the next one. As it is not permanent it may be worth trying first before modifying the nut.

Just to clarify the above suggestion about the foam rubber, What I was trying to say is the foam is placed between the strings in a position between the trapeze tailpiece and the bridge to dampen the sympathetic vibration.