JPJ Posted September 23, 2020 Share Posted September 23, 2020 So a few weeks ago I was sitting noodling on my Sire V when I noticed what appeared to be a protective film lifting from the scratch plate next to the bell plate. Thinking I mustn’t have removed this when I bought the bass, I foolishly pulled it and actually removed the top glossy layer of the tortoise shell leaving a dull lifeless brown shell pattern underneath. After searching online for a replacement and trying both Fender USA and Fender Mexico replacements with no success, I bought some BWB scratch plate sheet material and made my own. It’s not perfect, but I think the black looks better than the tort😎 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted September 23, 2020 Share Posted September 23, 2020 Black always looks better than tort. Tort is for deviants. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted September 23, 2020 Share Posted September 23, 2020 Good to read that I'm a deviant. 🤣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted September 23, 2020 Share Posted September 23, 2020 (edited) Thomann & Bax Music do replacement plates for Sire V7 4-strings, not sure if they do them for the 5ers. They're after-market though, and not a fantastically good fit - I swapped my boring black plate for a clear one and it took a lot of very careful filing around the neck & pickup cutouts to get it to go on. A couple of the holes didn't line up fantastically well either, was a bit concerned about either the lacquer on the bass or the plate itself cracking when I tightened it down. All went well though, and I think it was worth the work: Edited September 23, 2020 by Bassassin 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPJ Posted September 24, 2020 Author Share Posted September 24, 2020 21 hours ago, Bassassin said: Thomann & Bax Music do replacement plates for Sire V7 4-strings, not sure if they do them for the 5ers. They're after-market though, and not a fantastically good fit - I swapped my boring black plate for a clear one and it took a lot of very careful filing around the neck & pickup cutouts to get it to go on. A couple of the holes didn't line up fantastically well either, was a bit concerned about either the lacquer on the bass or the plate itself cracking when I tightened it down. All went well though, and I think it was worth the work: Yeah I couldn’t find any 5 string versions online when I looked. That clear plate looks great though and it would work on the black bass as the neck pickup is drilled to the controls not routed like on many Fenders these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBunny Posted September 25, 2020 Share Posted September 25, 2020 A piece of car wrapping vinyl would do the job and cheap as. I'm about to do a carbon fiber wrap on a pickguard. Beauty is, if you don't like it, peel it off and start again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPJ Posted September 25, 2020 Author Share Posted September 25, 2020 Doh, why didn’t I think of that. How do you cope with the smaller radius corners, do you need to use heat to stretch the film? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBunny Posted September 26, 2020 Share Posted September 26, 2020 18 hours ago, JPJ said: Doh, why didn’t I think of that. How do you cope with the smaller radius corners, do you need to use heat to stretch the film? Stretches pretty well and only need a hairdryer if it won't play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzbass1970 Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 The pearl effect scratchplate on my v7 5 string looks like a peel off laminate, interesting to read this as i thought i was imagining things. Im leaving it well alone though as atm i can only find replacement scratchplates online for the v7 4 string. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baker69 Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 On 23/09/2020 at 12:37, JPJ said: So a few weeks ago I was sitting noodling on my Sire V when I noticed what appeared to be a protective film lifting from the scratch plate next to the bell plate. Thinking I mustn’t have removed this when I bought the bass, I foolishly pulled it and actually removed the top glossy layer of the tortoise shell leaving a dull lifeless brown shell pattern underneath. After searching online for a replacement and trying both Fender USA and Fender Mexico replacements with no success, I bought some BWB scratch plate sheet material and made my own. It’s not perfect, but I think the black looks better than the tort😎 You may have read my post on the Forum somewhere about the same issue I had with my P7? The pickguard was de-laminating in several areas, especially around the screw holes. I bought the bass from Thomann who very kindly gave me a Sire Marcus Miller gig bag as compensation. I was going to buy a gig bag anyway so with the money I bought a replacement pickguard from Jack’s Instrument Services in Manchester. The replacement red tort pickguard looks better than the stock one. The black pickguard does look nice on yours though, but on mine I think the red tort looks nicer with the white paint finish. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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