J&D Jazz bass scratchplate

[MoonBassAlpha]

Hi All 

My mate has just got a sunburst fretless,  has anyone changed  the scratchplate on theirs? We both agree that tort would look better than the white it comes with. Is a generic jazz plate likely to fit? Cheers 

[yorks5stringer]

I'd carefully check the screw holes and see how they match up with a generic one. You could get one made but that's probably not economically viable on a £150 Bass. Equally a cheapo generic is not a huge outlay. The other issue may be the heel of the neck shape which may differ on the J&D to a generic one, you may need to do a little filing.

 

Cheapest way is to buy a piece of Tort and make your own using the existing plate as a template but you need a few tools and some time.....

[theyellowcar]

Mine from way back when was not a match, and I ended up drilling new holes in the generic plate I bought to line everything up properly.

[MoonBassAlpha]

@theyellowcar thanks for the info,  I  wonder if that's still the case? How long ago are we talking,  roughly?

[MoonBassAlpha]

9 hours ago, yorks5stringer said:

I'd carefully check the screw holes and see how they match up with a generic one. You could get one made but that's probably not economically viable on a £150 Bass. Equally a cheapo generic is not a huge outlay. The other issue may be the heel of the neck shape which may differ on the J&D to a generic one, you may need to do a little filing.

 

Cheapest way is to buy a piece of Tort and make your own using the existing plate as a template but you need a few tools and some time.....

Out of interest,  would it be usable without a plate, or do they have ugly routing holes/trenches?

[Paul S]

This chap on eBay will make any pickguard you want.  Send him off the original so he can use it as a template then within a week he'll return it with whatever you want.  Not expensive, either.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/earlpilanz

[yorks5stringer]

14 hours ago, MoonBassAlpha said:

Out of interest,  would it be usable without a plate, or do they have ugly routing holes/trenches?

No idea,  but you could get your mate to unscrew it and see, they could be lucky? The one below would be fine.

 

https://www.guitarbuild.co.uk/products/jb-1960?variant=499055977&currency=GBP&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&utm_campaign=gs-2018-12-15&utm_source=google&utm_medium=smart_campaign&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjfXHkqKq8wIVB7DtCh3GkQ2vEAQYBCABEgK3h_D_BwE

[theyellowcar]

15 hours ago, MoonBassAlpha said:

Out of interest,  would it be usable without a plate, or do they have ugly routing holes/trenches?

I don’t remember them being ridiculous, but I don’t have a photo without the plate and it was 8 years ago. 
 

Here is a pic with the generic plate on it though, if helpful!
 

[MoonBassAlpha]

Thanks for the input folks. I got to play his bass yesterday and was blown away how well it played with no setup. I  would have further fettled it to my taste,  but  he has a lot heavier touch than me. It was a flying visit, so I didn't get the chance to remove the scratchplate though 😞