Silly question, but - strap button removal?

[blitheringeejit]

Hi -

I need to fit a pickup socket to my L25 - but I'm not sure how to remove the factory-fit wooden strap button / plug. Does it pull out, unscrew, or do I need to drill it?

Sorry if this has already been covered elsewhere, I did search the forums before posting, honest!

Thanks
nik

[Rick Jones]

I just put a good thick cloth in the jaws of a set of mole grips(vise grips if you're across the pond),wrapped so the ends won't touch the guitar.. and set them just enough to grab the endpin, then slight turn side to side and pull out.
Gently like!

[JB]

Hi Nik,

Rick's advice is correct, the wooden end-pin is only a push fit, somes tight but should be easily removed with a strong grip and a bit of a twist.

[blitheringeejit]

Thankyou folks - it's a bit scary attacking my beloved Avalon with a blunt instrument like this, but I'll have a go.

[blitheringeejit]

With apologies for resurrecting a dead thread...

I didn't want to take the risk with a drill, so I took the guitar to a luthier who drilled out the hole for me. So far so good.

But now I have a different problem - the pickup is an L R Baggs M1 Active soundhole one, and the strapjack which comes with it doesn't fit lengthwise - when inserted from inside the guitar, not enough of it sticks out to attach the strap button reliably. This is the case even if I remove all the extra nuts and washers from the inside end of the strapjack, though the pickup instructions suggest that these shouldn't be removed.

I guess this is because the block of wood inside (the "end-block"?) is too thick/long to accommodate the strapjack supplied with the Baggs pickup - but the pickup is a very popular one, so if this is a straightforward incompatibility between Avalon guitars and these pickups, I'm sure I can't be the first to encounter it.

Any suggestions? I suppose I could ask a (well-insured) luthier to widen the hole a bit at the neck end, but that would be a tricky operation to do when you can't see the thing you're drilling.

Or can I obtain a different strapjack assembly which will work with the Baggs pickup? It has a mono 3.5mm plug on the end, and presumably some kind of power switch in the socket, though I haven't checked exactly how it's wired.

Or am I missing some other obvious solution?

Thanks
nik

[JB]

Hi Nik,

If the wiring allows for it the simple solution is to use a Switchcraft jack-socket, that's what we use.

[blitheringeejit]

Jim: thanks for the suggestion. I'm sure the wiring won't be a problem - I had a degree in electronics once, though that was nearly 30 years ago and I can't remember where I left it.

Can you let me know a part number for the socket, and perhaps a pointer to a supplier? Or maybe even flog me one?

Thanks
nik

[JB]

You've got a PM nik