Loose end pin jack

[LARRY KLOSE]

I have a Baggs Anthem SL in my flattop and the end pin jack with preamp attached is loose from the inside.  My guess is that the inside bolt that snugs up against the tail block has come loose.  The nut on the outside is tight against the washer that backs it up (and bottoms on the shoulder of the end pin) but there is definitely space on the inside and the jack wobbles and moves in and out about 1/8".

Normally, I'd take this back to the shop that installed it but it's in the Bay Area and I'm in Tucson.  

I can't get my big arm all the way to the end block on the inside, even with an over-sized sound hole.  

Any suggestions on how to approach this?

Thanks,

Larry

[John]

Hey I have one of those.

[Paul Verticchio]

Great solution (:

 I do all my measuring & adjusting and when I have it zeroed in, I put a drop of super glue on the star washer to secure the washer to the nut.  This makes the washer immovable and it bites right into the end block.  The pickup jack is way less likely to rotate on its hole that way.  My personal experience is that, once the star washer is glued & secured using that method, the jack does not rotate at all.  I write that one off as just dumb luck & I know that someday it won't.

To tighten the outside nut, I converted a cheap 1/8" thick 1/2" box wrench that came with my kid's Schwinn bikes 25 years ago.  I modified it to be an open end wrench and bent the handle to provide clearance over the end of the instrument. Stew-mac now sells something similar but I'm soooooo frugal (; 

Anyway, that tool has made endpin-jack tightening a MUCH easier job with almost zero possibility of scratching the finish.  Just one more suggeation:

When tightening the outside jack, just snug it up well & don't "kill" it.  It's now a regular but mostly overlooked, maintenance item that needs to to be checked frequently.  Simply re-tighten as required.

Best wishes to all (-:

[Chris Rochow]

.......http://www.gryphonstrings.com/mercantile/Accessories.php

[Thomas James]

Another shim option for mounting these in a too large whole is heat shrink tubing.

[David Collins]

If the inner nuts are adjusted as I described in the Facebook link, then you should be able to torque it down as tight as you can get it. No risk of damage to the finish, no need for loctite or superglue, no periodic retightening.

[LARRY KLOSE]

Many thanks to all who provided tips for this problem.  I got in there and tackled this without much trouble.  The suggestion to use a 1/4" dowel was particularly helpful as the wood has enough purchase to stabilize the nuts while tightening but not so much that over-tightening will occur.

By the way, the difference between Baggs and Fishman jacks is that the Baggs appears to be metric.  As someone said, the threads are different and a 1/2' US wrench is more than 1/32' too large for the outside nut on the jack; a 12 mm wrench is perfect.

Larry