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I have a semi-hollow in my shop that has a messed up output jack. Actually, the jack itself is fine, but he plugged in a straight cord, it hit the ground and it levered it and screwed up the area a bit. There's nothing really structurally wrong with the surrounding wood, but the hole is messed up. I guess I could ream it, plug it, reinforce it, redrill it and refinish it, but it's a $500 Epiphone and not worth the investment. Also, there are previous finish cracks that radiate out from a ham fisted tech that over tightened it in the first place. We decided to go with a square jack plate. It takes the hole out of play, and covers the previous cracks. I think it's probably the cheapest and easiest solution for him.

The question is, I think I'd like to put some reinforcement behind the jackplate for the screws to bite into. I'm wondering what a good strategy would be to get them fit and clamped in place? I'm working through the f-hole, so access is not particularly easy. On the plus side, I can make the jack hole pretty large because the plate will cover it.

This is probably a dumb idea, but I wonder if you could use some small drywall anchors - the kind that spread apart when you tighten the screws?

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I would just use a large washer for the inside. Like a fender washer drilled out big enough for the jack, Then a slightly larger then the original for the outside. This will give it the reinforcement it needs ...Mike

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Another day, another dollar.

If you need more room than the F-hole will provide, simply remove the treble pickup and work through that hole.
Used to do it all the time.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Thanks, Todd...that's exactly what i had in mind. I figured that I could just make a big hole and work from there.

He knows he shouldn't have used a straight plug on it. Fortunately, he got away with it this time. This could have been very ugly and very expensive.

I forgot to report back on this. It ended up being an ugly repair. A lot of splintered wood behind the jack. I did end up taking out quite a bit of material and left an oddly shaped hole. I took out as little as I could to get the jack in and out, plus removed all of the splintered wood instead of trying to uselessly repair it. Then I added the plywood reinforcements, drilled, hardened with CA, installed and voila. I doubt he'll ever be able to break that again. Thanks for the advice, Todd.

I'll also share a little trick I've been doing for a while now on outputs jacks. I put a drop of lacquer on the treads after I cinch it down. It keeps them from vibrating loose, but it's easy to break the lacquer the next time you need to work on it. I have a bottle of nail polish that I use for this, but any lacquer will do. The nail polish just happens to be convenient.

Good call, John.
I do the same thing on any threaded pieces - especially on Schaller guitar and bass bridges, and Kahler vibratos. A drop of thinner will allow a quick readjustment or simple force will crack the nail polish.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Nail polish is a good trick for threads - been doing that for 20+ years.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"