The archtop electric is one of the hardest guitars to
work on especially when you need to replace some of
the electronic components. This one needed the input jack replaced. That takes some special tools and a lot of patience.
The AS80 is a copy of the Gibson ES335. The 335 and the AS80 both are built with a solid piece fo wood going the entire length of the body. The pick ups are mounted on this block. Up till 1961 Gibson used a solid piece of wood but after 61 they cut out a slot under the bass pick up so the electronic componets could be installed and removed more easily. The Ibanez AS80 copied the pre-61 models and did not leave me this accomodation.
If you take note the input jack is the last piece of electronics in the line. This means that everything must be removed and re-installed, the four pots, the three way switch and the input jack. I had to remove them throught the f hole. To do this safely I first taped the f hole with masking tape
(pic). This protects the guitar from being scratched. The pots just fit through the hole. Without the tape it would have made a mess (pic).
Taking the parts out was easy. Putting them back in was another story. The switch and three of the pots went back in easily. The fourth pot was too far from the f hole so I used an old guitar string to get it there. I made a special tool using twelve gauge house wire and a 1/4 inch guitar jack to get the jack back to it's hole (pic).
Once back together and working I clened and polished the guitar, re-strung it with new strings, adjusted the neck and set the intonation (pic).
