GW Basses & Luthiery

  An Improved Battery Door for an NS5 Electric Upright
This EUB came into the shop for a basic setup, and while talking to the owner he mentioned that the battery door didn't work very well, often slipping open and the batteries then dropping out and hanging from the wired during a show. Was there anything I could do to fix it?

Building a better battery door?

I looked it over, and decided to make a hinged battery door from a piece of left over stabilized flame maple (from the end of the fingerboard I put on the `77 Rickenbacker bass featured here in the Custom Shop as well). I decided to put a hinge on one side of the door, and a thumbscrew knob on the other side with a brass insert.





Here is the original battery door... a thin piece of flimsy plastic with a simple wood screw. Not very sturdy or reliable....

A cut-off end of the stabilized flame maple fingerboard from the Rickenbacker restoration


Back cover removed, taking out the batteries

The new battery door machined out, polished, and ready for the hardware


 

Battery door hinge installed


Drilling a hole for the threaded brass insert for the thumb screw

Thumbscrew installed in the battery door with the keeper nut


All ready to do the final install of the new battery door

Installing the threaded insert for the thumb screw



All ready to go! Not a bad job if I say so myself!

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