I ended up cutting a longer pickup switch lever slot in the existing pickguard. An old screw-hole just happened to be exactly in the middle of where the newly cut slot ended and where the new screw hole needed to be. I filled in that plastic by melting a scrap piece of black plastic over the hole with a cigarette lighter and letting the melted plastic drip down into the hole. I was nervous about this, but it worked beautifully. I made sure not to breathe the fumes!

After finishing with the wiring, I set up the guitar and played it. It plays pretty well, but I can tell I've still got a lot of learning curve to go. None of these guitars has the high gloss finish found on guitars in modern music stores. The finish on this one actually looks kind of blah. I wasn't trying to have a glossy guitar in this case, anyway; I just want my guitars to play well. I'm slowly getting there . . . very slowly.

The general guitar resonance and tone on this guitar are both better to my ears now, which might be due to the new body finish. Or does it have more to do with a heavier bridge?