Jim Dandy G9500 Limited Edition OXBLOOD Going Electric
Jim Dandy & Me.
Here is it. A brand new Gretch G9500 Limited Edition Jim Dandy OXBLOOD.
This is my second Jim Dandy. Nothing happened to the first one. I just like to have a second guitar for alternative tuning.
Almost every acoustic guitar which ends up in my hands goes electric. I don’t know now how it’s started. Because I am not a performer, not on stage. But nevertheless, it’s a fact. There are only two exceptions: Stella H929, 1955, and Angelus Dobro, 1938. And I’m still not sure for how long they will stay unelectrified.
But hey! Don’t touch the sacred things. Right?
As for the rest of my guitars, they don’t have such a historical value.
For the pickup choice, I stay somewhat patriotic. Canada maid Schatten Dualie with Endpin Jack. It’s a good, responsive piezo pickup. Maybe not as good as Fishman. But good enough, especially for the price of $56 CAD. I’ve bought it from Long & McQuade online.
Step 1. Installing the Pin Jack on Jim Dandy.
The most important part of the job is to install the pin jack. It goes instead of the original endpin.
Substep 1.
First, I remove the endpin. 
In the case of Jim Dandy, you only need a phillips screwdriver to do it. Just unscrew the screw and you are done.
Substep 2.
Next, I drill out the hole with a 4/16″ cone drill bit (on the left image).
As I already have the hole from the original endpin, I use it as a guide for a new bigger one. The result shown on the right image.
Substep 3.
I use the old string to pull the jack pin through the drilled hole inside the body.
I enter the string in the hole and then hook the pin jack.
Then I carefully pull out the string from the other side to place the pin jack in place.
Fix it with pin washer and nut outside the body. You may need 2-3 tries to do it right adjusting the inner nut in order to make a perfect lenght of the pin bolt outside.
Here’s how the final result on the pin jack should look like:
Step 2. Placing the Schatten Dualie Pickup
Firstly, I need to identify the right place to settle the pickup. Usually, it’s on the right/bottom side of the inner surface of the front deck, just below the bridge.
Yes. And the Schatten Manual just confirms my guess (See the image below.).
This step is very simple. Just follow the installation instruction as it says: “Take some of the inside putty supplied with the pickup and roll and knead the putty in your fingers to soften it up.
Apply it evenly to the face of the pickup (this is the side with no label on it) that will contact the sound board of the instrument.
Insert your hand through the sound hole of the guitar and starting with a placement on the treble side of the X brace, press and slightly wiggle the pickup into place on the soundboard.”
Alas. You are done! Now you can plug in your guitar into amplifier and play your favourite tunes.
