That Pesky ES-175 Pickup Selector Grommet

[lawson-stone]

Has anyone located a reliable source for the grommet holding the pickup selector switch in place on a Gibson ES175? Mine fell apart and I need to replace it.

[BBGuitar]

Take a look at these and see if any measure up.

KEYSTONE 75TH ANNIVERSARY CATALOG K75 P137

[sgosnell]

The grommet in question is not just a piece of rubber. That type of grommet won't work.

[Dirk]

Same issue here...

[garybaldy]

Unfortunately there is no answer. I don't even look at it for fear of it disintegrating - it's 63 years old.
If all of us 175 (with grommet) owners got together and had a batch custom made, would it be cost effective?

[Cunamara]

Could be 3d printed.

[bohemian46]

There was one for sale on E-bay a couple months back for $80. 00.
Original packaging.

[garybaldy]

Could be 3d printed.

Would the material be safe on nitro?

[Marty Grass]

I can't help you. About a decade ago I got the last one that the Heritage crowd could find in the old Gibson plant.

I asked what the purpose of them was. There were two. The first is to add more height to the toggle switch in the thinner archtops so the switch would fit. The second was to dampen the sound of flicking the switch.

My guitar at the time was a Heritage Golden Eagle thinline.

This may not be an attractive option, but you could stack the Les Paul poker chips to get the desired height. They are not that expensive.

Here's another lead. Rubber bushing for toggle switch | allparts2014

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Would the material be safe on nitro?

New flexible thermoplastics used for 3D printing may actually be better than rubber, which isn’t completely safe for nitro (long term contact causes “nitro burn”). But there’s only one way to find out.

[garybaldy]

I can't help you. About a decade ago I got the last one that the Heritage crowd could find in the old Gibson plant.

I asked what the purpose of them was. There were two. The first is to add more height to the toggle switch in the thinner archtops so the switch would fit. The second was to dampen the sound of flicking the switch.

My guitar at the time was a Heritage Golden Eagle thinline.

This may not be an attractive option, but you could stack the Les Paul poker chips to get the desired height. They are not that expensive.

Here's another lead. Rubber bushing for toggle switch | allparts2014

That lead could be an option. Pity there's not more info on dimensions. Looks like I could get one shipped to the UK for £20 total. Worth a try?

[Sigmund451]

If someone knows how to do the mechanical drawing the printing would be pretty darn cheap. Its the programing that jacks up pricing.

[Dave24309]

Here's an old thread about the grommets. It may give some additional insight.

Rubber Grommet Bushing for Gibson Toggles

[lawson-stone]

Here's an old thread about the grommets. It may give some additional insight.

Rubber Grommet Bushing for Gibson Toggles

I think in that thread someone did put up a drawing with dimensions

[Herbie]

I think in that thread someone did put up a drawing with dimensions

Yes there was. Let’s have it here too for the 3D-print people.



My 1984 ES175 has this grommet too, it is not broken yet, but it ain’t getting younger.

[garybaldy]

Yes there was. Let’s have it here too for the 3D-print people.



My 1984 ES175 has this grommet too, it is not broken yet, but it ain’t getting younger.

This is probably handy too

[arnie65]

These might fit.

Amazon.com



Arnie..

[ruger9]

These might fit.

Amazon.com



Arnie..

Certainly worth a try for $6.49 !!

[sgosnell]

These might fit.

Amazon.com



Arnie..

Unless I'm missing something, those are about half as big as needed. The 16mm OD is only 1mm wider than the Gibson 15mm ID. Also note the difference in ID between the top and bottom on the Gibson grommet. That's the biggest obstacle.

[Sigmund451]

Thats what I saw also but Im no genius.

[garybaldy]

I'm sure one could carefully hone one out of this. Round Rubber Spacer Anti Vibration Isolation Pads Isolator Bushing Spacer Washer | eBay UK It is basically 30mm dia. and 10mm thk.

[Woody Sound]

Unfortunately there is no answer. I don't even look at it for fear of it disintegrating - it's 63 years old.

At ~1:00. "Don't even point at it."

[garybaldy]

At ~1:00. "Don't even point at it."

My 11 is an MXR Micro Amp. It can probably do 12!