Help With M-80 End Cap

[Chaplain Will]

Hello to all -

First visit, and I'm happy to have found this forum. I have an M-80 pickup installed in a high end Taylor. It's a great pickup, but I want to remove it, and then reinstall it in my "everyday" guitar. The sound-hole pickup unit has been removed, and the internal cable unplugged and removed from the clips.

The problem is that I can't get the (decorative looking) end cap to come off. Instead, the whole jack is turning - inside and out. My arm is not quite long enough to reach in and secure the shaft.

Any suggestions of how to get the cap off (in a manner not to hurt the instrument ;-) ) so that I can continue removing and re-installing the pickup? Any / all advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks in advance -
Chaplain Will

[Caleb_Elling]

That's a tough situation. If it were my guitar, I'd probably start by putting a cable in the jack to try and secure it. Then while holding the cable's end (the cable's jack), I'd try to un-thread the button. If that didn't work, then it's hard to say.

You might be able to grab the jack from the inside of the guitar with some long-nosed pliers. That could damage the wire or the jack, but it might give you a better grip.

Let me know how it goes.