wolfcoast Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 I had an interesting idea and I wanted to get some opinions on it. I'm currently refinishing a strat clone guitar I have. I has the starndard strat type white plastice pickguard. I'm doing a fabric finish on the guitar body and I don't like the looks of the white pickguard against the material. Fabric is deep red with small black broken lines on it. I realize you can order pickguards in various colors, etc but I want to get a pickguard with the same pattern on it. So here's my idea. Take a thin sheet of wood, veneer maybe, but something fairly thin to use as a backing board. Glue the fabric down just like on the body and then finish it the same way. Use a clear sandable filler and then lacquer over it. I plan on putting a bevel on the edge just like the pickguard and paint that edge black in my case. I'm thinking since the finish is the same as on the body, it should avoid the cracking & chipping that simply spray painting the pickguard might cause. Would like to get peoples opinion on this. Especially from anyone who may have tried something similiar with the pickguard. Thanx in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpeg2 Posted January 9, 2005 Report Share Posted January 9, 2005 I'm not too fond of plastic pickguards either - I did one recently using birdseye maple on top of 1/8" baltic birch plywood. I'd recommend using plywood rather than a thin piece of wood - less likely to warp & has higher strength. 1/8" baltic birch is strong & won't warp + is easy to glue to. It was pretty easy to glue up & finish - the only gotcha was that it is a little thicker than the normal plastic pickguard. I had to remove a little thickness at the neck pocket - the fretboard hung out over the end of the neck by 2 frets. A little dremel routing took care of this. This is how it came out: Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tirapop Posted January 9, 2005 Report Share Posted January 9, 2005 Search through the archives for other fabric refinishes. You can get clear plastic pickguards and glue the fabric to the underside. Fender Paisley Telecasters use clear pickguards and then spray on fade color on the backside of the pickguard to cover the pickup route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 Why not sink the fabric covered guard into the surface of the guitar a bit, and match the pattern to the top of the guitar itself (for example, cut it from the same stretch of material. That way, you'll still have a pickguard but it'll look like a solid top. You could be funky about it too, and turn the guard's fabric at an angle from the rest....depending on the pattern, it could look cool.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfcoast Posted January 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 Why not sink the fabric covered guard into the surface of the guitar a bit I thought about something like that.. Was thinking of making a smaller pickguard. One that is just big enough to cover the route. Mount that and glue the fabric down. Then use an Xacto knife to cut the outline of the pickguard. This way the pattern perfectly lines up across the body making it look like a rear route. I'm just not sure if my routing skills are up to it yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
croaticum Posted January 23, 2005 Report Share Posted January 23, 2005 maybe this site could help you. http://www.sharp-concepts.com/Templates.htm you can download template and then metch it up with you desighe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.