Pickguard Suggestions

[ninoman123]

Ok Im making a Gibson DC shaped guitar. Im going to do it in silver flake (hopefully) and a black pickguard.

I made my own pickguard shape and I would like some comments or suggestions. Its P-Bass inspired. You can see in the picture where the usual jack would go but since Im doing a pickguard it will be mounted on the top like a P-bass too. I know most of you dont like pickguards, but oh well! Its my guitar Ill do what I want.

check it out

Its just a rough shape I know. Some corners are a little too pointy. But Ill work that out when I actually make the template.

*EDIT* forgot to mention the controls will be mounted to the pickguard like a P bass' controls are.

Edited February 7, 2006 by ninoman123

[thegarehanman]

My take on it:

[ninoman123]

I would do something like that except Ill be mounting the jack and the volume and tone controls on it. So they would be way to close for that. But I do like. Very well done!

I might steal that upper left part there. Looks very cool!

Check this one out

P.S. Changed to photobucket so you can see it. heh

Edited February 7, 2006 by ninoman123

[thegarehanman]

Give me a while, let me see what I can do. Design is my bread and butter.

[Mickguard]

Well, if you're going to use a dog-ear P90, then you don't need the pickguard to come all the way down there...if you want it to extend that far, I'd suggest using a soapbar style pickup.

This is the way Gibson does it:

You can easily extend the foot of the Gibson design to give you your controls housing (and I like to mount my jacks on the pickguard too, it's more comfortable than having it jut out from the side like that).

I like your Precision curve idea too, I think it would combine really well with the standard LP Jr. guard.

Have a look at the Gibson Melody Maker pickguard too, especially if you want to surround the pickup --might give you an idea of where to take this.

[Mattia]

Something to keep in mind: most pre-comensated wraparound tailpieces are desigen to essentially be isntalled straight, little to no angle, and certainly not as much angle as a TOM.

[Mickguard]

And Gibson had a problem with the bridge studs being too close to the pickup cavity on the early LP Jrs-- the wood tended to collapse.

[ninoman123]

@mattia and Mickguard: Yes I actually think that Im not going to use a wrap around tailpiece. I think Im gonna go with a hardtail fender strat type bridge. I really dont like the idea of not being able to fine tune my intonation or my string height.

@Mickguard: I orginally played with some ideas just extending the original Jr type pickguard. None of them looked good to me. So I resorted back to a shape that has lasted decades. I will probably change it to the soapbar type P90. Heck I might not even go with P90s and just stick some single coils in there! Heh. I could always just have 2 different pickguards with different pickups in there.

So my hardware isnt set in stone yet. Thats what I love about DIY guitars. Its been nuts thinking about the millions of possibilities of what I can create.

[Mickguard]

So my hardware isnt set in stone yet. Thats what I love about DIY guitars. Its been nuts thinking about the millions of possibilities of what I can create.

That's how I look at it too. As I've said elsewhere, I'm not really interested in coming up with my own body design right now (that may come later)-- what I like is the opportunity to 'adjust' my favorite designs to my personal preferences.

As for the flexibility of the hardtail..well, I'm tending to think that all those adjustment options are just overkill. In fact, I'm pretty much back to the compensated wraparound design. Sure, if you're really really **** about it, the intonation isn't 100 percent accurate...but there's a sound to those things, and a simplicity, you just can't get anywhere else...

I do know that I don't really like the Fender-style bridge, and I like the string clearance of a TOM/wraparound style guitar.

[ninoman123]

That's how I look at it too. As I've said elsewhere, I'm not really interested in coming up with my own body design right now (that may come later)-- what I like is the opportunity to 'adjust' my favorite designs to my personal preferences.

Same here. I enjoy the DC shape but my body is nowhere near a DC. Its got a tummy cut and cuts into the horns for better access to the fingerboard like a PRS has. (Not sure if these have a name or not lol) Im also thinking about doing an arm contour but im not 100% sure yet. I like the look of contours in a body too. It makes a guitar seem more ergonomic instead of just a block of wood.

There are things about the TOM and the hardtail fender style that I love and hate. Im kind of torn between them. I agree with the string clearance part too. TOM style bridges feel better to me when palm muting but I like being able to individually set the string heights on a fender style bridge. Oh well.

and a simplicity, you just can't get anywhere else...

+1 You cant beat simplicity. Thats another thing that drew me into the LP junior. I LOVE how its so simple. The paint isnt flashy. There just a simple black/tortoise shell guard. One pickup. No switches. The simple bridge. Its all good on a Junior heh.

[Phont24]

What would be sweet would be a batwing style pickguard like on a Epiphone crestwood