dcsmith Posted March 8, 2009 Report Share Posted March 8, 2009 There are a bunch of old threads here that describes painting of the plastic pickgaurds. It seems to me this is the same process as the guitar body itself? With the possible exception of using a bonding agent. The Lacquer aparently doesn't attack the plastic? I am rebuilding an old Japanese Epiphone Wilshire, this thing has a huge old nasty looking pickgaurd. I'm wondering if it would be easier to get one custom made? Thanks for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan Posted March 10, 2009 Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 (edited) I don't know about painting it, but custom ones are easy to get made. I like aluminum pickguards, so I get mine custom made from Sharp Concepts: www.sharp-concepts.com Those will probably run you around $60-70 if the pickguard is really big, like a P-bass. You can send them your old guard or just a tracing. If you want plastic, Pickguard Heaven does custom ones pretty cheap. I'm surprised they don't already have a wilshire, since they seem to have templates for nearly every guitar. www.pickguards.us I don't know how much they go for custom, but their ones on stock go for $75 max, $35 max for your basic black gloss one. They both accept drawings if you want something completely custom and both offer just about every color/finish imaginable. There are a few other places, but they're either really expensive or only do certain patterns. Pickguard Paradise will silkscreen any picture onto a guard, but that goes for $75+ Edited March 10, 2009 by Keegan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DGW Posted March 10, 2009 Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 I've painted plastic pickguards and truss rod covers before with no problem. I use an epoxy primer/sealer, acrylic urethane basecoat with an acrylic urethane clear. Once it's finished and buffed out, it looks like colored plastic, not paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j. pierce Posted March 10, 2009 Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 What kind of finished look do you want? My friend made a clear pickguard with lexan/plexiglass from the hardware store, and painted the underside with some sort of rattle finish - I belive it was the Krylon paint for plastic - it only had to adhere enough to be there, didn't worry much about durability. He attached the clear pickguard with the paint side down after it cleared. It wasn't as nice a look as a guard with the color on the outside, but it was a cheap way for him to get a red pickguard. I'd rather have a proper pickguard made, but it worked. I'd be cautious about trying this around a vintage finish - I'd be worried about the paint on the underside of the clear guard reacting with the finish on the guitar when the two are stuck together between the pickguard and the body. But maybe that's paranoia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DGW Posted March 10, 2009 Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 (edited) I would stay away from spraypaints if at all possible. Here's a pickgaurd painted with acrylic urethane. It's the same stuff they use to paint the plastic parts (bumpers, skirts, etc..) on cars as well, which are exposed to extreme weather conditions, rocks, etc ... It works and it lasts. Edited March 10, 2009 by DGW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcsmith Posted March 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 (edited) I would stay away from spraypaints if at all possible. Here's a pickgaurd painted with acrylic urethane. It's the same stuff they use to paint the plastic parts (bumpers, skirts, etc..) on cars as well, which are exposed to extreme weather conditions, rocks, etc ... It works and it lasts. The old Japanese Epiphone has a clear pickgaurd that has white paint underneath with the funky Epiphone/Prince symbol Epiphone e in the middle. Just getting one made may be the way to go. Of course I could mess with one I had, if it was "F" up'd I could just buy one anyway. I am only dealing with rattle cans here. Thanks for everyones input. Edited March 10, 2009 by dcsmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Posted March 11, 2009 Report Share Posted March 11, 2009 I would stay away from spraypaints if at all possible. Here's a pickgaurd painted with acrylic urethane. It's the same stuff they use to paint the plastic parts (bumpers, skirts, etc..) on cars as well, which are exposed to extreme weather conditions, rocks, etc ... It works and it lasts. Woah. Thats a nice guitar. It kinda reminds me of cruella de-ville off 102 dalmations. I don't mean that in a bad way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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