Question For Mutt: Re Pickguard Materials.

[WhiskeyJack]

....

What is typically used for making pickguards for electrics? I did some digging around at lunch time and it seems like ABS Plastic is the goto material. Is there any other options for that stuff? I understand it could literally be made of anything a guy could dream up i guess, but, by and large what would you suggest or have found is best to work with?

Where does a guy procure these items from? Guitar Fetish seems to have alot of ABS available speficially for what i am thinking of doing. however i am not wondering if there is some other source i am over looking that might not be marking it up for a specialty use like a pick guard or whatever?

Guidance?

[muttley]

That would depend entirely on what style of pickguard you want. What colour? What laminate if any, what guitar, anything that is hard wearing, stable and workable would work but it depends on many factors. ABS is pretty common for straight ahead single colour pickguards, many other plastics have been used. Some are easier to work with than others.

More info needed.

[WhiskeyJack]

That would depend entirely on what style of pickguard you want. What colour? What laminate if any, what guitar, anything that is hard wearing, stable and workable would work but it depends on many factors. ABS is pretty common for straight ahead single colour pickguards, many other plastics have been used. Some are easier to work with than others.

More info needed.

In this Instance it will be for a my P-Bass. I will follow up with pics later. It is pretty convoluted to explain. Pics to follow.

[WhiskeyJack]

That would depend entirely on what style of pickguard you want. What colour? What laminate if any, what guitar, anything that is hard wearing, stable and workable would work but it depends on many factors. ABS is pretty common for straight ahead single colour pickguards, many other plastics have been used. Some are easier to work with than others.

More info needed.

Ok This going to be a first for me. My intent is to replace the pickguard on my P-Bass. I had a guy modify this for me. i moved it from front facing position by the tone and volume knobs to the be on the side of it.



I tried it with a 90deg angled 1/4 cable but it still dug into my forearm, and i love that bass. It is very similar to my first p bass (RIP) Except much lighter and much more Red. So this is how it is now. however, i now have a hole in the front of it on the pick guard.



I think I'd like to make a new one with out the hole and i'd also like to be parchment / cream colored that would match the inlays. currently the one i have is white three ply. Black in the middle.

More or less curious if you knew where to source materials outside of specialized guitar parts retailers. Or if these sheets for cutting these things are only ever produced for this reason which will always lead me to places like GuitarFetish and StewMac.

[SweetDan]

http://www.warmoth.com/Pickguard/PBassPickguard.aspx ?
Looks like you can customize which holes they drill.

[Greg_L]

http://www.warmoth.com/Pickguard/PBassPickguard.aspx ?
Looks like you can customize which holes they drill.

Wow, you sure can. Pretty cool.

[Lt. Bob]

these guy'll do it too ..... I just got one for my bling-o-caster

[muttley]

OK, unless you are pretty confident in your template making and routing skills I would look for a pickguard that has the outline precut. Then carefully double sided tape them together and mark when the main cut outs go excluding the output jack. Drill the mounting screw holes first and make sure you drill them small first then open them out with a larger drill bit. Start with a 1.5mm bit and work up in small steps.. Plastic of all kinds can catch a drill bit and crack the plastic. You also want to make sure you have the reverse side well supported on a block as you can get break out and the drill pushes through, thats why you pilot hole first then open up with a larger bit. Cutting the larger routes for the pups is a bit trickier but if was doing it without a router I would drill the corners and scribe a line both sides to join up the holes and then drill out most of the waste and file to those scribed lines. I would also consider drilling the holes for the pup lugs first.

Your other option is to find something to plug the hole with.. or probably better still spend the extra few quid and get one like the guys have linked to.. BE AWARE, NOT ALL PICKGUARDS ARE THE SAME ACROSS MODELS SO MAKE SURE YOU GET ONE WHERE YOU EXISTING HOLES LINE UP IF YOU GO THAT ROUTE...

[WhiskeyJack]

Oh cool. I didn't think of Warmoth at all actually. That might be my absolute last resort.

I kind of want to try to at least make my own just because. Thanks for the guidance. My intent was to bring the existing pickguard into work and put it on the map scanner and scan it at 100% (no scale)and print it off with no scaling on the big map plotter and use the plot to make an MDF template then practice on some scrap wood for a bit i got at home. Full understanding that scrap wood /plywood /tree bark and plastic will all have the same response to tools i use.

Ok so, one more time here, am i limited to just guitar parts retailers / luthier suppliers for sourcing the plastics / materials to perform this task?

[muttley]

...........

Ok so, one more time here, am i limited to just guitar parts retailers / luthier suppliers for sourcing the plastics / materials to perform this task?

Unless you are going to buy an 8 x4 sheet of the stuff your cost saving making it from stock laminate is pretty much zero. I do it because I have the tools and often need to do non stock pickguards. If I only did a few a year I would get them cut elsewhere. If you know any plastic laminate outfitters they often have off cuts thyat they will let you have for prennies. I get stuff from a few places on occasion just for using for templates and tooling.

[WhiskeyJack]

Thanks mutt. I can't do a bloody thing now so i'll have lots of time to go looking / phoning around. There is a sign maker two lots dwon from my office maybe i'll walk down at lunch time and see what if anything they have.


Thanks a million.