Basically as the title says I'm wondering who here makes pickguards. I have need for a new guard for my Modern player mustang project.
Sorry if this has been asked over and over. I did have a look in here and the whore house though.
Who makes pickguards?
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JohnnyTheBoy
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Re: Who makes pickguards?
Ok chap, there's probably a few on here that could make one for you...i myself could..the only problem is it can be a bugger to do, and it can be a bit hit-n-miss regarding the overall outcome..JordanD wrote:Basically as the title says I'm wondering who here makes pickguards. I have need for a new guard for my Modern player mustang project.
Sorry if this has been asked over and over. I did have a look in here and the whore house though.
Routers are evil evil things to control, and i myself have fooked up a couple of guards till i got the best result i could...the guard material is fairly cheap offa Ebay, but its a gamble what it looks like, and how it gets to you, infact the last lot sent to me came just in a bag loose!! i was relieved it was scratch-free..
Some people sneer and whince at some of the tort patterns for instance, but ive bought a couple in the past, and then sold one onto Fran, and just recently Owen...they seem to like/enjoy/put up with (delete as applicable lol) the patterns...
So you pays yer money, and takes yer choice..
Saying that, if you can trace your old guard, cut a pattern out of mdf, use a router safely without cutting digits off
, and take your time with it..then there's no reason to not have a go yourself...I would offer my services, but i'm in a transitional housing state at the minute, with imminent house move approaching.....maybe afterwards when im set up again in my garage....
As for now, id keep checking the classifieds, or ebay, unless you're doing something different with the pickups..in which case moding might be the only way forward...
Personally id have a go myself and practice, practice, practice...a cheapish router will set you back £25 (Aldi at the minute) they even have bit sets for £6.99 which would do!
Hope thats of some help....
Johnny
Please, if you use a router, table mount it.
You haven't got enough hands to hold everything securely with the router 'loose', and a pichguard isn't hefty enough for clamping to a workbench and routing around.
Use your 'guard and a cutter with a bearing at the tip.
I think I've done a kind of pickguard how to at some point.
Otherwise, I think Cooterfinger makes Mustang guards.
I've never done a Mustang or Jazzmaster; them rectangular holes scare me off!
You haven't got enough hands to hold everything securely with the router 'loose', and a pichguard isn't hefty enough for clamping to a workbench and routing around.
Use your 'guard and a cutter with a bearing at the tip.
I think I've done a kind of pickguard how to at some point.
Otherwise, I think Cooterfinger makes Mustang guards.
I've never done a Mustang or Jazzmaster; them rectangular holes scare me off!
I couldn't find a how to - if you could do one at some point that would be great, I want to make a couple of guards and I'm a little apprehensive.AddamInsane wrote:Please, if you use a router, table mount it.
You haven't got enough hands to hold everything securely with the router 'loose', and a pichguard isn't hefty enough for clamping to a workbench and routing around.
Use your 'guard and a cutter with a bearing at the tip.
I think I've done a kind of pickguard how to at some point.
Otherwise, I think Cooterfinger makes Mustang guards.
I've never done a Mustang or Jazzmaster; them rectangular holes scare me off!
The retangular holes, assuming you mean the ones for the switches, can be drilled and then finished with a file - I've modified a couple of guards and found that worked well enough
I made my own. I tried freehanding it.
It looked great from orbit, but a tangled, cracked and fucked piece of shit closer than 20 meters. I tried playing the guitar, caught my finger on one of the jagged tooth-like edges and my entire body unzipped, spilling its contents across the room. I had just enough sense left before all brain function ceased to entertain the thought that, in hindsight, I probably should have mounted my dremel into some sort of table or something.
Given a second chance at life, this is exactly what I did and it turned out much better. I didn't go the whole hog and mount it into a full table-router setup or anything; instead what I did was use a large vice to hold the dremel stable, mounted in such a way that I could place the material flush to the table and move it out across the router bit. It was still a bit of a DIY setup and nowhere near perfect but the result was much closer to a pro job, if still falling a bit short (particularly around the pickup routs).
So it's possible if you have some basic equipment, really. But I'd recommend rigging up a basic tablemount for whatever tool you end up using. Depending on how many straight edges are involved (none on mine apart from the pickup routs, which was why they were gash) you could get away with still "freehanding" it but keeping the router bit stable and moving the material with both hands makes a world of difference.
Also, make a template and screw the pickguard material into it and always work off that. Always.
It looked great from orbit, but a tangled, cracked and fucked piece of shit closer than 20 meters. I tried playing the guitar, caught my finger on one of the jagged tooth-like edges and my entire body unzipped, spilling its contents across the room. I had just enough sense left before all brain function ceased to entertain the thought that, in hindsight, I probably should have mounted my dremel into some sort of table or something.
Given a second chance at life, this is exactly what I did and it turned out much better. I didn't go the whole hog and mount it into a full table-router setup or anything; instead what I did was use a large vice to hold the dremel stable, mounted in such a way that I could place the material flush to the table and move it out across the router bit. It was still a bit of a DIY setup and nowhere near perfect but the result was much closer to a pro job, if still falling a bit short (particularly around the pickup routs).
So it's possible if you have some basic equipment, really. But I'd recommend rigging up a basic tablemount for whatever tool you end up using. Depending on how many straight edges are involved (none on mine apart from the pickup routs, which was why they were gash) you could get away with still "freehanding" it but keeping the router bit stable and moving the material with both hands makes a world of difference.
Also, make a template and screw the pickguard material into it and always work off that. Always.
Brandon W wrote:you elites.
And now that I'm thinking about it again, another idea would be to cut the pickup routs first. Seems obvious now but fuck you.
Make sure the straight lines of the pickup edges and on the same plane as the straight edges of the material and then simply use a rule clamped the correct distance away to make the cuts straight and you're golden. Again, seems kind of obvious in hindsight but I often find that the best way to appreciate why things are done the way they are is to dive in with a minimum of research and then hide the atrocious fuckup under your bed forever.
NB I will be using this philosophy when it comes to reproduction.
Make sure the straight lines of the pickup edges and on the same plane as the straight edges of the material and then simply use a rule clamped the correct distance away to make the cuts straight and you're golden. Again, seems kind of obvious in hindsight but I often find that the best way to appreciate why things are done the way they are is to dive in with a minimum of research and then hide the atrocious fuckup under your bed forever.
NB I will be using this philosophy when it comes to reproduction.
Brandon W wrote:you elites.
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Fran
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Its a funny one with Pickguards, to do it properly you need to set up right and for the sake of a couple of pickguards its more economic to buy them from somewhere else.
You need a router, router table, two bits (one chamfer, one straight) and jigs to knock decent ones out imo because the margins are so fine. Anything past 0.5mm and something wont line up.
At least with a guitar body the tolerances are more forgiving.
I dont like routers at the best of times, used them a lot cutting Kitchen worktops and they only give you one chance. One second of concentration loss and you've fucked the material up or the
jig or the bit or even yourself.
You need a router, router table, two bits (one chamfer, one straight) and jigs to knock decent ones out imo because the margins are so fine. Anything past 0.5mm and something wont line up.
At least with a guitar body the tolerances are more forgiving.
I dont like routers at the best of times, used them a lot cutting Kitchen worktops and they only give you one chance. One second of concentration loss and you've fucked the material up or the
jig or the bit or even yourself.
NickD wrote:I couldn't find a how to - if you could do one at some point that would be great, I want to make a couple of guards and I'm a little apprehensive.AddamInsane wrote:Please, if you use a router, table mount it.
You haven't got enough hands to hold everything securely with the router 'loose', and a pichguard isn't hefty enough for clamping to a workbench and routing around.
Use your 'guard and a cutter with a bearing at the tip.
I think I've done a kind of pickguard how to at some point.
Otherwise, I think Cooterfinger makes Mustang guards.
I've never done a Mustang or Jazzmaster; them rectangular holes scare me off!
The retangular holes, assuming you mean the ones for the switches, can be drilled and then finished with a file - I've modified a couple of guards and found that worked well enough
Then send it to NYC to get lost in the mail. That's how I do 'em.
Cheers for all the input guys, it's very much appreciated.
The issue I'm having is the Modern Player mustang (one with p90s) doesn't seem to fit any of the Japanese guards I have or a vintage one I pulled from my friends 1966 parts-stang. Giving someone my original guard to try and make a template seems to be the best option. I've not got the space or facilities in my flat to be having bits of cut plastic and/or dust all over the place.
The issue I'm having is the Modern Player mustang (one with p90s) doesn't seem to fit any of the Japanese guards I have or a vintage one I pulled from my friends 1966 parts-stang. Giving someone my original guard to try and make a template seems to be the best option. I've not got the space or facilities in my flat to be having bits of cut plastic and/or dust all over the place.