Neato BS tort plastics trick

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Wed Jul 06, 2011 1:33 am

So I was sort of half-heartedly looking into a single-ply no bevel tort guard for my DC project, like the one on this guitar:

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They're not easy to find, nor is single-ply tort (that looks remotely good) really easy to find, plus I suck at making pickguards (that look pro), so I was constantly thinking of ways to cheat. Some time ago I was buying up pickguard plastic and ordered a sheet of self-adhesive swirly tortise acoustic pickguard material from GPR, but they sent me 3-ply economy tort by mistake, so after a bit of wait I ended up with all kinds of crap: tele blackguard sheet, traditional crap tortise, and this acoustic tort stuff. My original plan was to cut a copy of my thick black DC guard (which got warped in the heat of the 4th of july and is looking shit) and then adhere the acoustic tort on top. After looking at the tortise I began to realize that the black under it was going to look awful and cheap.

So I did something kind of strange, I cut the material in half and made two guards at once, perfectly mirrored, then stuck them back to back to thicken them up. The acoustic material was so thin that I just cut it with scissors. It was still pretty flimsy as a 2-ply but I went "this'll sort of work, I guess, and who knows, maybe the layering of the two tort patterns will make it look---[holds it up to the light]

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Just about crapped myself. This guard is not ready for primetime but I'm definitely ordering more of that stuff and making one with a bit more care.

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Wed Jul 06, 2011 2:06 am

Not bad at all! The two tort plies compensate for the sparse nature of the single ply quite nicely, resulting in a more interesting/dynamic patterning. Good jorb!

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Wed Jul 06, 2011 10:11 am

Would be easier to tell from clearer res pics but I'm betting that gives it a more convincing 3D quality like real tort!

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Wed Jul 06, 2011 10:07 pm

It has a bit more depth but it still looks unmistakably like a print much of the time... just a better one. The main thing that I think sets it apart from most tort print is where patterns are visible under another (second pic).

More brown comes out with a bright flash it looks kind of red in more subdued lighting. I think that's pretty cool for this guitar because the TVY changes from creamy to neon to mustardy depending on what the light is like.

It may not be the best looking tort guard in the world, but here was the alternative:

DanHeron · Post by **DanHeron** » Wed Jul 06, 2011 10:21 pm

Looks good, especially considering the alternative stuff. Nice one.

Just needs to be cut a little neater - but you mentioned that in your post.

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Wed Jul 06, 2011 10:27 pm

I need to do this for my mustang. I HAET teh tort that's on it right now.

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Wed Jul 06, 2011 10:43 pm

endsjustifymeans wrote:I need to do this for my mustang. I HAET teh tort that's on it right now.

Sadly I don't know how it'd handle having stuff suspended from it Fender style, or if the blanks are big enough to do one.

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Wed Jul 06, 2011 10:50 pm

paul_ wrote:
endsjustifymeans wrote:I need to do this for my mustang. I HAET teh tort that's on it right now.
Sadly I don't know how it'd handle having stuff suspended from it Fender style, or if the blanks are big enough to do one.

My mustang has a single P-90 (body mounted) and no switching.

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Wed Jul 06, 2011 10:51 pm

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Wed Jul 06, 2011 10:51 pm

looks good (or will do once you cut it properly). interesting approach.

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Thu Jul 07, 2011 8:48 pm

for a fender style guard, I wonder how it would look if you put it on top of a piece of W/B/W or mint (M/B/M?).