ShortScale.org

The old "Firestripe" is probably closest to the real deal:


I like a good menstrual-red tort, though.

DuoSonicBoy wrote:I like a good menstrual-red tort, though.

I'm on this boat with you.

Some people hate it, I kind of like it, although these guards look like it's ink from a laser printer on plastic.

silly_rabbit_band wrote:

DuoSonicBoy wrote:I like a good menstrual-red tort, though.

I'm on this boat with you.

Some people hate it, I kind of like it, although these guards look like it's ink from a laser printer on plastic.

it's not bad in this example. but then again, oly white lends itself to just about any pickguard i think.

dots wrote:it's not bad in this example. but then again, oly white lends itself to just about any pickguard i think.

YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS!



nnnggghhh.

Hahahaha, that's great. I don't think it's all that bad either.

Earlier AVRI Jags and Jazzes had nicer tort than the newer ones. They were more red as opposed to the new brown/yellow spotted looking ones. The tort on my 2002 AVRI Jazz was niiice.

mmmm, that actually doesn't do it for me. swirls < bits of stuff

That's exactly what I was talking about. That doesn't even look like tortoiseshell. It's just a red swirl pattern. Mother of pearl, I suppose. Tortoiseshell usually consists mostly of brownish tones.

This is the new CIJ tort guard off my new Mustang (made 2006 I believe)


It's really dark brown with some bright orange chunks, and little bit of dark red thrown in for good measure, I don't really like it compared to my annoyingly bright red laser printed tort guards. Also if you close enough on this you can tell a lot of it was printed as well. (picture quality is not so great, only camera I have is on my cell phone)

GeorgeF wrote:I can't remember the name of the guy who did this for me but my custom guard was made from celluloid with the the bottom ply made of regular plastic to stop shrinkage and warpage. It's supposed to be the 'real deal' (in vintage terms) and have a 3D quality but it looks kind of reguar to me. But hey, it only cost an extra tenner from the regular stuff.



I'll add a close up if anyone's interested, it does have a certain 3D quality. It's definitely not a print job like my original CIJ - that was terrible.

if this guitar was white, with a white pickguard, white pickups, it would be the fucking soapuar. fuck yes

Here's a crappy pic of my WD tort. Had to use a flash since it's dark out now.

This is win:

I'm thinking of getting a tort guard for my Jazzmaster, just not sure about spending £40ish on a sheet of plastic right now.

Do WD sell Jazzmaster guards? I didn't see any on their site.

Narco Martenot wrote:It seems as if somewhere along the way, the meaning of tortoiseshell within the guitar world changed to describe anything containing a swirl. Most of the stuff I have seen used on guitars after the 70s looks pathetic when compared to the real deal. The stuff used on 60s Fender guitars generally looks nice.

Well, faux tortoiseshell isn't unique to guitars, it has been around for long time and has over the years sort of defined itself in it's own unique way.

19th Century Dresser Set


1930s cigarette case


Vintage Deco hair piece


Vintage Frames


Vintage card holder, brush, and ???

I believe that's a tort salt/pepper shaker.

my friend's dad managed to get hold of some tortoiseshell from somewhere (he must have 'reclaimed' it from something, seeing as it's illegal to bring into the country). he makes picks from it, just for himself though. and someone else i know has one hanging in his hallway, he brought it back from the middle east in the 60s or 70s.

I don't like how tort can be both the nicest and shittest 'guard. Sometimes at the same time.

silly_rabbit_band wrote:I believe that's a tort salt/pepper shaker.

It's got like 20 holes, dude. I'm guessing it's a talc dispenser.

VENOM tort is the ugliest shit ever, especially in person:

mage wrote:

Narco Martenot wrote:It seems as if somewhere along the way, the meaning of tortoiseshell within the guitar world changed to describe anything containing a swirl. Most of the stuff I have seen used on guitars after the 70s looks pathetic when compared to the real deal. The stuff used on 60s Fender guitars generally looks nice.

Well, faux tortoiseshell isn't unique to guitars, it has been around for long time and has over the years sort of defined itself in it's own unique way.

Yes, I know. but it is especially bad in the guitar world -- even a $5 pair of faux tortoiseshell sunglasses in 2009 looks better than some of the best faux tortoiseshell pickguard material being produced in 2009. I do not know why.

I assume the problem (and this is the case with most things modern), is that the duties of design has been handed down to younger generations who have not done their research and have no idea what the fuck they are doing; and in this case, probably do not even realise that faux tortoiseshell is supposed to represent a natural material that was legally used up until the early 1970s. It's just gets more and more watered down as time goes on, and eventually it has nothing to do with what it once was.

Look at the photo above that Doog posted -- how could anyone even call that tortoiseshell? It doesn't resemble it at all.

To me, it's just frustrating as I think tortoiseshell is one of the most beautiful materials that exists, and it would be nice if quality, or even decent materials were more widely available.