Official Luthiers Forum!

What type adhesive is ideal for attaching pick guards?
I'm planning on making my own wooden pickguard and am familiar with certain spray contact adhesives...but That doesn't seem to be the product desirable for this application. SURELY there is a specialty product available for this installation somewhere that will also release fairly easy (if necessary).
Kent

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Wood Creations by Kent A. Bailey
EXCELLENCE IN SCULPTURE, CARVING, LUTHIER, ARCHITECTURAL MILLWORK AND DESIGN

http://www.kabart.com

I have used the pick guard adhesive sheets sold by StewMac and LMI (transfer adhesive at LMI). They worked well for me.

I just made a rosewood pickguard, and used double sided tape to fasten it to the sound board.

Heres another recommendation for the 3m product sold at LMI and Stew Mac. Very very thin,very sticky, does not react with the finish, etc. Highly recommended....

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The Biggest Little City, Nevada
www.hammondguitars.com
I love building guitars!

The 3M stuff is great, as mentioned 'very' thin and a very reliable bond. If you save the backing, you can stick it to PSA abrasive and use it for flossing the cheeks of the neck. doing so allows the back of the abrasive to slide very easily against the body while the grit does the work.

Cheers

Kim

I saw the adhesive sheets....but wasn't sure how it would adhere to a raw back wood pickguard. Possibly doing a light coat of lacquer on the backside of the finger guard would give the this type of adhesive sheet a better bond. Hmmmmm?
The double sided tape is a good thought....easily removed if and when the guard needs a refinish.
Thanks all,
Kent

_________________
Wood Creations by Kent A. Bailey
EXCELLENCE IN SCULPTURE, CARVING, LUTHIER, ARCHITECTURAL MILLWORK AND DESIGN

http://www.kabart.com

Bailey, I sealed the back of my pick guard with CA , and the top with Howards feed and wax for two reasons , one to give the tape something to adhere to, and another to ( hopefully ) stop the pick guard from taking on moisture and warping. if you use the 3m double sided tape , a few small squares will hold it sufficiently . when I glued my bridge, I used some tape on my clamping caul inside the guitar to hold it in place, I put the tape on the whole surface, this was a mistake, it took about 20 minutes of hard constant pulling to get the stuff to begin to release . and that was stuck to a raw maple bridge plate and a bare plywood caul ! Jody