Official Luthiers Forum!

As a player I do a lot of fingerstyle and even when I'm strumming or even playing more agressively I don't tend to mar the finish. But, it seems as though a pickguard is necessary since many players have a tendency to inflict scratches on the finish. I have used Tor-tis (brand) in the past (or sometimes no pickguard). I'm thinking that I should design my own shape and possibly go with a thinner material... maybe clear... maybe not... What material have you had good success with? ...Stew-Mac? ...LMI? ...something else...?
Thanks,
Steve

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

That depends on what you prefer. For the most part they are all plastic that comes in different colors and thickness. If you don't have the tools to cut thicker plastic then you should use the thinner materials. Pre made pick guards usually have an adhesive backing. For the uncut guards you have to use adhesive backing. To keep from getting dissed I will recommend the adhesive backing that you can buy from SM. (I use something that was not designed specifically for guitars)

If you don't scratch your guitar and don't let people play rough with it then why have one on? I have a Martin EMP-1 that was designed without one and many other guitars don't have them. So it is basically down to what you prefer.

I have replaced many pick guards in my time and one thing I can tell you is a pick guard will stop the aging of the wood under it so it will leave a light patch the shape of the guard so you will forever have to have a pick guard on it and if you replace it it will have to be the shame shape or bigger to cover the "shadow" of the old one.

In my case (I am sure some will disagree) it really doesn't matter where you buy it. It just matters what thickness you prefer or if you prefer a specific color. Thicker material usually requires a template so you can route it out using a 45 degree router bit so you can keep a consistent bevel on the edge (but some guys can do it by hand with a blade) Thinner materials can usually be cut with scissors after heating the plastic up and don't need the 45 degree bevel on the edge.

Mario is offering some pretty cool pick g*ards that if I had to install one I would check out first thing. IIRC Stew-Mac has Mario's offerings. They also have the blanks too so you can size and cut your own.

Not the biggest fan of pick g*ards on my personal axes but I also have some pretty heavy handed friends who tend to strum like a gorilla so some of my guitars do have them.

+1 on Mario's Tortoloid pickguards from Stew-Mac. I replaced the peeling pickguard on my daily player with the pre-cut Tortoloid a while back, and I won't be using anything else as I begin to build my own. Thin, easy to install, and classy looking. In my personal opinion, they are by far the best looking tortoise-style pickguards out there. He posted a pic of a fresh batch of firestripes on Facebook that left me drooling recently.

I believe Stew Mac sells 3M 465 transfer tape, which was not designed for guitars, either.

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John

Clear pickguard fan here. I must have been trained first by my two Larrivees and then moving right on along into occasional flamenco building.
I don't like the visual intrusion of an opaque pickguard.

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu