8/11 hole strat pickguards

[Tomatonator]

Hi all,
What are your thoughts on number of pickguard holes when working with a blank canvas undrilled body? I think I prefer less screws and there's probably no real difference other than the look but I see many more 11 hole items when browsing especially things like wood pickguards.

I haven't found one that grabs me so as an interim I was thinking of getting a regular plastic 3 ply one but of course that requires me to decide on the number of holes to put in the body without having the final choice on there.

 

[rolloman]

I'm no expert by no means but I think it has to do with a vintage look that used less screws vs a period or year when Fender started using more screws. If you don't really worry about thing like that and are building it to suit yourself like I mostly do then go with what you want and not what Fender did in the past or present.

 

[Cagey]

Just speculating, but back about 100 years ago celluloid was a more common pickguard material than it is now. Problem with it is it has a nasty tendency to warp, which may have led them to add some screws to the pickguard in an effort to keep it down flush to the body. But, I'm just guessing. I've never been able to see a mechanical reason to increase the number of screws.

 

[Tomatonator]

That's what I'm thinking but I've only seen ~1 place gilroyguitars.com with 8 hole wood pickguards and they're all maple and I don't think that would suit what I have in mind unless it was maybe a nice spalted one or something. I've seen some nice reasonably priced guards on Ali Express but they're 11 hole and probably not the photo of the actual item either so wood grain and/or colour probably varies a lot too  :icon_scratch:

 

[ByteFrenzy]

I'd say somebody got fed up with people sticking a handful of spare picks under the pickguard edge and thought 'this'll stop them'...