Pickguard Recommendation...

[Frankie Chestnuts]

Here we go.  My latest mockup. 

Tele Thinline body in roasted Swamp Ash.  Clear nitro finish.  Picked up a real nice chocolate color. 
The neck is roasted maple with a light Tru Oil finish.

The question is what color pickguard?  I'm leaning toward the cream pearl (1) or the darker tortoise (2). 

My wife thinks a green would look good.  I don't have an example, but the green she likes is a darker, forest green like shown in (6).  I'm not convinced yet.

There is always white/mint/cream or black... 

Thoughts?

 

[Ozopart]

Here we go.  My latest mockup. 

Tele Thinline body in roasted Swamp Ash.  Clear nitro finish.  Picked up a real nice chocolate color. 
The neck is roasted maple with a light Tru Oil finish.

The question is what color pickguard?  I'm leaning toward the cream pearl (1) or the darker tortoise (2). 

My wife thinks a green would look good.  I don't have an example, but the green she likes is a darker, forest green like shown in (6).  I'm not convinced yet.

There is always white/mint/cream or black... 

Thoughts?

Yes, (1) looks best. The guitar looks really nice.

 

[JohnnyHardtail]

White pearl >> Vintage Pearl.  IMO.

 

[stratamania]

I personally would lean more towards black or a vintage pearl at the most so as not to detract from the look of the swamp ash.

 

[Rick]

I lean towards vintage pearl as well but I recommend you go with your wife’s recommendation.  She’s probably seeing things we can’t in the picture and you get buy in on her part.  That is a win win.

 

[Frankie Chestnuts]

I lean towards vintage pearl as well but I recommend you go with your wife’s recommendation.  She’s probably seeing things we can’t in the picture and you get buy in on her part.  That is a win win.

But she continues to tell me that "It's your guitar." 

 

[Ozopart]

I lean towards vintage pearl as well but I recommend you go with your wife’s recommendation.  She’s probably seeing things we can’t in the picture and you get buy in on her part.  That is a win win.

But she continues to tell me that "It's your guitar."

So Stratamania is "right" in that black would look good. My recommendation against black pickguards in general is I have one on my strat and it shows dust, grime, etc. a lot. It looks nice, but just requires a bit more maintenance to keep clean. Other than that my general preference is black. For my current build I went with rear cavity, no pickguard. If I do another one it will be pearl.

 

[Frankie Chestnuts]

...so I had a spare black guard lying around.  This is the backside of another guard, so it's flat black.  Still not sure.  My wife said it's like black shoes with a brown suit. 

 

[teleme01]

you have to listen to your wife, its a rule

:band:

 

[JohnnyHardtail]

Gloss black has the disadvantage of showing every little scratch and smudge, but you may not be concerned about it.  Parchment is much better than black in that aspect.  For your project I'd probably use white pearl or vintage pearl.    Pearl pattern will camouflage a lot of blemishes and wear marks.  Vintage pearl can be too dark and creamy, but it actually looks fine in the pic you posted.