Wood pickguards?

[cromulent]

Thoughts on wooden pickguards? Thinking about putting one on a natural ash body but maybe it would be wood overload?

These look pretty nice but kind of pricey: https://www.etsy.com/listing/926093080/van-dyke-harms-telecaster-wood-pickguard

Any other good options out there?

 

[ragamuffin]

I’ve always liked the idea of a wooden pickguard or anything non-plastic. Haven’t had one though.

One thing to consider, based on my experience with wooden pickup rings, is that a wooden pickguard might be quite brittle

 

[cromulent]

Yeah that's my biggest concern. I think I may just get some blanks and make a few myself. Any thoughts on which types of wood would be more/less brittle? I personally like the look at Padouk.

 

[Lbpesq]

Here’s a wood pick-guard I put on my American Standard Tele with Alembic guts. I like it a lot.

Bill, tgo

 

[cromulent]

That's awesome! Where'd you get it? And any issues?

 

[Mitch]

This is a Warmoth Strat build that I put a solid walnut PG on. Got it on Reverb. Old style 8 screws. Rosewood knobs I got on ebay. The ash PUP covers I found on the internet.

 

[NedRyerson]

Made one myself. ¼" cherry, bandsawed from 5" wide and glued lengthwise to make a 10" piece that I could cut this from. Partially recessed into the body, coated in Tru-Oil. Looks great, feels fine.

But I will never do this again.

 

[cromulent]

Why not? Too much work?

I went ahead and bought some blanks. Still not sure how I'm going to finish it. Hoping to essentially plasticize the wood.

 

[Lbpesq]

That's awesome! Where'd you get it? And any issues?

I ordered it a few years ago from a company out of Australia called “Gilroy Guitars”. No issues. Great looking and functioning pick-guard that can double as a Rorschach test! I see an Amazon woman with Bozo hair, sitting cross-legged, with giant lobster claw hands. But, then again, I did drugs in college.

hehehehe

Bill, tgo

 

[NedRyerson]

Why not? Too much work?

It was way more effort than it was worth. Given its custom shape, I spent a lot of time and effort just building out the templates both for the pickguard and for the recess in the body. And now I have a bunch of template offcasts and scrap MDF that are just hanging out collecting more sawdust and cobwebs and taking up space in my workshop!

I supposed if I had a CNC, it would've cut out a lot of the extra work, but I didn't have one. So it relied on a lot of negative-space routing, trial & error with router bushings and different bit diameters, then how do I support the router when it's in the middle of the "lake" of the recess on the body.....

The guitar itself still needs a lot of electronics work, particularly with grounding and shielding (horrid, HORRID buzzing when it's plugged in). I think that's also contributing to my lack of desire to put any more work into it. Otherwise, it's comfortable and fun to play (not plugged in) and is a unique look.....but I'm really so done with that one!

And the kicker is that the neck is a beautiful one-piece roasted maple WM neck. So smooth and comfortable to play....but for the frustrations that built up in building the guitar as a whole.