Any Results from Removing Tanlines?

[Bazyliszek]

Has anyone had lucky from diminishing or removing really bad tanlines from pickguard removals?

How long was the pickguard on before removal? How long did it take? What were the results?

Pictures would be amazing.

[Wade Hampton]

Getting rid of tanlines on guitars after a pickguard has been removed is much easier said than done. I've read claims online from people who claim to have done it successfully, but I've never seen any examples in real life.

The problem, of course, is that the wood that was never covered by a pickguard continues to darken as the pale wood that was underneath the pickguard tries to catch up. Theoretically you could made a template out of stiff posterboard that covers all of the top EXCEPT the part that was previously under the pickguard. Then you'd need to store the guitar on a stand out in a place where it gets a lot of light, posterboard template firmly in place, day after day after week after month after year.

It's a time-consuming process...

Depending on how long the pickguard was on the guitar, you'd need an equivalent amount of time to darken the paler wood.

The folks who seem to have gotten the best results have been those who took the pickguards off of relatively new guitars, so that there's less catching up needed.

Hope that makes sense.


Wade Hampton Miller

[David MacNeill]

I wouldn’t do it except, as Wade said, on a brand spankin’ new guitar right out of the box. If for whatever reason you absolutely must remove it, consider an exact replacement in clear plastic. It likely would mask some of the color difference as long as it wasn’t too extreme. Depending on the angle you view a clear pickguard, the light refracts a little differently.

[Stevien]

I'm curious as to whether a clear pickguard leaves a tan line. Anyone ever remove one?
Steve

[Wade Hampton]

Steve asked:

Originally Posted by Stevien

I'm curious as to whether a clear pickguard leaves a tan line. Anyone ever remove one?

Yes, I have, and yes, it does. Clear pickguards don't affect the coloring of the wood beneath them as dramatically as pickguards made from opaque materials do, but as David mentioned, the light does refract differently going through the clear material. So the wood underneath a clear pickguard doesn't darken at quite the same rate as the uncovered parts of the top darken.

It seems likely to me that you've got a lot more time to remove a clear pickguard while avoiding tanlines than you do with opaque pickguards. But a faint tanline will be visible if you leave a clear pickguard in place for awhile, then remove it.

Hope that makes sense.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Bazyliszek]

I'm curious - what if a guitar had been stored in a case for say 10 years and never been exposed to light. Would it still darken?

[fazool]

Originally Posted by Bazyliszek

I'm curious - what if a guitar had been stored in a case for say 10 years and never been exposed to light. Would it still darken?

There may be some chemical reactions occurring so it might still look a little different. The other wood is slowly oxidizing, for example and the covered wood is not. Also, there is outgassing of the plastic affecting the wood underneath, etc.

[wooglins]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

Steve asked:



Yes, I have, and yes, it does. Clear pickguards don't affect the coloring of the wood beneath them as dramatically as pickguards made from opaque materials do, but as David mentioned, the light does refract differently going through the clear material. So the wood underneath a clear pickguard doesn't darken at quite the same rate as the uncovered parts of the top darken.

It seems likely to me that you've got a lot more time to remove a clear pickguard while avoiding tanlines than you do with opaque pickguards. But a faint tanline will be visible if you leave a clear pickguard in place for awhile, then remove it.

Hope that makes sense.


Wade Hampton Miller

I got lucky. Just removed a clear Taylor guard from a 2007 R. Taylor. No tan lines. Wonder if finish type matters.

[outatune]

I removed a pickguard from a Collings SJ that was 4 or five years old. The tan line wasn't near as bad as I thought it would be, maybe because guitar hadn't seen much daylight in it's life.

I cut an outline of the guard from a piece of white poster board and laid it on my bench, covering rest of guitar with cloth. I placed a black light (UV) about 12" above it and left it on. In a few days it was close and I quit. After a few months of use, it wasn't visible. note: black light was comact flor. and came from Amazon. Sunlite SL20/BLB 20 WATT, blacklite blue

My problem was the ridge that formed around the edge of the guard in the finish. It has to be block sanded and I was terrified I would sand through the finish. Worked out though and it is still a regular player here.

Sorry, no pics...

David in TN

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by wooglins

I got lucky. Just removed a clear Taylor guard from a 2007 R. Taylor. No tan lines. Wonder if finish type matters.

Well, the sort of UV-cured polyester finish that Taylor uses doesn't yellow the way that the nitrocellulose lacquer finishes that Martin and Gibson use will. But when it comes to the wood itself darkening, the factor that's by far and away the most important here is the amount of light a guitar receives. If a guitar has stayed in its case most of the time and doesn't get played much in direct sunlight, its top won't darken nearly as fast as a guitar that stays out on a stand most of the time.


whm

[lowrider]

I know it's not the same but my house has yellow pine floors. For twenty years I had a floor mat inside a 6ft sliding door on the south wall. When I put on an addition, I took out that slider and naturally didn't need the mat. There was an almost white square eyesore right there on the floor and nothing I could do about it. With no direct sunlight, two years later it was almost gone and now five years later it is gone.

If it's not totally driving you crazy, just leave it alone and it will eventually catch up.

[zeeway]

The darkening comes from exposure to ultraviolet light. Some woods are more prone to this phenom than others - cherry, for example, will show tanning with just a few hours exposure. Ultraviolet (above violet light frequency) is part of most light, but especially sunlight, and your guitar has seen significant exposure even if it is stored in a case.


Untanned areas from pickguard removal eventually match the rest of the guitar. Exposure to sunlight will speed up the process, and a reverse pickguard template will also help speed up the matching.

[David MacNeill]

Today I installed a new clear D’Andrea pickguard on my new Alvarez baritone ABT610E, which did not come with a pickguard. I wanted to illustrate the slight color difference you get. If this was an exact replacement for a guitar that had an opaque pickguard installed for years, the tan line would essentially disappear, gradually blending in after years of additional light exposure.

That’s my theory and I’m stickin’ to it.

7A958B71-4937-422D-AC35-9F18DDCE19A5.jpg

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by zeeway

Untanned areas from pickguard removal eventually match the rest of the guitar.

That has most definitely NOT been my experience. I mean, it would be nice if it did, but the top that wasn't covered up by the pickguard still continues to darken at the same rate as the wood that has now been exposed by the pickguard removal.

Originally Posted by zeeway

Exposure to sunlight will speed up the process, and a reverse pickguard template will also help speed up the matching.

The reverse pickguard template will help, but there are still no guarantees that everything will eventually match.


whm

[Methos1979]

Originally Posted by Bazyliszek

I'm curious - what if a guitar had been stored in a case for say 10 years and never been exposed to light. Would it still darken?

Yes, and it wouldn't take 10 years. I bought a Martin 000-28EC off a friend once that had two. One was his beater that he took everywhere and had kinds of finish cold checking and the other was a pristine backup that rarely left its case. I bought the latter from him and it was only like 4 years old. I removed the pickguard (hate them) and there was already a tan line. It was a relatively light one but you could still see it.