#1
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pickguard removal
Just curious about this.... I generally don't like pickguards on acoustics and don't really believe I've ever "used" one. Over thanksgiving my fiance was noting that my pickguard on my D-35 Johnny Cash covered up part of the rosette (normal for pickguards) and since it's a black pickguard on a black guitar it just looked odd...
Which got me thinking, is there any real downside to removing the pick guard? Can it be done cleanly? Conversely if it's removed, and the finish underneath is different (I know natural wood finishes tend to "tan", not sure about the black lacquer) or otherwise it looks wrong when removed, can it be re-applied easily enough? Just questions! Thanks!
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B Shriver Martin D35-Johnny Cash #563 1998 Taylor 810 |
#2
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Ok- pick guards are removable -they take alot of patience and care - You can pretty much figure the pickguard will not be able to be re-applied - im not a fan of changing originality of guitars ( i use to be a pretty decent inlay person ) it can hurt the value of your instrument -but one of the least evasive and easily replaceable things you can do is the pickguard . I believe in some cases it makes the guitar sound better - more recently thou many manufacturers have been usung thinner pickguards that dont effect the tone all that much.
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--------------------------------- Wood things with Strings ! |
#3
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Warm the pickguard with a hairdryer. Start at a corner and gently pry it up. Keep hairdryer warming the pickguard ahead of the "pull zone", directing the air flow between the wood and and pickguard, warming the the adhesive. Go slow. Watch the glue gently stretch and release.
You can use naptha/mineral spirit to clean up any glue residue remaining on the guitar afterwards. If you don't like the effect when you are done, buy a new pickguard. |
#4
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Quote:
Any thoughts on that? Likelihood of damaging the body with either the heat or chemicals?
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B Shriver Martin D35-Johnny Cash #563 1998 Taylor 810 |
#5
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The pickguard covering part of the rosette is normal, do a Google photo search of guitar rosettes and you will see.
As for removing your pickguard, I would advise against it for two reasons. a) Because of the gloss black finish there is a very good chance the you will be able to see the outline of the pickguard, and b) both the non original condition and ugly pickguard line will hurt resale. |
#6
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Just go slow, apply only as much heat as necessary to soften the glue and slowly peel it off. As for the glue residue, I've used naptha without issue on satin and gloss finishes on Taylors, Martins, Seagulls and others. One good thing, pick guards are relatively cheap, you can always put one back on if you don't like it. Here is my Seagull Artist after I removed the guard |
#7
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Quote:
I know that it is pretty normal, I just don't like it. It seems more noticeable when it's a black pickguard on a black guitar since you don't really see the pickguard you just see the missing part of the rosette. I'm not really concerned about "value" of either guitar, both were gifts and far more valuable to me than they would be to sell in any condition. However an outline on either would be unacceptable.
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B Shriver Martin D35-Johnny Cash #563 1998 Taylor 810 |