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Old 12-02-2010, 08:21 AM
bbshriver bbshriver is offline
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Default 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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Old 12-02-2010, 08:30 AM
Tony Burns Tony Burns is offline
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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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Old 12-02-2010, 09:31 AM
epaul epaul is offline
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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.
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Old 12-02-2010, 09:38 AM
bbshriver bbshriver is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by epaul View Post
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.
Sounds like a job best left to a professional on these guitars. Wouldn't mind doing it on some cheapies, but applying heat and harsh chemicals to a few thousand dollars worth of Taylor and Martin's finest scares me a bit.

Any thoughts on that? Likelihood of damaging the body with either the heat or chemicals?
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Old 12-02-2010, 09:43 AM
Ted @ LA Guitar Sales Ted @ LA Guitar Sales is offline
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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.
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Old 12-02-2010, 10:29 AM
downtime downtime is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bbshriver View Post
Sounds like a job best left to a professional on these guitars. Wouldn't mind doing it on some cheapies, but applying heat and harsh chemicals to a few thousand dollars worth of Taylor and Martin's finest scares me a bit.

Any thoughts on that? Likelihood of damaging the body with either the heat or chemicals?
I've removed and applied pick guards on several expensive guitars with no issues. The first time I was very hesitant and worried about heat and chemical damage but I didn't have any problems at all.

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

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Old 12-02-2010, 11:43 AM
bbshriver bbshriver is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tarpman View Post
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.
Thanks for the comment.

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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