Any tips for drilling holes for a new archtop pickguard?

[beatcomber]

I bought a repro floating pickguard for my 1930s Slingerland Songster archtop acoustic and I need to drill screw holes in the guard. The guitar's body already has holes from the long-gone original pickguard, so I'm trying to figure out the best way to line it up without having to drill new holes into the body.

I'm thinking it might work to trace the new guard onto a piece of craft paper, tape it into position on the guitar, and rub a pencil over where the body's screw hole is to make an impression on the paper (like the way people "copy" historical headstone engravings). I would then tape the paper to the guard and use it as a guide for drilling.

If anyone has a better suggestion, I'd love to hear it!

[Dave Richard]

I assume the Slingerland p-guard has two attachment points: to a bracket mounted on the treble side of the guitar, and a screw attachment of some kind by the treble side of the neck extension(like a Gibson, or Epiphone).

If that's correct, then attach the bracket to the body, temporarily attached the guard to the bracket(with tape, if necessary), and align it with the attachment point by the neck. You can then mark the screw hole locations in the p-guard.

Hope that helps!

[beatcomber]

Originally Posted by Dave Richard

attach the bracket to the body, temporarily attached the guard to the bracket(with tape, if necessary), and align it with the attachment point by the neck. You can then mark the screw hole locations in the p-guard.

Thank you. How do I mark the screw hole location with the guard sitting on top of it?

[Dave Richard]

Ah, I assumed you would be using a semi-transparent tortoise celluloid(as I do), and the attachment points would be visible through the guard. If you are using an opaque black, then you will need to use some kind of centering point(like dowel centers) in the attachment holes in the bracket(s), then press the guard gently down onto those points, to mark the hole centers.

[Steve DeRosa]

Measure twice, drill once - in addition to the above...

[beatcomber]

Originally Posted by Dave Richard

Ah, I assumed you would be using a semi-transparent tortoise celluloid(as I do), and the attachment points would be visible through the guard. If you are using an opaque black, then you will need to use some kind of centering point(like dowel centers) in the attachment holes in the bracket(s), then press the guard gently down onto those points, to mark the hole centers.

Thank you! That's a great suggestion

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

Measure twice, drill once - in addition to the above...

Amen to that!

[beatcomber]

Well, that turned out to be a lot easier than I feared!

Trying to make an impression of the screw hole by rubbing pencil on a piece of paper didn't yield great results, so I traced and cut out a cardboard template of the pickguard. Using a digital caliper, I measured the location of the screw hole from the neck and edge of the body, and accurately marked it onto the cardboard template, which I confirmed by screwing the cardboard onto the guitar. Then it was easy to mark the bracket slot onto the cardboard. I then cut a short piece of nylon tubing to act as an offset to raise the guard up off the body by the neck.