Pick guard or no pick guard

[Kyle76]

My Larrivee mahogany has a clear pick guard that is basically invisible. It lets the beauty of the top show through but keeps it from ending up like Trigger.

[Goodallboy]

You don’t even notice a clear pickguard. That’s the point of having one.

[muscmp]

it depends upon your style, as you said. if you are a heavy strummer, better get one, otherwise we'll read in a couple months your asking how to get rid of the scratches.. if you are a mellower style strummer, no problem.

play music!

[Mr. Paul]

Faced with the same decision on a guitar with a beautiful top, I added a custom cut clear pickguard that is very small and made to address the area where I drag my pinky. You can see it in some light conditions but generally invisible.

[started with 1]

It's on the way with no pickguard and a nice tortoise colored teardrop one in the case. Thanks for the input.

Arrives Friday and hopefully with the warmer weather I will open it Saturday morning .

[pandaroo]

Originally Posted by started with 1

It's on the way with no pickguard and a nice tortoise colored teardrop one in the case. Thanks for the input.

Arrives Friday and hopefully with the warmer weather I will open it Saturday morning .

Excellent choice!! Exactly what I’d do too

[bufflehead]

Originally Posted by started with 1

It's on the way with no pickguard and a nice tortoise colored teardrop one in the case. Thanks for the input.

Good choice. I installed the pickguard on my Breedlove, and wasn't that big a deal getting it right, building a hinge from masking tape. Plenty of YouTube videos to guide you through the process.

[started with 1]

Making room for the new babyIMG_1133.jpgIMG_1134.jpg

[guitar george]

Nice guitar! Looks like Doggie's a bit unsure about the new arrival.

[Dreadfulnaught]

Originally Posted by started with 1

Jayson Bowerman is ready to ship my custom OM 28 style adi top BRW back and sides.

He emailed me: ready to go but I don’t have it on my build sheet. Pick guard or no pick guard.

Obviously its up to me and my playing style but I’m interested in your opinion.

I have guitars with and without.

Leaning towards without as I can always add it.

Hmmm. Attachment 18007

I’d have him include it but not attach it. If you want to put it on later you can. Personally, I have a very very light touch with a pick and almost never contact the top, but most of my guitars came with a pickguard so I left them on.

If you want protection but still want to see the top, you can get a clear plastic golpeador as used on a Flamenco guitar.

[Moocheng]

its a beautiful guitar,
if your playing style makes a pick guard redundant, I'd leave it off