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Old 10-13-2021, 05:16 PM
wsmando wsmando is offline
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Default Gibson J-35 Pickguard question

Hi!

I just bought a 2015 Gibson J-35 (pics attached) from a friend of mine, and I really love it so far. I restrung it with Ernie Ball aluminum bronze lights, and it really sings.

The previous owner had replaced the stock fire stripe pick guard with a similarly-shaped dark tortoise shell guard. It's a nice pick guard, but it doesn't quite fit right—the round part at the bottom end doesn't look like it quite reaches where the old one did, so there's a small light crescent-shaped area below it, and the radius is a little too small so the point encroach on the rosette. Because of that, I have a few questions:

1) In your opinion, does it look good enough that I should just leave it be? (see picture attached)

2) I'm thinking about replacing it with a redder J-50-style batwing guard, if I could find one. I saw in a thread somewhere that someone had replaced their j-35 guard with one of those, and it looked great.

3) If I were to replace it, where would I find such a pick guard for a reasonable amount of money? I checked out Fox Guitars and they had the shape I'm looking for, but it was over $100 and a) I'm not looking to spend nearly that much, and b) I don't really feel the need for it to be real cellulose, which theirs appear to be and which seems to be the reason for the cost.

What are your thoughts?


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Old 10-13-2021, 05:56 PM
Gee Man Gee Man is offline
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Were it mine, I would contact Taylor at Holter Pickguards and have him re-create the one you have, slightly larger to cover the parts you don't like about the current one, and of a more trad. tort. patter. I've always wondered if those big bat wing guards didn't prevent the top from moving as much as the smaller guards do. The other option, of course, is no guard.
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Old 10-13-2021, 06:00 PM
Wellington Wellington is offline
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I would use a stock one, I like the original. The picture didn't work though.
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Old 10-13-2021, 06:03 PM
Kerbie Kerbie is offline
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Looks like these might be his pics...


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Old 10-13-2021, 06:06 PM
Kerbie Kerbie is offline
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Welcome to the AGF, wsmando. Hope you enjoy it here.

You might want to check out this thread for help posting pics. To use the image tags like you did, you have to put the image itself between the tags. And I believe you linked us to the page, but not the image. Let me know if you have any questions.
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Old 10-13-2021, 06:24 PM
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Zissou Intern Zissou Intern is offline
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I have ordered from Terrapin in the past. They make great guards in a variety of shapes and patterns.
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Old 10-13-2021, 07:15 PM
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hubcapsc hubcapsc is offline
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It must have the tiger stripe pick guard!



-Mike
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Old 10-13-2021, 09:07 PM
Wade Hampton Wade Hampton is offline
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I probably would have stayed with the original pickguard, but that’s water under the bridge. The replacement pickguard looks fine to me - I’m not seeing the slice of uncovered top you mentioned.


whm
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Old 10-14-2021, 07:49 AM
davenumber2 davenumber2 is offline
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I think the replacement guard looks good and looks like it's good quality but I prefer a firestripe guard on a J-35. You could replace with a batwing or teardrop if you want it to look like a J-50.
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