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LG2 American Eagle Pickguard questions


MorrisrownSal

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I know this sounds nuts. I have bought already bought two LG2-AEs, and have given them to close family/friends who flipped over them. They each say it's the best guitar they have ever played. On each of them I put the old J50 pick guards on them.... Maybe these are called batwing? Not sure...

The brand new 2016 model has a teardrop pickguard already installed, and also has Grover rotos instead of Kluson buttons. It definitely looks beautiful too.

Where am I going? I just bought my third pre-owned LG2-AE. It is sans pickguard, as are all of these. I am going to put a pickguard on... What do you like better: teardrop or batwing? thoughts? Where would you get the pickguard? Terrapin? Other ideas? I have bought pick guards off eBay before for $20-30. I don think they were cheap Far East copies, but heck I don't know. They worked fine. I would buy "the right way" with the right guidance here.

 

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Or

c4a30683ce4db40be612964db20e28fc_zpsa8db2ac3.jpg

 

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On this particular guitar, I like the teardrop.

 

The one I purchased is from Terrapin. It's fairly light in color & matches the guitar very well, imho. And an advantage to the teardrop vs the batwing is that it offers a wide range of placement possibilities around the rosette. Just a subtle shift can significantly alter the visual impact. Conversely, the batwing pretty much locks you into one position because of the upper horn's need to rest against the fingerboard.

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In the Sweetwater example above, I would have placed the teardrop a bit further out towards the egde & rotated it up off the bridge (not much, but enough to get separation from the bridge).

 

This is the kind of tweaking the teardrop allows.

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You've bought another one?!?

 

 

Anyway ,

I like the batwing (SJ) style pickguard that makes it look like B25.

The unfortunate thing is that the eagle guitars fretboard doesn't meet the soundhole which throws it off I feel.

Doesn't look quite right.

Both the B25 and the southern jumbos that have them both have feetboards running right up to the soundhole.

 

 

 

Perhaps a j35 style guard might work.

Or just stick with the teardrop.

 

I'll take this latest one when you're passing it on ;)

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I'm not fond of either look, actually. Compared to the one below, the teardrop in your picture looks too cramped because of the belly up bridge.

 

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LS2MANNH

 

As suggested, it will probably look better with the guard rotated somewhat, but if done too far that will look odd too. Maybe reshaping the bottom of the guard, in the same shape but further up, will do the trick.

 

Lars

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I think the teardrop looks best. Looks more natural for this guitar. The batwing looks a bit too big and too sprawled-out for this size of guitar. I won't put a guard on my AE, because all I do is fingerpick when I play it. If I did want a guard, it would be the teardrop.

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This is a small guitar and covering up half of the "soundboard" with plastic can only diminish the tone and volume of the guitar.

I get the whole cosmetic thing but in the case of pickguards smaller is always better.

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Thanks gents... this one is for me. I am torn. I sold the SJTV and this one replaces it. I always loved the tone on the one my son now has, as well as the one I gave to a buddy who needed it. They both had the big pickguards. I am leaning small...

 

 

 

 

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Normally I would always go with a smaller pickguard but in this case, I actually like the large pointy pickguard. I think though that is only because of the belly up bridge. On the LGs I just associate these with the large pointy scratchplate so it may be I am simply used to it. Probably just me being too Old School.

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My personal preference is the small tear drop guard. My eye tells me that it fits the smaller body better than the big batwing. I always wonder how much big pick guards dampen the top. Whatever that effect might be, the smaller guard will reduce it proportionally.

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I admit, I really liked that the LG-2's came without guards actually, and I'm bummed that they no longer come with the white button tuners. The simplified aesthetic set it apart in a nice way.

 

That said, I vote batwing! Who hasn't drooled over those old natural LG-3's?!

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I like the batwing look as long as it doesn't dampen the sound?? When are you going to buy a 2016 American Eagle? :) Really nice guitars. Gibson was smart to add it to the line-up. It filled a hole. I have to wonder if their 2016 AEs are as awesome as the other 2016 stuff of theirs I've played. Maybe it is just fancy marketing to "add value" with the price increase, but everything I've played from 2016 has been special (how could it not be, being from the future).

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1438371698[/url]' post='1681079']

I like the batwing look as long as it doesn't dampen the sound?? When are you going to buy a 2016 American Eagle? :) Really nice guitars. Gibson was smart to add it to the line-up. It filled a hole. I have to wonder if their 2016 AEs are as awesome as the other 2016 stuff of theirs I've played. Maybe it is just fancy marketing to "add value" with the price increase, but everything I've played from 2016 has been special (how could it not be, being from the future).

 

Ha. From the future...

The 2016 LG2-ae has Grover roto tuners, and the J45 teardrop guard added. Otherwise it's the same as the prior years. I just bought a used 2013 from Chicago Music Exchange. It has no guard, and I like the white button tuners better. I think I will make my decision soon regarding the guard...

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Actually maybe I won't make my decision soon... It's nakedness can grow on you...

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I used to have a Gibson WM-00. Man was that a sweet guitar. Sitka over bubinga. I don't actually much miss the guitars I've sold and traded (how could I miss them when they keep getting replaced by other great ones), but I do miss that little Gibson. That's what the AE reminds me of. The AE is likely superior, though.

 

I have to admit being enamoured even more so by the new 2016s.

 

Edit: Still think it looks coolest with the batwing though.

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