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2017 J45 pickguard peeling off...aftermarket replacements out there?


sbpark

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Love the guitar, have had it for maybe 6 weeks and the pickguard is already starting to peel off in a few places. I can slide a pick under the guard really easily in several spots. Isn't necessarily a bad thing since I am not really a fan of the thick, rubbery pickguard they're using on the Standards these days. Anyone know of a good aftermarket replacement?

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Love the guitar, have had it for maybe 6 weeks and the pickguard is already starting to peel off in a few places. I can slide a pick under the guard really easily in several spots. Isn't necessarily a bad thing since I am not really a fan of the thick, rubbery pickguard they're using on the Standards these days. Anyone know of a good aftermarket replacement?

 

I have had similar problems. Gibson is using some secret nitrocellulose lacquer that they claim only takes 4 days to cure. Apparently the pickguards are being put on too soon and reacting with the adhesive on the pickguard. The pickguard on my 2016 J-45 Custom hasn't come up, it seems to be thin. I am curious about your thick and rubbery one.

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Maybe contact Gibson and obtain a replacement. If you have contact to the local Gibson Rep see if you can coax a non rubbery type from them. Shouldn't be peeling after 6 weeks playing.

 

They sent me a new one for my Western Classic. Where are all these "rubbery" pickguards, I have had 4 new Gibsons, (returned an SJ-200) and have not seen anything I would call rubbery.

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They sent me a new one for my Western Classic. Where are all these "rubbery" pickguards, I have had 4 new Gibsons, (returned an SJ-200) and have not seen anything I would call rubbery.

 

 

I think they started putting the much thicker, rubbery pickguards on the J45's and J15's in 2015 or 2016? My 2014 had the "regular" pickguard, but they switched soon after that.

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That's just wrong. Why are they doing that? Looks like some of the things they did in the late 1960's.

 

I'd get rid of that pickguard, if it were my guitar..

Darn near anything or nothing at all would be my choice before that abomination.

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I actually sent Gibson an email last night explaining the issue with pictures, serial number of the guitar and a copy of proof of purchase to prove it's a new guitar and I'm the original owner. Also asked if perhaps they could send me an old-style pickguard that they used on earlier J45's before switching over to the thick, spongy piece.

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I guess returning it is out?

 

rct

 

Why would I return the guitar? It's the best sounding J45 I've played, and I went to quite a few shops and played many incarnations of J45's and SJ's. I do have a few more days to return it, but I think returning it would be a little bit ridiculous. I bought an SG several years ago and it had a warped pickup mounting ring and cracked tenon cover and I emailed Gibson about it with proof of purchase. I received the replacement parts less than a week later in the mail free of charge.

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Terrapin Guitars in Eugene, Or. makes some nice pickguards. Very pleased with the one I put on my LG2-AE. Generally a two week turn around time from when your order is placed. Check out their website for details.

 

Don't know exactly when the flubber pickguards were first used. My J-15 is a very early one, dated 1/2/14 has a nicely beveled thin guard (it also has a Custom Shop logo on the back of the headstock - not sure why).

 

At any rate, this does seem like the perfect opportunity for the OP to remove the flubber guard & go with something less, uh, flubbery.

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Gibson customer service got back to me and said they'd send me a replacement guard and could have an authorized Gibson repair shop install the new one at no charge. I asked if I they could send me one of the old style guards that isn't so thick and rubbery. They said they could only send the same guard that came on the guitar. So it looks like I'll just find some aftermarket replacement and do it myself. not going to replace one piece of junk pickguard with the same piece of thick, rubbery junk!

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Gibson customer service got back to me and said they'd send me a replacement guard and could have an authorized Gibson repair shop install the new one at no charge. I asked if I they could send me one of the old style guards that isn't so thick and rubbery. They said they could only send the same guard that came on the guitar. So it looks like I'll just find some aftermarket replacement and do it myself. not going to replace one piece of junk pickguard with the same piece of thick, rubbery junk!

 

Nice of them to offer a replacement to make it right with you, don't know why you would expect them to send a different spec pickguard however. If you didnt like the pickguard on the guitar that you chose to buy then you should replace it on your own dime. Not a fan of the thickguard either but I am not going to get all bent out of shape, pulled mine off as soon as I got it home. I dont expect Gibson to make an accomodation just for me, though. Best of luck with it.

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I was in Guitar Center today looking at the ground zero assortment of acoustics and did notice the J-45 Standards did have a thicker rounded pickguard on it. My new Southern Jumbo's pickguard looks a little similar.

 

Pete, I think your own guitars are a bit higher up the pricing scale. I've noticed this change on more recent models. My Woody Guthrie is from 2011, and at the time was effectively the cheapest Jumbo in the range (before the launch of the non-historic J35). It has a thinner fire-stripe guard.

 

On a related matter, I thought that Gibson had started delivering all guitars with pickguards left off, so that people could choose where to place them in relation to the rosette - right up to the soundhole (typical of guitars of my generation), or under the rosette (traditional placement). Is this not the case? And if it is the case, is this thicker material considered easier to position at home?

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Nice of them to offer a replacement to make it right with you, don't know why you would expect them to send a different spec pickguard however. If you didnt like the pickguard on the guitar that you chose to buy then you should replace it on your own dime. Not a fan of the thickguard either but I am not going to get all bent out of shape, pulled mine off as soon as I got it home. I dont expect Gibson to make an accomodation just for me, though. Best of luck with it.

 

Although I'm not a huge fan of the "flubber" guard, I'm not that superficial and it did not keep me from buying the guitar. I can live with it, but what bugs me is the fact that I could peel this thing completely off right now with much effort, and just think the same thing will happen to the identical replacement. And it's not like I requested a special pickguard or anything, or one of a different design, etc. I just kindly asked them if I could have the same pickguard that was on my 2014 J45 Standard. And I actually mentioned that I was going to go the route of getting an aftermarket pickguard and installing it myself since they informed me they were only able to send an identical replacement. I don't think any of my posts suggest that I got "bent out of shape" nor did I think Gibson owed me anything or expect Gibson to give me preferential treatment. There's nothing wrong with asking.

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