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Original Pick Guard?


jedzep

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It just bothers me a little that it's Rivington, a normally reputable vintage dealer, but it's the third time I've seen a shaky 'all original' claim. Also, they point out that L00's with firestripe guards are becoming rarer. Well, not if you're slapping a copy on.

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It's fine. Could be the harsh lighting. The 'guard has the clearly defined edges between the light and dark areas in the tiger stripe; something that repro's don't do very well. This particular one just has an unusual amount of light/clear. Yes, Rivington is okay, but it might look better in natural light.

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I'm pretty shure that is a good modern reproduction firestripe guard. The problem is that it is semi-transparent. The old guards were lacquared over, so when removed they leave naked wood. The new transparent guard would look good on an already finished top, but not on bare wood. The bottom of the guard needs to be painted first.

 

Lars

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My '35. I'm OK with this original thin guard, but if I could snap my fingers and make it disappear...

 

Drat! Can't get the pic to come up (Photobucket), but it did copy to a new topic on 'Vintage'.

 

Who cares by now? I know I don't.

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I'm pretty shure that is a good modern reproduction firestripe guard. The problem is that it is semi-transparent. The old guards were lacquared over, so when removed they leave naked wood. The new transparent guard would look good on an already finished top, but not on bare wood. The bottom of the guard needs to be painted first.

 

Lars

 

Wouldn't a firestripe almost disappear if painted underneath first on a black guitar? I know it worked nicely on your sunburst guitar, Lars.

 

BK's old L-0 shows not only how cool they can look when the finish starts to sink in and show the grain, but also how after so many years, the colors can remain quite vivid.

 

 

Additional photos from the seller:

 

G2fblUn.png

 

 

starting to settle nicely at the outside edge, by the waist:

 

vdohjHb.png

 

 

. . . no apologies, beautiful on the old black lacquer (some wear forward of the bridge):

 

J0DSg3C.png

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You can clearly see the grain of the top through the pickguard, since the top is unfinished beneath the guard, which is correct for the period, I believe.

 

Looking at the last picture, and the one before showing the scratches, I'd say there's a real good chance that pickguard is original.

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Wouldn't a firestripe almost disappear if painted underneath first on a black guitar? I know it worked nicely on your sunburst guitar, Lars.

 

 

It depends on the color used, of course. I didn't realize until now that it is actually an all black guitar, not a sunburst.

 

Looking at the new photos, I also think it is actually an original guard, not sprayed over, which makes sense on a one color guitar. On a modern all black guitar, a firestripe pickguard would dissapear, if not painted in a tan color underneath.

 

So maybe we were a little tough on the seller initially? The internet is a rough place... [biggrin]

 

Lars

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