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Thinking about making J45 pick guards...would anyone buy them?


sbpark

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Been pondering the idea of making J45 pickguards. I've had a couple of the thick, rubberized pickguards that they are using on the current J45 Standards peel off, plus they are just really thick and don't look right aesthetically to my eye.

 

I've contacted Gibson and had a replacement send to me, but it was the same thick, rubberized pickguard, and they wouldn't send me out the same pickguard they use on the Vintage models. I've been told that you can get replacement pickguard if you order it through an authorized Gibson dealer, but they are pretty expensive.

 

I've made a couple pickguards for J45's in the past with pretty good results. Was thinking about making these in bulk if there were people out there interested in buying them.

 

Heres a shot of the one I made for a TV I used to own, and have made a couple since that look even nicer.

 

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I have a '18 J45 Vintage, and the end of the pickguard is really pointy, catches things and I expect it to peel off or the tip to break off at some point. That would be when I would look. How much would you be asking, and can you ensure the profile would match what I have?

 

 

I have no clue what I'd ask for them yet, or if I'd even dive into the venture. I'm just currently throwing it out there to see what you guys thought of the idea!

 

I can ensure that it would EXACTLY match your existing pickguard because I actually have several used and unused OEM Gibson J45 pickguards. Two are the rubberized versions off of recent J45 Standards, and I also have a new, unused pickguard that is the one currently being used on the J45 "Vintage" model, and these are what I'd use to make my templates from. All of these J45 pickguards are OEM Gibson and are the EXACT same size.

 

What sparked the interest in making these was an older True Vintage model I used to have where the stock pickguard covered part of the rosette, and just looked wrong to me. So using a blank sheet of pickguard material I traced the rubberized, stock pickguard that I removed off of a J45 Standard and made the new pickguard and it fit perfectly.

 

The other thing I do not like about the current thick, rubberized pic guard being used on the J45 Standards is it's a digitized pattern they are using. I guess you can't really tell when it's on the guitar, but when it's off the guitar you can see how blurry and low resolution it is, and just looks weird.

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Once you have the templates making your own pickguards is not terribly difficult. Pre-cut ones are easy enough to find for most guitars plus every repair guy worth his salt makes them. You can still even get celluloid scratchplates although I gather you have to start from large blocks as it is not sold in sheets. But I would imagine if your pickguards were nice enough you could get folks interested. There are times when I find it just easier to buy something ready made then to do it myself.

 

The one pickguard that drove me crazy though was that I needed for my 1955/56 Epiphone. It was actually set into the top so it had to be spot on perfect. On my first attempt one of the lower corners was off just enough to annoy me. On my second try the other lower corner was off. I finally gave up and dropped the thing off at the shop.

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