ksdaddy Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 In the 50s Fender had really thin coats of "whatever" on their guitars. I assume lacquer but you know what happens when we assume. The finish on the necks wore through fairly quickly, ditto for the body edges, particularly where the player's right forearm rested. I seriously doubt Fender got irate phone calls from the consumers; it was an age of consumerism and maybe they just went out and bought a new one. Either that or they repainted them. After all, it was just a guitar, no clue it would be worth anything at some point and should be left alone. It'd be like one of us repainting a 2006 Ibanez strat copy. So for a number of years many of us have whined about the fading Gibson pickguards. Me included. And rightfully so; they are a disaster. I've heard they've improved but that doesn't help the 20 or so years of horrible guards in existence, with a replacement cost in the hundreds of dollars. The thought occured to me that at some point in the future these faded/worn guards will become some kind of badge of honor, much akin to an old Telecaster with a fingerboard that looks like driftwood. If Gibson were to follow Fender's asinine lead, they will offer J-200s with reliced pickguards and jack the price up by $800. So the more my J200 guard goes blank, the more it will be worth to some idiot 20 years from now. Mo' mo-ney! Mo' mo-ney! Mo' mo-ney! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanfender Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 You and me both KSDaddy. I have some deforestation happening on my J-200 pickguard as well. Lets create a market for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 I was wondering about this relic stuff sinse it first became "hip". I was waiting to see if it was going to get that way for old cars. I thought it would be cool to take a brand new Cadillac or Mercedes and relic it to seem like it was 20 years old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 . Some of the pickguards made in the last few years are engraved and colored from the underside. My J-200 has one. I wonder how that will age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devellis Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 My new SJ-200TV is less than a month old and one quarter of a rosette on the pickguard is already gone, with the adjacent quarter fading fast. I'm okay with that but it just strikes me as odd that the engraved guards or some other alternative have never been more widely implemented. I guess part of having a TV is susceptibility to "authentic wear," as well. It's honest wear and I don't really mind it but it does seem odd that such an iconic feature of the guitar is not better protected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larryp58 Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 I thought that was what "vintage" meant!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devellis Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 Yeah, I guess. It's "going vintage" before my very eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnt Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 My new SJ-200TV is less than a month old and one quarter of a rosette on the pickguard is already gone, with the adjacent quarter fading fast. I'm okay with that but it just strikes me as odd that the engraved guards or some other alternative have never been more widely implemented. I guess part of having a TV is susceptibility to "authentic wear," as well. It's honest wear and I don't really mind it but it does seem odd that such an iconic feature of the guitar is not better protected. My cheapo Epi "J200 clone" is two years old and the scratchplate shows no sign of crappation. Heaven forbid the Indonesdians make a better pickguard? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blaster Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 "The thought occured to me that at some point in the future these faded/worn guards will become some kind of badge of honor, much akin to an old Telecaster with a fingerboard that looks like driftwood. If Gibson were to follow Fender's asinine lead, they will offer J-200s with reliced pickguards and jack the price up by $800." It would probably be $5K or more, look at Gibson's pricing on the "Distressed Master Model F-5" mandolins compared to the regular Master Model. Supposedly the "distressing" improves the mandolins's tone making it comparable to that of the vintage Loars of the 1920s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrorod Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 My cheapo Epi "J200 clone" is two years old and the scratchplate shows no sign of crappation. Heaven forbid the Indonesdians make a better pickguard? Heaven forbid, John T....You may not be playing it enuff! (enough)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hogeye Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 I can tell you this. I have been to a lot of vintage guitar shows on both coasts and no one would even look at a guitar without pickguard wear. That is a badge of honor and a testament to the music that the guitar has made. Same with the alligator finish. I wouldn't want a guitar that looked new. I take a lot of pride in using and not abusing my guitars and I want the world to see it. If you have a pickguard that has the printing on the bottom side and the pickguard feels just a little sticky to the touch you might want to consider taking it off and putting a real pickguard on. The sticky things come from somewhere on the Pacific Rim and they feel just like rubber. They are floppy and I'm sure that they are tone suckers. I'm a traditionalist and I want Bozeman made guards on Bozeman guitars. They're fine on Epis. No Offence... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 ..... If you have a pickguard that has the printing on the bottom side and the pickguard feels just a little sticky to the touch you might want to consider taking it off and putting a real pickguard on. The sticky things come from somewhere on the Pacific Rim and they feel just like rubber. They are floppy and I'm sure that they are tone suckers. I'm a traditionalist and I want Bozeman made guards on Bozeman guitars. They're fine on Epis. No Offence... Disappointing to say the least. My Gibson J-200, with a label that says built in Bozeman, MT USA, purchased new from an authorized dealer, not only came with cheap looking 2-piece molded plastic bridge pins; now I find out Gibson put on a cheap fake pickguard manufactured somewhere on the Pacific Rim. That sucks. Top dollar for fake stuff. I guess you just can't count on Bozeman to make sensible decisions on some of this stuff. Why would they put a fake pickguard on an expensive instrument like this? The fake one looks pretty good and feels like hard plastic. . . . . Hmmm . . . . so how do I acquire a real Gibson pickguard for my $3500 J-200? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrorod Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 Hey BigKahune! It says right there on the label(lable).....GUARANTEED... What is your worry? Very pretty guitar, By the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riverside Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 I can tell you this. I have been to a lot of vintage guitar shows on both coasts and no one would even look at a guitar without pickguard wear. That's way good, since (as above) it only takes a month or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 . Retro - I don't know what to think. I found a thread from a couple years ago that discusses the J-200 pickguards - http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/13916-j200-pickguard-still-sucks/ - the thread title drops the bomb. Apparently the guys are complaining about the J-200 TV pickguard, saying the design wears off to quickly and the paint smears. So as KSdaddy mentioned, this pickguard issue has been around for a few years. There is also mention of the type of pickguard mine has as a possible alternative that's made by Bozeman - they called it a "sealed" pickguard, not a cheap fake. It think you're probably right Retro. I'm gonna sit on this a while until I learn more about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 And for another $250.00, Henry J will personally burnish the PG on a new SJ, for that "Road Worn" look before it leaves the factory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 . HA ! Well I just found a comment on another thread ( http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/60544-sj-200-replacment-pickguard/ ) by Bob (Rar) which confirms for me that Gibson does make a J-200 pickguard that won't "wear off", as I mentioned back in post #4. This kind of pickguard Bob calls a Gibson J-200 embedded pattern pickguard, which is what I'v got on my J-200. So now, my apologies to KSdaddy for a bit of a thread hijack. And thanks to Bob. B) Here's his comment - You know that Gibson makes different J-200 pickguards, right? You can get one with the pattern embedded (so it won't wear off) like on the Standards, the mass-produced "engraved" ones like on the J-200 TVs (both the pre-'55 pattern with the engraved border line and post'-55 border-line-less pattern), and the hand-engraved ones Ren does for customs. Ren does the best repros around -- he's had the most practice -- but they're not cheap. The TVs are better than any aftermarket option I know of if you want the traditional design. ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsech Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 When I was young who would have thought "relic" and "road worn" guitars and parts would be popular. I just considered them old and yearned for new shiny toys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hogeye Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 Disappointing to say the least. My Gibson J-200, with a label that says built in Bozeman, MT USA, purchased new from an authorized dealer, not only came with cheap looking 2-piece molded plastic bridge pins; now I find out Gibson put on a cheap fake pickguard manufactured somewhere on the Pacific Rim. That sucks. Top dollar for fake stuff. I guess you just can't count on Bozeman to make sensible decisions on some of this stuff. Why would they put a fake pickguard on an expensive instrument like this? The fake one looks pretty good and feels like hard plastic. . . . . Hmmm . . . . so how do I acquire a real Gibson pickguard for my $3500 J-200? Your pickguard is not a fake. It's the real deal. The thing is....Everyone has been bashing Gibson about the natural wear the occurs on an engraved pickguard. After all isn't that what this thread is about.. Gibson tried all the obvious solutions and nothing was working for all the "It Must Be Perfect" folks. They came up with the idea to embed the design under the surface. That's what you wanted and that's what you have. The design will never wear off. The problem was that they couldn't do it using the traditional material. The solution was to change the material and go with the design protected. The material they use for the embedded design is very,for want of a better term, rubbery. You can roll it up onto a tube if you want.My own personal opinion is that they dampen the top vibrations. The other material that wears out is stiff and vibrates with the top. None of the pickguard material is manufactured by Gibson. The original material is made in Italy. It's sliced to its thickness in New York and the shape is cut in Bozeman. The engraving and hot stamping is done in Bozeman. Gibson doesn't have the resources to manufacture the new material either so they sought out a manufacturer and the company happened to be in Asia. They make the material and they put the Gibson design in the material at the time they make it. There is no plot to diminish the quality of the guitar or make extra profit. They are just attempting to give you what you asked for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 . Thanks Hogeye. Actually, the guitar came with pickguard, I didn't special order it. There was another in the shop when I bought this one and it had the same pickguard. The tone/sound seems fine to me. But now you planted a thought in the ol' noggin. At some point my curiosity might cause me to take out a hairdryer and peel. B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hogeye Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 . Thanks Hogeye. Actually, the guitar came with pickguard, I didn't special order it. There was another in the shop when I bought this one and it had the same pickguard. The tone/sound seems fine to me. But now you planted a thought in the ol' noggin. At some point my curiosity might cause me to take out a hairdryer and peel. B) Your guitar is a real beauty and you are right to be proud of it. If you decide to go with the engraved pickguard be prepared to spend $300.00 or more for it. Your pickguard will never wear out and the engraved version will so????? In 50 years people will be fighting over the value of a guitar with the embedded pickguard Vs. the engraved and I would bet there will be people trying to figure out the exact date when the embedded pickguard first appeared. It's just what we do. Just so you know, yours is a very early example so you might have a future gold mine. Until then? Play away.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisA83 Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 My SWD has the same 'rubbery' PG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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