Allie Posted May 5, 2014 Posted May 5, 2014 I have a j-45 with a pickguard that's starting to lift in several places, I have not been able to find an outlet that has the type of tortoise look that the J-45 comes with. Most that I HAVE found were much more prominent in the coloring (more like you see on a Tony Rice guitar or a Blueridge guitar) and I'm looking for more of the darker less pronounced 'torting' if you get my drift. Anyone recommend an outlet that actually shows us the material they use so we can decide BEFORE we order if they have what we're looking for?
mking Posted May 5, 2014 Posted May 5, 2014 Hit the link to the site I pasted in below. The store is called Luthier's Mercantile. They have fantastic pick guards and material. A while back I purchased a blank piece and I had a luthier cut and install it. It looks just like the pick guards that came on the guitars back in the 40's. You should be able to find what you are looking for on this site. http://www.lmii.com/products/mostly-not-wood/pickguard-material
rustystrings Posted May 5, 2014 Posted May 5, 2014 If this is a J-45 where the pickguard is applied on top of the finish, it's easy enough to remove the pickguard, clean the back of it and the area on the guitar where it goes with naptha (lighter fluid), put a sheet of the funky pickguard adhesive stuff that Stewart Macdonald guitar supply and other places sell, trim to size and apply it. Assuming you like the original pickguard, of course. There are numerous threads on this forum about people doing this, usually linked to threads focused on players' irritation with Gibson for not putting the pickguard where it's supposed to be to begin with. If you have an older Gibson from the era when they glued the 'guard with rubber cement directly on the bare wood on BEFORE shooting lacquer, take it to a GOOD luthier and have it attended to, but that's a whole 'nother set of issues ...
Allie Posted May 5, 2014 Author Posted May 5, 2014 If this is a J-45 where the pickguard is applied on top of the finish, it's easy enough to remove the pickguard, clean the back of it and the area on the guitar where it goes with naptha (lighter fluid), put a sheet of the funky pickguard adhesive stuff that Stewart Macdonald guitar supply and other places sell, trim to size and apply it. Assuming you like the original pickguard, of course. There are numerous threads on this forum about people doing this, usually linked to threads focused on players' irritation with Gibson for not putting the pickguard where it's supposed to be to begin with. If you have an older Gibson from the era when they glued the 'guard with rubber cement directly on the bare wood on BEFORE shooting lacquer, take it to a GOOD luthier and have it attended to, but that's a whole 'nother set of issues ... Thanks! I do like the pickguard and if it's possible to remove it, clean it up and reuse it that's just what I'm looking to do, I think the pickguard is on top of the finish (it's a 93 m/y) so I'll check with SM about the pickguard adhesive stuff and try that route. Thanks also for the tip about the lighter fluid to clean up the nitro......I already learned the hard way about that......Long story but it cost me nearly three hundred dollars to have the top re-finised on my CL-20 SP that I mistakenly used a product called 'goo-gone' on to remove the leftover glue from the top of the guitar after trying to replace a pickguard on that, needless to say I'm still a little gun shy about this nitro and cleaning fluid of any kind but the luthier that did the refinish told me the same thing you did. Par for the course with me though, I have learned all my valuable lessons in life from the 'school of hard knocks'....lol.
Allie Posted May 5, 2014 Author Posted May 5, 2014 Hit the link to the site I pasted in below. The store is called Luthier's Mercantile. They have fantastic pick guards and material. A while back I purchased a blank piece and I had a luthier cut and install it. It looks just like the pick guards that came on the guitars back in the 40's. You should be able to find what you are looking for on this site. http://www.lmii.com/products/mostly-not-wood/pickguard-material Thank you for the link, If I don't end up reattaching my original PG after doing what rustystrings enlightened me to, I'll try them.
blindboygrunt Posted May 5, 2014 Posted May 5, 2014 Soak some dental floss in naphtha , then 'saw'The thread to and fro under the pickguard.
Allie Posted May 5, 2014 Author Posted May 5, 2014 Soak some dental floss in naphtha , then 'saw'The thread to and fro under the pickguard. Ahhhhh, yes that answers a question I neglected to ask and that was 'how do I finish removing the pickguard without distorting it so much as to make it hard to re-apply....thanks for that tip.
bram99 Posted May 6, 2014 Posted May 6, 2014 My understanding is that Ronsonol lighter fluid (now zippo) only contains 30% naphtha...I would not use lighter fluid....only naphtha. Patience is the key to removing a pickguard...let the naphtha do the work. Once you get the floss under a corner, drip some drops in there and let it soften the glue for a while. I have found old business cards work better than the floss, because you can pull the softened adhesive out as you saw....it will be a gooey mess until it is off and you wipe it all down with naphtha. The pickguard in my aviator is a Greven Tortis (dark) that I flesh aped from a D-28 guard I purchased from LMI. Lmii.com
blindboygrunt Posted May 6, 2014 Posted May 6, 2014 Real naphtha might be better . I used Ronson lighter fluid to take my guard off. No problems. And mine was not lifting , merely in the wrong place. You also don't need to bother Stewart MacDonald or any of those other companies . 3m tape . any hardware store or art shop or decent sized supermarket will have it.
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