Pickguard problem!

[rmcfee]

Hi. I'm new to the Gibson forum and happy to be here.  I do guitar repairs and have a small shop and I have a question about a lifting pickguard on a beautiful  Songwriter 12 string. 

The guard was attached from the factory with what appears to be a double sided thin tape.  The guard was lifting off around the edges and is made of a fairly soft, flexible tortoiseshell color plastic.   I figured that it was not going to stay down unless I could flatten it.

   I removed it - it peeled off easily.  I peeled off the sticky tape / glue residue and cleaned the guitar top with naptha. I cleaned all sticky stuff off the guard with naptha too.

Then I put it between a couple of glass plates and then in my oven at 150 degrees F.  for an hour and a half.    I let it cool slowly. I thought it would flat and be easy to re-attach but NO!

It immediately began to curl up again.

Any advice on getting this guard back on is much appreciated!   Thanks. 

Edited July 5, 2020 by rmcfee

[Leonard McCoy]

The pickguard has probably been in that state for so long that it will retain that warped shape no matter what drastic measure you take. Certain parts of the material have contracted and I would know of no process to reverse this chemical reaction, which was probably caused by some combination of heat, humidity, human DNA, some mean polish spray, or whatnot. The only option left would be to get a replacement proper. I would contact Gibson directly for that.

Edited July 5, 2020 by Leonard McCoy

[Dave F]

I agree with LM. I've tried every trick to no avail. Buying a new one has worked the best for me. I have a bowed elevated pickguard from an old archtop that I blocked up the edges and over bent the middle the opposite direction and left it in that state for two years. When I released it it went back.

Edited July 6, 2020 by Dave F

[rmcfee]

Ok thanks for those replies.  I guess that is the best plan. I thought of gluing it down but that wouldn't seem reasonable on a fine top like that.  Thanks!

[kidblast]

On 7/4/2020 at 10:47 PM, rmcfee said:

Hi. I'm new to the Gibson forum and happy to be here.  I do guitar repairs and have a small shop and I have a question about a lifting pickguard on a beautiful  Songwriter 12 string. 

The guard was attached from the factory with what appears to be a double sided thin tape.  The guard was lifting off around the edges and is made of a fairly soft, flexible tortoiseshell color plastic.   I figured that it was not going to stay down unless I could flatten it.

   I removed it - it peeled off easily.  I peeled off the sticky tape / glue residue and cleaned the guitar top with naptha. I cleaned all sticky stuff off the guard with naptha too.

Then I put it between a couple of glass plates and then in my oven at 150 degrees F.  for an hour and a half.    I let it cool slowly. I thought it would flat and be easy to re-attach but NO!

It immediately began to curl up again.

Any advice on getting this guard back on is much appreciated!   Thanks. 

Unfortunately this is a common and persistent issue with Gibson Acoustic pick guards.  

Maybe just replace it with a Holter pick guard.    They do good work.

Drop them an email holterpickguards@gmail.com  They are very responsive.

They will make an exact one to fit your guitar.  Oh and do not glue that down...  only use the 3m tape like Gibson uses (which is what Holter uses as well)

My J200 has a few spots where it's starting to lift too, but I'm not ready to ditch it yet, as the Holter PGs don't have the engravings to match the stock J200 yet.  I just push it back down and it stays for a few days...  (eeesh.. )

 

Edited July 6, 2020 by kidblast