Giblp59 Posted April 28, 2023 Share Posted April 28, 2023 (edited) I had a Custom Shop Hummingbird in 2003. Was very dissapointed, because the white color on the pickguard wore off very quick. Did Gibson solve this on the newer "1960 Fixed Bridge"-Model (introduced 2020) or is this still an issue. Experts: The old ones (I saw) from the early 60s do not wear off. What's the reason (Lacquer Coat or completely different Material)? Best Regards Edited April 28, 2023 by Giblp59 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docr Posted April 28, 2023 Share Posted April 28, 2023 There may be a simple explanation for this: The graphics are only printed on the pickguard and the paint simply comes off over time while playing. I think there are experts on the forum who know the history of Hummingbird pickguard well and can say more about it. I have a Hummbingbird Clone (Ibanez Concord) from 1978 and it shows the same paint peeling as your Hummingbird. My 2018 Gibson Hummingbird came with the legendary "flubby pickguard" where the graphics don't disappear (probably in the plastic, two-ply?) but the pickguard stubbornly refuses to stay on the guitar in return. I have since replaced the pickguard with a replacement part from a supplier in Greece. Not cheap, but very well made and with identical dimensions as the original pickguard. It seems that this one has the graphics engraved from behind and then colored, the surface that you touch with the pick is smooth and you can not wear off any paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted April 28, 2023 Share Posted April 28, 2023 I'm torn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted April 28, 2023 Share Posted April 28, 2023 it's my understanding that the H'Bird guards (I assume also SJ200s and Doves have similar issues) have had different re-incarnations. The originals from the 60s? Probably used heavy duty paint. (We had a member here a few years ago who was a descendant of the guy who designed the artwork and created the prototypes. ) I think the more recent pick guards with the disappearing bird trick - are due to wear and not time. On many, the plastic is lightly etched and then painted - I assume by hand. Some here have suggested it's possible to re-apply the paint. I assume it would be thinned, lightly applied and wiped off trying to leave a smidgeon in the engraved lines. Depending on how adventurous and handy you are and whether the engraving isn't worn down - it might be worth a shot. Some like the worn look, most feel the engraving is part of the charm. I have two rules that have guided me safely through life: "If it's not broken, don't fix it." and "If it's broken beyond repair - go for it." The problem is, the things are somewhere in between. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the other side Posted April 28, 2023 Share Posted April 28, 2023 (edited) There is/was a guy here, Jesse Dylan, who bought a TV Hummingbird and had same issue very soon afterwards. They sent him a new pickguard that doesn't wear off. My 2013 Modern Classic Hummingbird came with one that didn't wear off and developed a bubble in it and Don Ruffatto sent me a new one. I think the ones that don't wear off have some form of acrylic that's poured on top of them. I believe the kind you have are what they call "Etched". Edited April 28, 2023 by the other side Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanvillRob Posted April 28, 2023 Share Posted April 28, 2023 I have a 2010 'Bird.... same issue with the colors on the guard fading..... I wish it didn't, but it doesn't bother me enough to do anything about it. I also have a 2011 Custom Koa 'Bird.... that pickguard will never wear off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted April 28, 2023 Share Posted April 28, 2023 This has been discussed here more than a few times. A search will reveal all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giblp59 Posted April 29, 2023 Author Share Posted April 29, 2023 Yes, but the focus is un the New Models from 2020! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted April 30, 2023 Share Posted April 30, 2023 (edited) On 4/29/2023 at 7:55 AM, Giblp59 said: Yes, but the focus is un the New Models from 2020! And that is what those discussions are about as Bozeman-made guitars appear to be more prone to this issue than those from past catalogs. The pickguard on my wife's 63-year old J200, as example, has held up really well. The two most common pickguard issues you will find talked about herein are probably the now infamous Bozeman "flubber" pickguards and those with the problem you are having. Edited April 30, 2023 by zombywoof Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissouriPicker Posted May 1, 2023 Share Posted May 1, 2023 My Hummingbird is approaching 20-years-old and the often maligned “flubber guard” is still in great shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted May 2, 2023 Share Posted May 2, 2023 On 4/28/2023 at 3:11 PM, the other side said: There is/was a guy here, Jesse Dylan, who bought a TV Hummingbird and had same issue very soon afterwards. They sent him a new pickguard that doesn't wear off. My 2013 Modern Classic Hummingbird came with one that didn't wear off and developed a bubble in it and Don Ruffatto sent me a new one. I think the ones that don't wear off have some form of acrylic that's poured on top of them. I believe the kind you have are what they call "Etched". Yes, remember Jesse Dylan when he got the birdflu and threw himself after the then brand new torrefried Hummingbird Vintage (not longer True). Here's a film he shot in the wake of that encounter. Something tells me he passed the Bird further not too long after it was made. . Cheers JD When trying to find this demo it became clear I may have seen about 93 % of all H-bird Tube-videos over the years. Ha ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J185cat Posted May 3, 2023 Share Posted May 3, 2023 So a kinda funny HBird pickguard story. In 2017 I inherited my Dad’s 1999 HB which my wife and I bought for him to replace his older Gib that was lost to the flooding from hurricane Floyd in eastern NC back in 1999. I swear that guitar kept him going a couple years more than he should have. He lived to play that thing. So, the guard was almost completely faded out. My wife is somewhat of an artist and she decided she wanted to repaint the thing. So I got some photos of the guard and let her have a go. The only paint I had that I thought might work was some of those small bottles of model paint like we used to use on model cars etc. She did a phenomenal job. It looked great and I was over the moon. Then, the first time I cleaned the guitar with guitar polish the paint just ran off. Devastated. So that was the last time we messed with it and I now accept it as a badge of former player honor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted May 3, 2023 Share Posted May 3, 2023 4 hours ago, J185cat said: So a kinda funny HBird pickguard story. Would be good to see pictures of this guitar. Before, after, , , and after after. Perhaps it only possible to post an 'after after'. Is it the Vintage model ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J185cat Posted May 4, 2023 Share Posted May 4, 2023 20 hours ago, E-minor7 said: Would be good to see pictures of this guitar. Before, after, , , and after after. Perhaps it only possible to post an 'after after'. Is it the Vintage model ? I’ll see what I have before/after. Real busy now with elderly parents on my wife’s side but I will look into it. Not vintage, 1999. But perhaps the easiest playing acoustic I have ever played and all HBird without a doubt. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted May 4, 2023 Share Posted May 4, 2023 On 5/3/2023 at 12:15 AM, E-minor7 said: Would be good to see pictures of this guitar. Before, after, , , and after after. Perhaps it only possible to post an 'after after'. Is it the Vintage model ? Was the 'Vintage' model available in '99? I thought later on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted May 4, 2023 Share Posted May 4, 2023 43 minutes ago, fortyearspickn said: Was the 'Vintage' model available in '99? I thought later on. You are right - don't think 1999 split them up between Vintage and Standard. The guard may even have been something third. Doesn't turn down my curiosity regarding a picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J185cat Posted May 4, 2023 Share Posted May 4, 2023 6 hours ago, E-minor7 said: You are right - don't think 1999 split them up between Vintage and Standard. The guard may even have been something third. Doesn't turn down my curiosity regarding a picture. I’m still searching. She did this some years ago and I’m afraid the photo may have been on an old PC that got reformatted. Sad that the paint did not stick because it really did look nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted May 4, 2023 Share Posted May 4, 2023 Didn’t a member suggest Gibson needed to use Panzer Paint on their Pickguards? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J185cat Posted May 4, 2023 Share Posted May 4, 2023 48 minutes ago, fortyearspickn said: Didn’t a member suggest Gibson needed to use Panzer Paint on their Pickguards? I believe you are right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted May 4, 2023 Share Posted May 4, 2023 15 minutes ago, fortyearspickn said: Didn’t a member suggest Gibson needed to use Panzer Paint on their Pickguards? Yes, sir - As many of us will know the 60s Kalamazoo pick-guards were all done with German panzer paint conquered during the Battle of Bulge, brought all the way to Berlin, then flown over the Atlantic in the summer of 1945 and auctioned on the American market as late as 1957. Gibson was fast and bought somewhere between 4 and 500 barrels - plus approxemately 6000 standard cans of white and yellow. 22 employees are reported to have gone down during the work with this material - some hallucinating so strongly they later became rather famous fine artists. A rumour tells that one Kalamazoo decorator after finishing a Dove guard rose on a chair yelling out in the factory hall : I shall personally see to it that this Fender Stratocaster will land in the hands of Jimi Hendrix ! He was later that day taken away in a long white car and ended as Salvador Dali's assistant somewhere in Catalonia, Spain. So there you have it forty (and J185cat too) - with details especially for you. I had decided not to bring this myth up, but now you asked and hit my weak spot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Disclaimer - all above the dotted line except the last 2 sentences are made up and have no connection with reality whatsoever. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J185cat Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 33 minutes ago, E-minor7 said: Yes, sir - As many of us will know the 60s Kalamazoo pick-guards were all done with German panzer paint conquered during the Battle of Bulge, brought all the way to Berlin, then flown over the Atlantic in the summer of 1945 and auctioned on the American market as late as 1957. Gibson was fast and bought somewhere between 4 and 500 barrels - plus approxemately 6000 standard cans of white and yellow. 22 employees are reported to have gone down during the work with this material - some hallucinating so strongly they later became rather famous fine artists. A rumour tells that one Kalamazoo decorator after finishing a Dove guard rose on a chair yelling out in the factory hall : I shall personally see to it that this Fender Stratocaster will land in the hands of Jimi Hendrix ! He was later that day taken away in a long white car and ended as Salvador Dali's assistant somewhere in Catalonia, Spain. So there you have it forty (and J185cat too) - with details especially for you. I had decided not to bring this myth up, but now you asked and hit my weak spot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Disclaimer - all above the dotted line except the last 2 sentences are made up and have no connection with reality whatsoever. So all I was saying is that sometime in the past a poster on here claimed that the early guards were painted with some type of WWII German paint. I I have no idea, didn’t work for Gibson back then. Relax, go play some guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 9 minutes ago, J185cat said: So all I was saying is that sometime in the past a poster on here claimed that the early guards were painted with some type of WWII German paint. I I have no idea, didn’t work for Gibson back then. Relax, go play some guitar. Do not misunderstand. I was the inventor of this bizarre myth a looong time ago. And the story above is how it developed over time, , , with a few extra details in this round. But if you thought it was real, it's getting really interezting. Because then we have an example of how fake or so called alternative truth is created - even though I always had the disclaimer added - eeehh, except maybe first time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 Just now, E-minor7 said: Do not misunderstand. To avoid any derailing : I was just joking on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 I brought it up as a counterpoint to J185cat’s dilemma: having meticulously applied enamel model paint wipe off his pg when wiped with guitar polish. There must have been something in that polish. Panzer jet fuel? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J185cat Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 1 hour ago, E-minor7 said: To avoid any derailing : I was just joking on. NP E-minor. I mistakenly thought you were jesting me and fortyearspickn for believing the story. I think we were both just remembering the post and had no clue whether it was true. Hey, but you’re good! Maybe should run for office. More stories like that and you may get my vote. Think I’ll play some myself now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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