Gibson Replacement Pickguards???

[RBSinTo]

Considering that there is at least one third-party that can supply replacement guards at reasonable cost, it seems to me that the most difficult part of this exercise is the removal and replacement of the original without damaging the wood surface or the finish that surrounds it.

Do the replacements come complete with an adhesive?

And are they supplied with instructions for safely removing and replacing the old pick guard and residual adhesive?

RBSinTo

[Sgt. Pepper]

39 minutes ago, RBSinTo said:

Considering that there is at least one third-party that can supply replacement guards at reasonable cost, it seems to me that the most difficult part of this exercise is the removal and replacement of the original without damaging the wood surface or the finish that surrounds it.

Do the replacements come complete with an adhesive?

And are they supplied with instructions for safely removing and replacing the old pick guard and residual adhesive?

RBSinTo

Not sure. All mine are intact. As a Martin owner all I need to worry about is neck resets and loose binding.

[j45nick]

13 minutes ago, RBSinTo said:

Considering that there is at least one third-party that can supply replacement guards at reasonable cost, it seems to me that the most difficult part of this exercise is the removal and replacement of the original without damaging the wood surface or the finish that surrounds it.

Do the replacements come complete with an adhesive?

And are they supplied with instructions for safely removing and replacing the old pick guard and residual adhesive?

RBSinTo

Some replacement pickguards come with attached adhesive sheets. Others do not. Sometimes they give you the option. In any case, they generally tell you whether or not they come with attached adhesive sheets, separate adhesive sheets, or none. Since the advent of transparent double-sided adhesive sheets, their use has become common, almost to the point of universality.

In any case, the removal of an old pickguard and how it is done is the responsibility of the person installing the pickguard, since the manufacturer of the replacement pickguard has no idea of the material of the old pickguard, or how it was originally installed, including what adhesive might have been used. Likewise, they don't know what the finish of the guitar is, and how that might be impacted by different solvents. Their job is to supply a new pickguard. Everything else is your responsibility, for obvious liability reasons.

There are probably plenty of videos online about pickguard removal and replacement.

There are plenty of aftermarket pickguard manufacturers out there, using a variety of materials. Classic real celluloid is getting harder to find, but it is available. Finding the right pattern for a vintage guitar isn't always easy.

I had the luthier (Ross Teigen) who works on my guitars make a vintage-correct pickguard for one of my 1950 J-45s about 10 years ago, using celluloid sheets he has had for years. We picked one of those colors and patterns based on old black and white photos of that guitar, and my memory of the original one, which Gibson replaced with a batwing guard when they re-topped that guitar in 1968.

It turns out that the celluloid teardrop pickguard I made for that guitar in about 1971 to replace the 1968 batwing was put on (by me) with rubber cement, which I had entirely forgotten.

The new celluloid one he made came out great, and is a close match to the original guard on the other  completely original 1950 J-45 I bought last year. The two 1950 J-45s were made within a month or so of each other by their FONs, and presumably would have originally come with very similar pickguard colors and patterns.

[Sgt. Pepper]

I would say if your guard is lifting and you are unsure how to do the repair, take it to a pro. Spending ? dollars is probably gonna be less expensive than if you "f" it up and then need to go to a pro.

Edited November 15, 2020 by Sgt. Pepper

[62burst]

40 minutes ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

Not sure. All mine are intact. As a Martin owner all I need to worry about is neck resets and loose binding.

And the dreaded Martin pickguard crack, when the guard was put directly on the unfinished wood:

 

A couple of things conspire to have the edge of a pickguard come up- surely Gibson could cement the guard on, but when the wood of the guitar's top expands and contracts with humidity changes and the pickguard resists that expansion and contraction. . .  What would you rather have- press the guard back down or re-attach with 3m 2 sided adhesive ( a <2hr Saturday morning guitar chore), or a crack in the top, where the guitar goes to the luthier for an extended visit? Also- these guitars don't sit around Bozeman, then get their pickguards are installed- it's a production thing. Does Martin make a pickguard that is approximately the same size and shape as the Hummingbird guard?

[62burst]

1 hour ago, RBSinTo said:

Considering that there is at least one third-party that can supply replacement guards at reasonable cost, it seems to me that the most difficult part of this exercise is the removal and replacement of the original without damaging the wood surface or the finish that surrounds it.

Do the replacements come complete with an adhesive?

And are they supplied with instructions for safely removing and replacing the old pick guard and residual adhesive?

RBSinTo

It is surprising, how effective the naphtha and dental floss technique works for removing and cleaning the old pickguard. For some reason, it loosens the adhesive, but has no interest in reacting with nitrocellulose lacquer.

- Slacken strings. Put capo on 1st fret. Slacken strings again, enough to pop bridge pins out. (String removal from tuner posts not necessary)

-Place towel in soundhole. On top of the towel, place the lid of a jar to hold a little naphtha to repeatedly wet the dental floss.

-Start at the pointed part of the pickguard, keeping the dental floss soaked with the naphtha, and work the floss under the guard, using a sawing motion.

-Once the guard is removed, clean both the top and the pickguard of any residual adhesive.

-On Hummingbird guards, alignment is easy, using the fretboard extension, and by centering around the soundhole. On teardrop guards (J-45), lay some tape on the top to define where you want the guard to sit, and maybe make some rings of tape to allow the fingers to hold the guard while lowering, since the last mm before "touchdown" is the last chance for proper alignment, as the 3m tape is a "one-take Charlie":

That's about it.

 

Edited November 15, 2020 by 62burst

[Sgt. Pepper]

49 minutes ago, 62burst said:

And the dreaded Martin pickguard crack, when the guard was put directly on the unfinished wood:

 

A couple of things conspire to have the edge of a pickguard come up- surely Gibson could cement the guard on, but when the wood of the guitar's top expands and contracts with humidity changes and the pickguard resists that expansion and contraction. . .  What would you rather have- press the guard back down or re-attach with 3m 2 sided adhesive ( a <2hr Saturday morning guitar chore), or a crack in the top, where the guitar goes to the luthier for an extended visit? Also- these guitars don't sit around Bozeman, then get their pickguards are installed- it's a production thing. Does Martin make a pickguard that is approximately the same size and shape as the Hummingbird guard?

 Dan said the guitar was 30 or 40 years old.

And Hide Glue!

Edited November 15, 2020 by Sgt. Pepper

[62burst]

1 hour ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

 Dan said the guitar was 30 or 40 years old.

And Hide Glue!

Who said the guitar was new? The potential for a tightly adhered pickguard to cause a crack in the guitar's top was the reason that the video was embedded. 

Hide glue was used to repair the crack. Double sided adhesive was used to attach the pickguard.

[RBSinTo]

4 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

Not sure. All mine are intact. As a Martin owner all I need to worry about is neck resets and loose binding.

 

3 hours ago, 62burst said:

And the dreaded Martin pickguard crack, when the guard was put directly on the unfinished wood:

I only asked about the replacement guards out of curiosity.

My 1974 D-28 developed a lifting pick guard in 2017, which was replaced at the Twelfth Fret here in Toronto. I don't know when Martin stopped gluing the pick guards directly to the top wood but my guitar did not suffer a crack when the guard lifted.

Similarly, when it was in for some minor repairs at the beginning of 2020, I asked if it needed a neck re-set? It did not. 

And none of the binding has ever come loose in the 41 years I've owned it.

RBSinTo

[62burst]

46 minutes ago, RBSinTo said:

Similarly, when it was in for some minor repairs at the beginning of 2020, I asked if it needed a neck re-set? It did not. 

And none of the binding has ever come loose in the 41 years I've owned it.

RBSinTo

Well, that's a good thing.

 

[Paul14]

23 hours ago, RPB said:

 

 

23 hours ago, RPB said:

I just had a 1966 Gibson Dove restored by a local luthier , and Gibson said they do not sell the pick guards separately.  You can ship the guitar to Gibson's Repair and Restoration department, and they will install a new pick guard.  They said I would need to ship it to them for an estimate, but it would probably be between $350 and $450.  I assume you'd have to pay shipping both ways, or at the very least to them.

https://www.gibson.com/Support/Repair-And-Restoration

 

Oh... and the original is fairly thick, I assume the .060.  But my guess is that's to accommodate the inlays.  The thinner one will probably sound better.

http://www.fox-guitars.com/catalog/gibson-dove-custom-engraved-and-hand-painted-guitar-pickguard-w-inlaid-pearl

Edited November 15, 2020 by Paul14

[fortyearspickn]

9 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

Not sure. All mine are intact. As a Martin owner all I need to worry about is neck resets and loose binding.

 

Sarge,  You really should get yourself a Gibson acoustic.  Think of all the pick guard, TRC and Glue Drop problems you're missing.