Natural Finish Without Pickguard. Dangerous?

[BlackAngusYoung]

Hello! My first post to the forum.

I just bought my first decent guitar... an Epiphone Les Paul Studio in Worn Brown finish. The finish is dark and natural looking. Can anyone tell me if it's safe to take the cheap-looking plastic pickguard off? I'd like to show off the wood but I don't want to end up scratching it all up. Can anyone tell me how resilient this kind of finish is? I'm not even sure how important the pickguard is considered to be.

Thanks.

[MarxBros]

It really depends how you play. I've seen used guitars without pickguards end up totally trashed in that area and others with little to no wear. Certainly the worn finish will show damage quicker.

[Growler]

Or if you happen to have 5 grand laying around, they will scratch it for you.

 

 

[TWANG]

I'm not that familiar with the finish!

It should, however, be a sealer, then a clear coat, in your case a satin finish.

these should both be poly materials. Which are very tough.

 

But I have seen them in the stores, and they seem awfully thin, and gives certainly the impression that Marx makes.. not so tough, perhaps.

 

I don't know how long you've had the guitar, but one thing you could do is just judge by the area above the strings.

If you have the sort of playing style which includes some pretty broad or insistent strumming, you should be able to judge wear by that area,

for a month, say, and be able to decide if you want to risk removing it.

 

McGuiers makes a swirl remover which works really well and on my gloss finishes really does the job for pick scratches and I take my guard off for long periods fairly often.

So, that's what I'd do.. leave it on a bit.. play.. see how it wears elsewhere and go by that.

TWANG

[generation zero]

I usually take the guard off all my Pauls, with maybe one exception. I do play pretty hard at times, but I've never noticed any signifigant wear under where the guard goes. Normally, mine get all scratched up ABOVE the strings, on the other side of the pickups. I guess I have a heavier upstroke, but I do play with it hanging pretty low...

Anyway, the two things I love about a Les Paul are the beautiful wood tops, and the fact that IMO a brand new pretty Les Paul looks just as nice, if not nicer, after a few dozen years of being beat up and abused on the road. The wear gives them each a character all to its own... Pauls, strats, and teles are all guitars that arguably look even better once you start wearing them in, (or out, depending on perspective,) as opposed to say a PRS, which is ruined after the first good scratch or ding.

 

So, I say take it off, beat it up, and let it ride. The more scratched it gets, the more it shows how much you love to play it! :)

[jcwillow777]

Mine comes off, then goes back on, depending how I feel. That is a nice color finish on your, so I would take it off. I like a faded brown.

[tramber]

BEWARE! This is what can happen if you leave the pickguard off for just a day or two.

 

 

(This is, of course, Willie Nelson's guitar.)

 

Doug -

[curseoftruth]

I have a Gibson Les Paul Vintage Mahogany and a Gibson Faded Flying V. They both have the nearly non-existent thin nitro finish. I play both very hard and often, they are my main gigging guitars. I've had the LPVM for about a year and a half and the V for about 6 months. The LPVM is showing signs of wear in two places -- above the top E-String (non-pick guard side) where I strum (well, I don't strum, I play the hell out of it but you get the idea). The other place is where my picking forearm rests on the guitar when playing. Its fading -- mainly due to I guess my arm rubbing on it when I sweat. My V is show wear where my arm rests on it as well, its faded even more. This is natural relicing and does not bother me in the least!

[tulsaslim]

It really depends how you play. I've seen used guitars without pickguards end up totally trashed in that area and others with little to no wear. Certainly the worn finish will show damage quicker.

 

Absolutely! Whether or not you need a pickguard on ANY guitar depends on 1)how you play & 2)how the people you allow to play your guitar play. If you don't have a bunch of pick scratches on your pickguard you'll be fine taking it off.

 

I have one just like yours. The pickguard came off within a half-hour of me opening the box. I think they all look better without pickguards.

[Mugatu]

^^ Agreed, it's all to do with your style of play.

 

I play more gently these days, playing "big band" style rhythm, and blues lead (where I never really stray from the strings at all) so I could probably do without it. If you're a thrash metal man, you may want to leave it on, but then again, some say it adds character to your guitar.

 

I actually leave mine on, but that's purely because I like the look of mine. The previous owner scratched the hell out of it, but it's a nice tortoiseshell one that I couldn't find, so I took it off, polished it up, and proudly put it back on.

 

Horses for courses, as they say. :-)