Anyone know the glue used on pickguards?

[WishIStillHadThatOne]

I was given a 70's J45 and the pickguard had came off. Great condition for a guitar from the 70's other than that.

[QuestionMark]

The appropriate way to re-attach a pickguard is now considered to be by double sided tape, cut in the shape of the pickguard, attached to its backside and then pressed on to the guitar. Any past adhesive should be fully removed from both the guard and the top where it previously was. Any type of glue used will only hurt the top's ability to vibrate and produce sound as it will fill the unfavorably fill the wood's pores. A decent repairperson should be able to assist you as well as have the double sided tape on hand or be able to order some, plus help with removing any of the former adhesive residue. Ideally, seek an authorized Gibson repairperson in your area (the list is somewhere on the Gibson site) or a music store that has the authorized Gibson repairperson pickup instruments from their store. By use of the double sided tape, the pickguard will firmly sit on the guitar without restricting the wood from properly vibrating and producing its full tone.

 

Hope this helps.

 

QM aka Jazzman Jeff

[ponty]

Here is the StewMac solution

[dchristo]

you can get the thin double sided tape at places that sell trophys and plaques

[WishIStillHadThatOne]

Thanks guys, that's awesome!

[Guth]

I used a sheet of the Stew-Mac stuff when I decided to re-position the guard on my J-45 TV. It worked great and was easy to use.

 

[WishIStillHadThatOne]

That's about like mine. Mine is cherry sunburst. It says j45 adj I think.

[ponty]

I used a sheet of the Stew-Mac stuff when I decided to re-position the guard on my J-45 TV. It worked great and was easy to use.

 

 

I know this subject has been covered before, but the position of the pickguard after it has been moved is much better.

Why don't Gibson just do this?

[retrorod]

I used a sheet of the Stew-Mac stuff when I decided to re-position the guard on my J-45 TV. It worked great and was easy to use.

 

Pardon the pun ,Guth, ....BUT ....Good move! And yes...why won,t they do it right to start with?

[rar]

... Right now I think Epiphone makes better guitars than Gibson. My new $299 AJ-220sce plays almost as good as the sloppy $3000 Gibsons..and its finish is 100% cleaner than the Gibsons. ...

No problem. Lots of people can't tell the difference between Epis and Gibsons, or think Epis are better. That's who Epis are for!

 

-- Bob R

[Pickax]

Guth,

 

I want to do this to my J-45TV. How did you get the pick guard off without it curling, assuming you used a hairdryer to heat and remove?

[Guth]

Guth,

 

I want to do this to my J-45TV. How did you get the pick guard off without it curling, assuming you used a hairdryer to heat and remove?

 

Hi Pickax,

 

Here is what I posted back when I first completed the job:

 

It wasn't really all that hard. As a reference, I've never done anything like this before — just took my time and tried to stay patient with the process. I read up on some posts here and elsewhere on the web and came up with my plan. The very tip of my pickguard was already starting to lift just a tiny bit so getting started was easy enough. I warmed the guard up with a hairdryer set to low. I covered up the guitar finish with some bath towels so that only the pickguard was exposed to the heat, for the most part anyway. I warmed it up just slightly a bit at a time and I used some dental floss that I soaked in naptha to work my way underneath the pickguard. I followed this approach for quite a while, working my way down the length of the guard until I was done. I did not "pull up" on the guard at all as I wanted to re-use it once I got if off and didn't want to bend it. Getting the old adhesive off of the guitar's finish took a long time. I used some naptha and a cotten cloth to do so, once again working slowly and removing just a bit at a time.

 

I purhased some double sided adhesive sheets from Stewart MacDonald and used that to stick the pickguard back down in its new location.This part was a bit tricky, if you don't nail it, you'll need to repeat the above process all over again. I have no idea how many chances you get with the factory pickguard before it shows signs of wear from doing this.

 

As far as the shaping is concerned, I just used some sandpaper to smooth the arc of the pickguard that was to sit flush to the outside of the rosette rings. I wanted the two to match up as perfectly as possible. It didn't take much sanding at all, really just smoothing things up a bit. I should also point out that there is a bit of a "glue shadow" left in the finish from where the guard had originaly been placed. This might possibly work itself out with time, at any rate, I'm guessing that the sooner you do this job, the better. You could certainly mess your guitar up doing this, so take that for what it's worth and of course proceed with caution if you do decide to attempt this.

 

I wish you the best of luck if you decide to take this on. I only went for it because the factory placement was truly disappointing to me, even to the point I was willing to risk a "less-than-perfect" outcome.

[Pickax]

Thanks for the info Guth. I've replaced and removed a number of pick guards before but not with the intent of saving the original. I will give it a go this weekend if time permits. The worst I could do is screw up the PG and in that case, I'd get another from Turtle Works. Your correct placement of the PG looks far better then Gibson's misplaced effort. It's defies explanation.

[Guth]

Sounds good Pickax. Best of luck salvaging the original pickguard in that case.

[Peter Duff]

Here is a trick that works from my cabinet laminating days. Before applying the new pickguard, with double stick or mostly dry glue.  Dampen one surface with a light mist or spread a drop around. The water makes slightly more forgiving and evaporates in seconds. Also lay down some dowels or between them till you get one point established.