Clear Pick Guards

[Zandit75]

Hi guys,
I'm looking to protect the face of my new Ibanez as it does not come with a pick guard, and I was wondering what kind of materials are good to use.
I know there are the standard ones made from plastic etc, but I was wondering if anyone has used the stuff normally applied to headlight lenses on cars?
I'm thinking of something like the photo below


What effect do you think this will have on the sound, and how effective will it be compared to a standard pick guard?

Thanks in advance.

[fhubert]

Originally Posted by Zandit75

Hi guys,
I'm looking to protect the face of my new Ibanez as it does not come with a pick guard, and I was wondering what kind of materials are good to use.
I know there are the standard ones made from plastic etc, but I was wondering if anyone has used the stuff normally applied to headlight lenses on cars?
I'm thinking of something like the photo below


What effect do you think this will have on the sound, and how effective will it be compared to a standard pick guard?

Thanks in advance.

I have used they regular clear pick guards you can buy at guitar shops. I would think that the adhesive on one's made for headlights might be bad for the guitar finish. Maybe I'm not sure though.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Zandit75

…but I was wondering if anyone has used the stuff normally applied to headlight lenses on cars?

Hi Z…
Tapping the top of a guitar while it's resting in your lap will clue one into the acoustically 'live' and active areas of the instrument.

Removing pick guards is a cosmetic choice, and frankly one the public could care less about. After at least a couple hundred years of pick guards on guitar tops, they are 'invisible' unless gaudy and over done. And if they restricted sound, I think the guitar builders would have eliminated them.

This one might affect tone…I think it was for show…



I have pick guards on all my guitars, including my handbuilts. I prefer them to be thick enough that they lie completely flat. The area the pick guard occupies not a particularly active region acoustically. It won't kill, or change the tone or sustain of the instrument in audible fashion.

This is the top of my Bashkin with a normal thickness transparent/clear pick guard, under studio lights.



I like the normal thickness guards, as opposed to thin film ones, because they look better when they catch lights.

This is my Kronbauer mini-jumbo which I had my luthier add a transparent pick guard to. You can 'see' it if you look hard…



The film ones ripple under light and look temporary. And frankly the thinner it is, the easier it is for any pick used with the force necessary to be heard to still crease the finish beneath it.

Here's my main guitar which is still wearing it's original from-the-bench pick guard and nobody in over 22 years has ever commented on the pick guard. It looks amazingly guitar-like.

[The Bard Rocks]

You can get a clear pick guard that stick on by static, peels off instantly , and is made for guitars you don't have to worry about it damaging the finish. No glues to clean up. They are very thin, so inhibit the tone less. And they are cheap. What's not to like? Very difficult to see once they are on.

I'll be back home tonight and can look at it and get the brand name.

[titanNV]

(Comment removed)

[sam.spoons]

I tried a pickguard cut from a poundshop iPhone screen protector (three for £1) on my Carbon Fibre guitar. As long as you can stick it on without bubbles it works a treat. I've also see the static ones at a guitar show recently, they're probably even better though be aware that it's not just adhesives that can damage trad finishes but the chemicals in some rubbers/plastics (my older guitars have marks where they sit on the wall hangers but it's easy enough to polish them out and with celly a touch up is not difficult).

[fazool]

I have a cling, removable clear pickguard. I prefer no pickguards and only have it in case I (rarely) decide to bring a pick near my guitar.

What you apply depends on the guitar finish. Do not apply those plastic films unless you KNOW it won't react with your finish.

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by Zandit75

Hi guys,
I'm looking to protect the face of my new Ibanez as it does not come with a pick guard, and I was wondering what kind of materials are good to use.

What effect do you think this will have on the sound, and how effective will it be compared to a standard pick guard?

Thanks in advance.

Zandit, your Ibanez guitar almost certainly has a polyester finish on it, so you can safely use clear vinyl "static cling" temporary pickguards on it. But any guitar with a nitro-cellulose lacquer finish will have a nasty chemical reaction when vinyl is placed on its surface.

A safer alternative is to get the clear pickguard that Stewart-MacDonald sells, which won't react with nitro-cellulose:

˚˚˚

It costs a whopping $3.59:

http://www.stewmac.com/Hardware_and_...Pickguard.html

Obviously, it's in the US and you're in Australia, but shipping costs will be absolutely minimal because it's small and light. The pickguard is also self-adhesive, so all you have to do once you get it is figure out where you want to place it, remove the backing, and press the pickguard into place.

What I do when putting a pickguard on a guitar is figure out where I want it to go, then use a strip of painter's masking tape to create a "hinge," with one end of the tape on the pickguard and the other on the top. I fold it back so the backing is up, take off the backing paper, then simply lower the sticky side of the pickguard onto the top, right where I want it.

Hope that makes sense.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Zandit75]

Thanks everyone, appreciate all the input.
I'm heading to the local music shop this afternoon for a new set of strings, so I will check out what they have available.
Wade, I looked at Stew-Mac, dollar conversion makes them $4.94AUD, and the shipping is almost $14.00AUD!!!
It will be interesting to see what the local has to offer!
eBay has heaps available, but delivery times can be ridiculous.

[sam.spoons]

If you go for a clear pickguard make sure you can apply it without dust underneath or it will drive you crazy

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by Zandit75

Thanks everyone, appreciate all the input.
I'm heading to the local music shop this afternoon for a new set of strings, so I will check out what they have available.
Wade, I looked at Stew-Mac, dollar conversion makes them $4.94AUD, and the shipping is almost $14.00AUD!!!

I feel your pain. Here in Alaska we get all sorts of added shipping charges tacked on, which makes sense when you're shipping a guitar from the Lower 48 up here, but borderline criminal when it's something that can just be popped in the mail.

Originally Posted by Zandit75

It will be interesting to see what the local has to offer!
eBay has heaps available, but delivery times can be ridiculous.

You'll be better off with a reputable local music store or an internationally respected online retailer like Elderly or Stewart-MacDonald than you will be risking an eBay transaction. I mean, plenty of those folks are fine, but good luck catching any of them if your eBay pickguard eats a hole in your guitar or morphs into Godzilla and stomps the Sydney Opera House:

Mind you, I'm not saying it's LIKELY that a clear pickguard purchased off fleaBay will mutate into a giant fire-breathing reptile that stomps prize-winning, iconic architectural landmarks, but the problem is you can never be completely certain....

Hope this helps.


Wade Hampton "Omigod, There Goes Hobart!" Miller