Stratocaster Bass 1 (3/3) ~ Luthiery Laboratories

Stratocaster Bass 1 (3/3)

This pickguard started out white, but turned an ugly brown. In addition to the outline of the thumb rest, if you look closely, you can see the shadows of the strings. This is clearly a reaction of the material to light and air. Classic Fender pickguards are well-known for turning slightly green, or 'mint' over time, but I have never seen anything like this. Note that there is no outline of body fade around the pickguard. This guitar wasn't left in the sun, ordinary indoor light did this!

This project was done in an era of cheap parts from China, shipped free on eBay. Many of those parts were perfectly good, but many more were incredibly shoddy. Sometimes it took a while to find out, as here. That era is over, China is rocketing backwards into isolation and economic collapse, and eBay loothery is an empty shell of what it once was. From now on, we will all have to use better-quality parts made elsewhere. Funny how the under-layer stayed white - look at the outer edge. You never knew what you were getting from China - good riddance! That said, I do have a good stock of better Chinese parts for someday.

This was one of the first pickguards ever made, and still one of the most complicated. My first attempt failed when the router tore off the end of the lower horn and shot it across the room. Otherwise, I would have two brown pickguards and be twice as disgusted. The more I look at it, that brown is really awful and ruins a nice project. It looks like cardboard. I need to do something.

After an attempt to salvage the old pickguard with chemistry, I decided to make a new one. Above are both parts for comparison. You can see the old pickguard has faded considerably, but is still nothing like white. The new one is not finished yet, but I have had this piece of plastic in inventory for a long time; if it has not yellowed by now, it is not going to. I'll post some details of both processes later, link in the sidebar.

The replacement is made entirely with hand tools, using the old one for a template. This is actually relaxing, unlike the terror of routing a plastic edge. The P-pickup cutout is a lot of fussing, but the rest is simple. ( For some real P-pup torment, see my "BC Rich". ) I roughed out most of the cuts on the scroll saw, finished the outline on the belt sander, and cut the inner edges and bevels by hand with files.

There is no magic to making a pickguard, just take your time. The material cuts easily, you don't need a power saw, a simple coping saw will do the whole job perfectly well.

I'm finishing the outside contour on a belt sander, but you could do it just as well by hand with sanding blocks, or a sanding drum on a drill.

It helps to have an edge to work over, like my little work box here. Anything will do. I'm putting the details in with hand files, no scary router that might chew up the whole thing.

Still cutting details with hand files, and a lot of fitting to the actual part. That is really the key - go in small steps and check the fit often. It's not magic.

I did all the shaping with these tools. At a minimum, you'll need large and small files - flat, half-round, and round.

A final fit check, and I can peel off the protective plastic. The slot for the switch was cut through with a razor saw, and widened out with a tiny file. The bevel around the edge was done with files and sandpaper wrapped around a dowel. The holes were drilled, but the countersinks were done by hand, rolling the bit between fingers and thumb. Plastic is soft and easy to work, and also easy to over-cut, which is why I keep the power tools to a minimum.

And the final result. Sound check reveals I didn't even break the wiring! I'm much happier now. This is such a fun little bass, handles perfectly, sounds great, and now pretty again. Notice how the thumbrest uses existing screw holes, and can be removed leaving no mark.