Pickguard for 325V59

[iamltjbukem]

Hey there!

Anybody ordered a pickguard from Pickguardian before? I am wanting to change the one on my 325V59 so that the knobs are spaced more like the C58. Anybody had this done?

[jps]

I have done plenty of business with Tony over the years, great guy and great pickguards!

[cjj]

Yep, Tony's (Pickguardian) work is top notch, and FAST! Just got a new one made special for one of my basses 2 weeks ago...

[iamltjbukem]

Sounds great! I am going to trace mine and get one made!

Thanks!

[FredC]

I know its an old post so this is just for reference.

I did it to mine.. Here it is: http://www.rickresource.com/register/vi ... ine%3Dtrue

I ordered the 325v59 lower pickguard from Pickguardian with no holes drilled - It was $65

The Gold is not the same shade of gold as the original - its more like the c58 color as you can see in the photos.

The pickguard was WAY too big for the guitar - My Luthier had to completely refit it.

Once that was done, we copied the pot pattern from my c58 and the mounting hole pattern from the original v59 pickguard.

Then we filled and re-drilled the top 3 holes in the body to fit smaller screws (the v59 has 3 large screws where the 2nd layer scratchguard goes.)

Reattached the pots and mounted the Burns Knobs - Whew - finally finished. Over all it came out really nice but if I had to do it over again I would just get blank gold stock that matches better and cut the whole thing. All it really is is clear plexiglas painted gold on the back.

[glen_l]

It's not suprising you want to replace the v59 pickguard. The stock guard has the oddest looking control placements you'll see on a Ric. It would be a good idea to order a plate with the mounting holes undrilled as the c58 and V59 have different mounting holes, and an extra hole.

Unless you're particulaly going for a Lennon replaca you might consider getting a more standard control layout too, as the c58 has oddidites that were peculiar to Lennon's. Aside from the extra mounting screw, the volume pots are closer together than the tone pots, to the extent that the stock knobs hit each other. The toggle switch is placed low on the guard, rather than the common centred position.

[deaconblues]

Send them a tracing of your guard, as opposed to just ordering from one of their templates. Then you'll get the right size.

[FredC]

Send them a tracing of your guard, as opposed to just ordering from one of their templates. Then you'll get the right size.

What they sent me didn't even match their own template.. and was the wrong shade of gold.

[FredC]

Unless you're particulaly going for a Lennon replaca you might consider getting a more standard control layout too, as the c58 has oddidites that were peculiar to Lennon's. Aside from the extra mounting screw, the volume pots are closer together than the tone pots, to the extent that the stock knobs hit each other. The toggle switch is placed low on the guard, rather than the common centred position.

I'm convinced he removed one of the volume knobs intentionally because of the 'bumping' and then replaced all of them with Beaver Knobs. Its really a PITA.



I've also been threatening to replace one of the pots with a push/push or a push/pull to turn the center pickup on and off. Anyone tried this?

[aceonbass]

Over all it came out really nice but if I had to do it over again I would just get blank gold stock that matches better and cut the whole thing. All it really is is clear plexiglas painted gold on the back.

There's no such thing blank gold plexiglass stock. First of all, the company that invented Plexiglass and holds the trademark for the name, no longer makes it in sheets. Second of all, the current equivalent, which goes by the generic name of acrylic, isn't available in clear back painted gold. You start with clear acrylic sheet stock, cut it, then back paint it. The shade of gold RIC uses is very specific and hard to match, which is why Pickguardian was unable to get the shade right. That they couldn't get the shape right is beyond me, but something I've heard before. There's also a lot more to making a pickguard than just cutting it out.

[FredC]

Clear Plexiglass sheets are available here: http://www.professionalplastics.com/PLEXIGLASS - EXCUSE me for spelling it with one "S" which indicates the Arkema brand name.

I said clear painted gold on the back - which is all the Rick c58 and v59 Pickguards are. The paint is not even sealed.

Making pickguards is easy - Especially when your best m8 has a CNC specifically for the job. Like I said - to do it again we would start from scratch.

[aceonbass]

Making pickguards is easy? Since you ordered one from Pickguardian to begin with, I'm guessing you've never actually made one before, and not many have access to a CNC machine. Unless it's your CNC machine, and YOU know how to program and set it up, you really can't say it's easy, or take credit for it. Don't forget to countersink all of the mounting holes for your guards, and polish chatter marks out of the edges. While the paint is not sealed on the back of guards by RIC, there is a method to painting them so that the paint doesn't crack. By the way, luthiers are guitar builders, while those who do this sort of work are best described as guitar techs. And there is STILL no such thing as "blank gold stock", let alone in the proper shade.