Today I removed everything from the pickguard and completely pulled it for the first time, to really see the extent of the damage. The plastic around the neck pickup has been mis-shapen pretty badly, and there's a rather large crack spreading out from one of the mounting holes. It's much longer and more visible on the underside, this was no doubt from the pickup being screwed down stupidly tight. The whole area is bent pretty badly, it dosen't sit level at all and i'm afraid to try doing anything to the pickguard as a result. It's no doubt much more brittle after 30 years of abuse, and the area between the top, and pickup hole is pretty slim.
I'm not sure what to do at this point, I HATE the thought of putting a non-origional Rickenbacker part on this guitar. If I could get a replacement atleast made by Rickenbacker then I wouldn't feel so bad about it. No matter how exact it would be I just hate the idea of a 3rd party aftermarket replacement.
I wonder if it would be possible to order another from Rickenbacker. Maybe send it in and have it replaced, similar to how thier Truss Replacement program works. i.e if you send in a Vintage 'raised letter' style to get replaced, then they send you the same vintage-style back. As opposed to newer plexi. So they must still produce them or have stock left, I don't know.
I guess the one saving grace is that the pickguard seems to have taken all the abuse for the entire guitar over the years, haha. Atleast it's a part I can actaully remove and replace.
Here's some pictures, click the thumbnail.
Btw, everything Todd wrote regarding polishing out the scratches is 100% correct. The same techniques are SOP for a guitar's finish (or a plastic car headlamp cover for that matter). If you accept my challenge in the other thread to make your own guard, you'll use those techniques to smooth the edges of your homemade guard and do a final buff out. I say go for it!! Start a thread about making your own guard and you should get plenty of advice.