Mid to Late 70s pickguards

[brian]

I notice in the attached auction for a 1978 bass that the pickguard is white while the truss rod cover is off white, (I assume this is due to aging). My interest in this is that I have a 1976 481 in which the truss rod cover is off white, (again I suspect due to aging), but the pickguard is white. The pickguard is not like any other Ric white pickguard I have encountered but rather seems to be painted a flat white on the back of a clear material. I have always assumed it is a replacement. Were Ric white pickguards of this era always the same material as the truss rod cover ? Were they a solid plastic like the current ones ? Or ??????

Bass auction referenced

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4713&item=3744215832&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

[rictified]

I have a 78 4001 with the same thing, yellowed truss rod cover and binding, the pick guard is white and solid, I've never seen a clear pick guard with a white backing, I've owned a lot of 4001's. I've also got a 79 4001, an 81 4003 and a 72 4001 with a silk screened TRC, they are all white except for the 78, except that the binding on the 81 is yellowed, ??? the TRC on the 81 is white and original as all.

[rickcrazy]

I remember this one 4001. I've seen it in gbase, I think. Notice the fretboard with dot markers, which is not original.

[rick12dr]

White Rick pickguards are just solid white acrylic plastic, while the nameplates start off as clear acrylic, which is silkscreened with black letters on the backside, then oversprayed with white.Only known exception with white guards I ever heard of on a Rick, is on the Chris Squire 4001 bass, which is screened with black lettering from the back, then done in white paint. Of course, the upper pickguards on Ricks like the McGuinn, Townsend, Hoffs, are done this way as well.John Hall could comment whether there were any others that were like this, but in a nutshell, this is the deal.