What material are the actual pickguards?

[Hotzenplotz]

BTW, good idea about not putting MID into sunlight for long periods. But the color won't fade--the expansion and contraction of the wood and parts from heat will probably hurt the instrument in the long run.

But--spotlights? Shoot...you're being way too careful...

I am not in fear of fading colour, but of suddenly expanding wood. I avoid very wet humidity also.
I am not scared of spotlights in case of the guitar, I wasnn't under it until yet, that is what I ment...

[Hotzenplotz]

After cutting the scratch plates one more question:

Can I paint polycarbonate with ordinary acrylic colour (straight out of a spray can)?

[teb]

I use acrylic for mine, but after all the cutting, edge polishing and hole-drilling I bake them in an oven (225 degrees for a couple hours and a long slow cool-down seems to work) to anneal them and relieve the stress that builds up when you machine acrylic. After that, I just paint the back with plain old spray enamel and haven't had any problems with solvent cracks. I originally learned of this from a group that was restoring cars and making things like new tail light covers, but it's also explained in detail here:

http://www.rplastics.com/annealing-plexiglass.html

And don't underestimate the value of really polishing the edges. It takes a little time, but the glow that it adds to back-painted clear guards is worth the effort.

[JakeK]

I'm not sure about the white, but the gold like you find on models such as the 660/12 and 325 V59/C58 are plexiglass with a metallic-gold color painted on the back. Pickguardian makes certain pickguards, including white, in this same fashion.

[Hotzenplotz]

Actually I try my luck with polycarbonate the way Mr. Hall commented. Next week we will know more.

I already had a try with plexiglass. - But I did not the trick with the oven...

[johnhall]

We've used the oven annealing trick before as well and with care it works fine.

Another technique we've used is flame polishing. Essentially the edges are torched with a propane burner. The small irregularities of a router bit or the laser lines smooth out, making a polished edge without sanding and at the same time annealing the edges of the plastic. Unfortunately, it's a bit hard to control by hand and not really fast enough for production.

[Hotzenplotz]

Interesting!
By the way it is great to know that RIC produces as much as possible parts in the own factory.

- Well, it is just one set, mine. So I can sand it by hand and be proud of.