First let me apologize for a question that has probably been beaten to death, but a search using “pick guard” brings up so many topics.
I want to make a standard white pick guard for a 1980 450. I would assume that I would buy white plastic from a Home Depot or other hardware store. But from my many projects in the past, the devil is in the details.
1. So is there a preferred manufacture of the pick guard martial?
2. What is the best thickness?
3. Why is the best place in the US or more specifically Chicago to purchases?
Any other related information would be appreciated.
Thanks
Pickguards construction
Moderators: rickenbrother, ajish4
To do a nice job, I wouldn't go looking for material at a Home Depot. If memory serves me, the correct material is called 'acrylic'. I think Plexiglass is simply a trademarked name for a particular type of 'acrylic'. It's been a few years since I made any pickguards, so I might not have all my facts right.
I've seen many Rickenbacker pickguards poorly made from the wrong kind of Plexiglass. Be sure and get the opaque white material, because the other is slightly transparent and looks very wrong on a guitar. The bad looking stuff is easy to find because it is commonly used to make illuminated signs. In fact, I think the color is called 'sign white'. You'll want a truly white pickguard, so don't try to use that stuff.
I think the correct thickness is 1/8". I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong (some folks gets kind of obsessive around here, but that's okay).
I scroll saw works well for cutting the material. It comes with a protective peel off paper coating. Leave that on until it's finished. The edges should be smoothed to remove any saw marks or sharp edges to look right. I have found a plastic polish called Buff-Ez (sp?) that seems to work well on acrylic.
In a city like Chicago, you should have no trouble getting your hands on the right supplies. Just look for a plastics distributor. Sometimes they will sell scrap pieces at bargain price. Some will even make your parts if you can give them a drawing or tracing of the part.
Good luck!
I've seen many Rickenbacker pickguards poorly made from the wrong kind of Plexiglass. Be sure and get the opaque white material, because the other is slightly transparent and looks very wrong on a guitar. The bad looking stuff is easy to find because it is commonly used to make illuminated signs. In fact, I think the color is called 'sign white'. You'll want a truly white pickguard, so don't try to use that stuff.
I think the correct thickness is 1/8". I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong (some folks gets kind of obsessive around here, but that's okay).
I scroll saw works well for cutting the material. It comes with a protective peel off paper coating. Leave that on until it's finished. The edges should be smoothed to remove any saw marks or sharp edges to look right. I have found a plastic polish called Buff-Ez (sp?) that seems to work well on acrylic.
In a city like Chicago, you should have no trouble getting your hands on the right supplies. Just look for a plastics distributor. Sometimes they will sell scrap pieces at bargain price. Some will even make your parts if you can give them a drawing or tracing of the part.
Good luck!
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The pick guard material we used in the early 70's when I work at Rick was Dupont Acrylic Lucite.
It's a hard Acrylic plastic. For the pick guards we used a solid white, for the truss rod covers it was clear, same material though. The T.R. covers were cut, drilled and sanded to exact size,
then sent to the Silk Screen Dept. to have the Logo
put on, the the white lacquer was applied over the black lacquered Logo. The standard thickness was .125 of an inch= 1/8 inch. For drilling the holes use a brad point drill bit after drilling a
pilot hole of about 1/16th inch. This prevents cracking and chipping. IMO the best white pick guards are made from the clear 1/8 inch material
cut,drilled and sanded to size, then peel off the back side paper masking and using white spray lacquer, give it 2 nice coats of white lacquer. This gives a nice depth and solid color to the pick guard. There is another company that has the same material: Cyro Industries Woodcliff N.J.
07675 I would stay away from the Home Depot stuff, it's a little on the soft side although it will work. That's my 25 cents worth.
It's a hard Acrylic plastic. For the pick guards we used a solid white, for the truss rod covers it was clear, same material though. The T.R. covers were cut, drilled and sanded to exact size,
then sent to the Silk Screen Dept. to have the Logo
put on, the the white lacquer was applied over the black lacquered Logo. The standard thickness was .125 of an inch= 1/8 inch. For drilling the holes use a brad point drill bit after drilling a
pilot hole of about 1/16th inch. This prevents cracking and chipping. IMO the best white pick guards are made from the clear 1/8 inch material
cut,drilled and sanded to size, then peel off the back side paper masking and using white spray lacquer, give it 2 nice coats of white lacquer. This gives a nice depth and solid color to the pick guard. There is another company that has the same material: Cyro Industries Woodcliff N.J.
07675 I would stay away from the Home Depot stuff, it's a little on the soft side although it will work. That's my 25 cents worth.
I worked in a plastics warehouse/fabrication shop 34 years ago, so I am recounting some old memories, with some added knowledge from my years as a chemist.
The material is actually poly(methyl acrylate), a polymer of the methyl ester of acrylic acid (a monomer; monomer molecules are caused to react together to form the polymer), and is often called "acrylic" (there are other esters of acylic acid, the polymers of which could also be called "acrylic", so the term is ambiguous).
Besides Dupont, which manufactured and marketed this polymer under the Lucite nmae, Rohm & Haas manufactured and marketed the material under the Plexiglas (one "s", as I recall) brand name. Rohm & Haas moved on to other things a number of years ago. The place I worked at specialized in Plexiglas. As I recall, there were a good number of different "whites", ranging from opaque white through translucent (#2447 rings a bell), to nearly transparent.
My 1967 450 MG has its original pickguard on it, and it looks to me to be not the opaque white, but a translucent one like #2447. My 360 Carl Wilson of more recent manufacture has opaque white pickguards (!?!).
One other thing: all of the sheets of Plexiglas were used for any purpose, glazing or whatever - there was no special "glazing" grade. Maybe it's diferent today.
The material is actually poly(methyl acrylate), a polymer of the methyl ester of acrylic acid (a monomer; monomer molecules are caused to react together to form the polymer), and is often called "acrylic" (there are other esters of acylic acid, the polymers of which could also be called "acrylic", so the term is ambiguous).
Besides Dupont, which manufactured and marketed this polymer under the Lucite nmae, Rohm & Haas manufactured and marketed the material under the Plexiglas (one "s", as I recall) brand name. Rohm & Haas moved on to other things a number of years ago. The place I worked at specialized in Plexiglas. As I recall, there were a good number of different "whites", ranging from opaque white through translucent (#2447 rings a bell), to nearly transparent.
My 1967 450 MG has its original pickguard on it, and it looks to me to be not the opaque white, but a translucent one like #2447. My 360 Carl Wilson of more recent manufacture has opaque white pickguards (!?!).
One other thing: all of the sheets of Plexiglas were used for any purpose, glazing or whatever - there was no special "glazing" grade. Maybe it's diferent today.
It is better, of course, to know useless things than to know nothing. - Seneca