The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
  1. #1

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    I think I just found a pretty cool way to fake the look of old translucent celluloid Pickguards, and it's way cheaper then any other alternative I've seen so far.

    I'm going to reveal how I did it, but I think I'll let you guess first ;-)

    This is the result of my experiment:
    DIY bound "fake-celluloid" Pickguard with Materials from hardware store-whatsapp-image-2020-03-25-18-56-19-jpgDIY bound "fake-celluloid" Pickguard with Materials from hardware store-whatsapp-image-2020-03-25-18-56-21-jpg

    I spent less then 2€ on the parts, and could find everything I needed at my local hardware store.

    Paul

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  3. #2

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    Well that looks pretty cool. I'm guessing you cut it out of a plastic meat-tray and painted it with Marmite?

  4. #3
    Okay, I'm gonna reveal this:


    I grabbed a scrap piece of clear Plexiglass (0,70€) and painted the backside with shellac. I mixed up a second part of shellac which i stained darker, and then proceeded to let that drip onto the still wet backside of the Plexiglass. I angled the sheet and let it all run to create some lines and swirls.
    Of course that resulted in a thicker layer then I'd normally apply, but I was expermenting anyways.
    It took about a week to dry, but once it was set, i was able to cut out the pickguard-shape with a jigsaw. I refined the edges with a Dremel and then attached the binding (some White pvc strip i found for 1€).
    I just used regular super glue for that.
    Cut the overlapping binding down and then did a lot of sanding with a nail File. For the final polishing i used my girlfriends nail buffer (pretty awesome thing actually) to get rid of all the sanding marks.

    I'm really happy with how this turned out. It certainly has the depth of the real stuff, and finaly at a price point I could actually afford.


    Now I only need to do the cutouts and drilling, then I can put this on my guitar.

    I hope this might be helpful to someone.


    Paul

  5. #4
    Pickguard Installation complete:
    DIY bound "fake-celluloid" Pickguard with Materials from hardware store-img_20200328_180750-jpg
    Attached Images Attached Images DIY bound "fake-celluloid" Pickguard with Materials from hardware store-img_20200328_180733-jpg 

  6. #5
    I'm happy with how this turned out:
    DIY bound "fake-celluloid" Pickguard with Materials from hardware store-img_20200328_180711-jpg

  7. #6

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    Very creative! And it looks good!

  8. #7

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    Cool for sure but waiting for it to dry a week would be a pain. Curious about the PVC binding more details?

  9. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by deacon Mark
    Cool for sure but waiting for it to dry a week would be a pain. Curious about the PVC binding more details?
    It was painfull to wait that long, but it paid off!

    I'm happy to answer all your questions, but to be true it was pretty straightforward.

    I don't really know what that Plastic strip is actually intended for, but it seemed fitting. I did the same thing once cutting up a plastic bucket which worked fine aswell.
    Once i had the pickguard shape cut out and squared i just applied some superglue to the side and pressed the plastic strip against it. I always only did small steps at once. Once everything was set i moved on for the next couple of centimeters.
    As i was doing only a single ply binding i didn't care for fancy mitre joints and butt jointed everything.
    I then cut the overhang off with a blade and sanded everything flush with a nail File.

    Hope that helped you out!

    Paul

  10. #9

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    Love the nail file and nail buffer! :-D