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  1. #26

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    Quote Originally Posted by goldenwave77
    Mine does NOT have 3 screws--it has two. One up by the neck, screws down into the body, and the other on the bracket screws into the side of the guitar--at a 90 degree angle to the guitar soundboard.
    On the Aria 360 isn't there a 3rd screw & nut that holds the guard to the bracket? Roughly in the middle?

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  3. #27
    The gtr. in question is an Aria Pro II, EA-650, 1978 lawsuit 175.

    One screw up near the front pu screws directly into the top of the guitar.

    A second screw connects the bracket to the pickguard, but not to the top of the guitar--so no downward pressure there.

    And then the 3rd screw is 90 degree perpendicular to the soundboard, and goes into the side bout of the guitar. In removing the pickguard, there are 2 screws to deal with, not three.

    So, yes, technically there are 3 screws but nothing to exert downward force, aside from the one up near the pickguard...nothing to counteract the "boingi-ness" of the pickguard. Both the pickguard and the bracket have some flex to them.

    The pickguard/bracket on the L4-CES is more substantial and better designed, but both of them still sound cleaner, and louder without the pickguards. I re-read K. Burrell's interview talking about his gear, and he liked BIG guitars because of the comfort factor for where his arm rested. I'm the same with 37" sleeves: Always had trouble finding off the rack dress shirts with sleeves that didn't make me look like "Zeke from Cabin Creek". A full width (3" or 3 3/8" archtop of 16" or 17") archtop is perfectly comfortable for me...smaller guitars like strats leave my arm flying in space.

    It is an anatomical peculiarity that in golf club lengths there is almost NO difference for ht. adjustments for a man between say 5'4" and 6'3": Our arms hang pretty much the same ht. off the ground, and it's pretty rare to use different length club shafts, and even then, the differences are small. But with guitars, arm length matters so some people like/need the arm rest feature.

    The way I hold my guitars with a strap setting I use on all of them, there is no way even hard strumming creates enough angle to contact the top of the guitar. Willie Nelson had this issue, but I don't and never will.


    Anyway, interesting to read the range of responses.
    Last edited by goldenwave77; 01-08-2017 at 10:24 PM.

  4. #28

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    Quote Originally Posted by goldenwave77

    A second screw connects the bracket to the pickguard, but not to the top of the guitar--so no downward pressure there.
    I thought maybe that could be the thing rattling, if it is coming loose from the nut underneath.

  5. #29
    It is a good thought, actually, as when I took off the L4 pickguard, it has a different design. That pickguard is glued to the bracket arm, and the bracket arm threads through at a 90 degree angle.

    But the Aria's vibration is more low level--not ringing, or metallic. The Aria screw-through attachment would probably be improved with a lock washer, but that's not really the issue.

    Anyway, I think I'm in the no pickguard camp for now.

  6. #30

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    Definitely depends on the player. I don't need one, I've found (when I bought my Heritage a few years ago it didn't have one), but I've never gone through the trouble of actually taking one off.

  7. #31

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    Quote Originally Posted by goldenwave77
    It is a good thought, actually, as when I took off the L4 pickguard, it has a different design. That pickguard is glued to the bracket arm, and the bracket arm threads through at a 90 degree angle.

    But the Aria's vibration is more low level--not ringing, or metallic. The Aria screw-through attachment would probably be improved with a lock washer, but that's not really the issue.
    Correct. Gibson's higher end archtop bracket glues on.

    Is a Pickguard on Archtop Necessary?-bracket-jpg

    Other models (Les Paul, etc) use the screw-on type.

    Is a Pickguard on Archtop Necessary?-bracket2-jpg

  8. #32
    The glue-on design must be a modern improvement. Mine looks like it uses Crazy Glue, which is pret-ty strong, but was not around in the old days, I take it. Anyway, it takes care of the loose nut issue.

  9. #33

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    I like the pickguard until it becomes troublesome. Like the OP, I also discovered buzz that could not be tightened away. The only thing I miss is visual, it doesn't affect my playing.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  10. #34

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    Quote Originally Posted by citizenk74
    I think of pickguards as finger-rests. I'm playing exclusively fingerstyle these days, so a 1" wide strip of something securely braced would be adequate and largely superfluous, as I am striving for a floaty hand. And covering 2/3 of the treble soundhole always puzzled me. Perhaps it is the legacy of the archtop acoustic powerhouse projection device's need for an athletic strum. Still, a deco stair-step PG on a D'A or a Guild sets my heart a-flutter....
    +1 on a finger rest, and another +1 on the covering the sound hole.

    Some designs get it pretty right though.

    There's more than enough for a finger rest, it's aesthetically pleasing, enough protection for aggressive strummers, and no sound hole blockage. Seems most makers are asleep at the wheel.

    Is a Pickguard on Archtop Necessary?-fender_daquisto1-jpg

  11. #35

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    Quote Originally Posted by citizenk74
    And covering 2/3 of the treble soundhole always puzzled me.
    This! (They talk pickguard at 12:40)


  12. #36

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    The pickguard on my Eastman AR 371 warped and had to be replaced. Eastman sent me a new pickguard but I had to have it fitted to my guitar. I had been thinking about playing with my hand floating, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to work on this. I used to anchor my hand with my pinky. A year and a half later, I had the pickguard fitted to the guitar. Now I forget it's there and rarely touch it.

  13. #37
    Just ran across some YT clips of Ed Cherry, a guitarist who is new to me. I really like his playing.

    He's also a member of the "no pickguard" club.

  14. #38

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    I am a pick guard guy with conditions. I play with my thumb for single notes and part of that approach uses the pick guard as a rest/anchor point and while com[ing I use it as a pinky anchor. I had a Godin 5th Ave with a factory pick guard that was so flexible it provided absolutely no resting resistance ( I replaced the Godin pick guard with a Gibson ES150 replica to resolve the issue) so the condition is if there is a pick guard it has to be stiff enough to provide support. My D'angelico Exl-1 MIk has the vol and tone on the pick guard I like that ease of access so another condition. While I recognize that quite probably D'angelico designed the stepped pick guard for aesthetic rather than functional reasons the stepped lower profile lets me hook/anchor my i-m-a fingers in the steps/notches which is very hand and something I would not want to be without- so another condition . I like my pick guard even though I don't use a pick
    Will

  15. #39

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    For me they are. My Carvin semi came without one. I just finished making one for it.

    Is a Pickguard on Archtop Necessary?-carvinpg-jpg

  16. #40

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    Nice work, Woody Sound. Elegant.

  17. #41

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    I was a no pickguard guy until I started to seriously work on fingerstyle. The only archtop I have is my Bambino, and the finger rest on that is perfect.

  18. #42

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    I waffle. I tend to take them off, put them back on, back off, as the mood strikes me. I think the Bambino looks better bare naked, but I put the guard back on now and then. Benedetto's mounting method is perfect, because there is no evidence one has ever been installed if you remove it. When I remove the pickguard from my Epi ES175, there are ugly holes left in the body. It's less obvious on the Eastman, but still holes are there, and it's a PITA to get to the screws without scraping the finish underneath the pickguard. On the Bambino, it's a piece of cake, just remove three screws from the top, then put them back into the pickup rings with the guard gone.

  19. #43

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    Quote Originally Posted by goldenwave77
    Just ran across some YT clips of Ed Cherry, a guitarist who is new to me. I really like his playing.

    He's also a member of the "no pickguard" club.
    Ed is a fine player. The first Time i saw him was in a Dizzy Gillespie Quartet at a Jazzfestival in Zürich in the early eighties. He was playing a brand new Super 400 but it was in a big hall and the soundpeople didn't do a good job. A few years back i saw him again in a small club in Bern and he was playing a Peerless JazzCity through a Fender Twin Reverb, i can't remember if with or without PG. All i remember that he got a great sound with it which i liked a lot.

  20. #44

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    I do rest my knuckles on mine.

    Perhaps players you rest their hand on the bridge or the strings rock style have less need of this.

  21. #45

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    Interesting subject, everyone. I've been concerned with this for years, on all kinds of instruments. Generally I think they add unnecessary mass and baffling, but I have seen some pretty mutilated tops from picks, as we all have. I had a small, clear guard installed on a beautiful, natural-topped instrument for my son about 20 years ago, and it still seems like the best solution I've seen.

  22. #46

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    I also like woody sound's guard on the Carvin!

  23. #47

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    I have 3 archtops. Two have pickguards, and my recently purchased PM2 does not. I have found that it makes no difference to me as I do not rest my pinky.

  24. #48

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    Quote Originally Posted by goldenwave77
    The glue-on design must be a modern improvement. Mine looks like it uses Crazy Glue, which is pret-ty strong, but was not around in the old days, I take it. Anyway, it takes care of the loose nut issue.
    It depends on what you mean by "old days". My 1961 175 has the glue on design as shown in the photo above - and it's not a newer replacement since I have owned the guitar since 1973.

  25. #49

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    Wraps around the soundhole:

  26. #50

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    Cyanoacrylate glue was first sold commercially in 1958, although the patent for it was filed in 1942. It has been around for awhile.