Hi everyone, I have a bit of a lame question but see what you think...

I recently bought an 8 year old MIM 60s Reissue type Strat with regular Sunburst finish, rosewood neck and (I think) Mint Green pickguard with Cream knobs, pup covers etc. I'm planning a pickup change and thought I would get a pre-wired pickguard to make it easy. But I am torn between:

1. Replacing with the same color scheme (Mint Green/Cream) as per stock.
2. Replacing with Parchment White to make the guitar look bright and shiney and "new" on stage (we have a gig coming).
3. Replacing with a Black pickguard, knobs, pup covers etc. I came across a website with a picture of a sunburst strat with black fittings and it looked really cool which I didn't expect.

Any thoughts? What's the sexiest looking and brings out the best in your playing???

This is proving much harder than choosing the pickups - that was easy.

Thanks!

Hi there.

My new favorite pickguard Fender sells is the gold aluminum unit. i have one on my 2010 MIM, it fit like a dream, all the holes lined up just fine. The color would match and bring out the burst, and as an added benefit, the aluminum kills the hum in 1,3 & 5. Mine guitar is almost dead quite since I added it to mine, and I will never remove it just for that reason.

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Marriage is like playing cards...

At first all you want are Hearts and Diamonds.

But in the end, all you really want is a Club and a Spade.

Whatever color you decide on, make sure you get the '62 style pickguard. Otherwise and you'll find yourself drilling a mounting hole into your '60s re-issue body where it does not belong and having to use modern round-head mounting screws for your pickups and switch in lieu of the oval-head counter-sunk fasteners that the vintage guitars were equipped with.

The genuine Fender '62 pickguard is a drop-on fit for your instrument. You might also consider adding the full-size aluminum pickguard shield while you have the "hood" opened. I don't know that parchment is available but here are the listings for the other standard Strat colors......

PICKGUARD, MINT GREEN 3-PLY ’62 – P/N 0991343000
PICKGUARD, WHITE PEARL 3-PLY ’62 – P/N 0991342000
PICKGUARD, TORTOISE SHELL 4-PLY ’62 – P/N 0991344000
PICKGUARD, WHITE 3-PLY ’62 – P/N 0992018000
PICKGUARD, BLACK 3-PLY ’62 – P/N 0991345000

And the shielding plate......

PICKGUARD SHIELD, ALUMINUM ’62 – P/N 0019699000

Whatever you do, stay away from the Allparts pickguards -- their pre-drilled mounting holes do not jive with Fender's specified layout.

HTH

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Very helpful Arjay. Thanks a lot. I was beginning to have doubts about fitting problems and knowing me would have ordered a standard size which would most likely be wrong. Also the after market often doesn't cater for such sizings. The trouble is, I bought the guitar used at a very good price and didn't buy it because it was based on a classic design. In fact I want to upgrade and modernise everything on it (except the tone) starting with the pickups/electronics. I don't really care if it ends up not representing the original design very much.

So, I'll check out the Fender site to see what they have - at least it will fit.

FWIW I only recently bought the Strat (I've been a Gibson LP guy since I started playing guitar) and had no idea how fantastic a guitar it is. I'm really loving it and just want it to look nice and presentable (I'm not into this road worn, rusty, been lying in the back of a pickup look). I want it to be smart and attractive (like me). It already plays and sounds great but the pickups might be ??microphonic. I'm not too sure about this but I can hear our singer through my amp when he's just talking if I'm facing him with the guitar...!

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Older guy learning to play with:
Strat MIM 60s Classic
Les Paul Studio VM
Peavey VK212

Cool - a good idea to kill two birds with the same spare part. Your guitar just looks stunning anyway. Way nicer than mine (mine was buried under a heap of old guitar cases in the back of a shop and was used as a rental guitar). Plays nice though - I feel like it's a scruffy puppy from a dog kennel needing a caring home... (God I'm really in trouble giving my guitar a personality - what does that mean???).

Thanks.

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Older guy learning to play with:
Strat MIM 60s Classic
Les Paul Studio VM
Peavey VK212

A tortoiseshell or white perloidpick guard would be nice too.

My vote would be for the white pearlized pick guard with the parchment knobs

I always like the 60s style white/black/white on the sunburst Strats,it just gives it the classy and classic look.You can buy these guards that have been aged to take on the old "greenguard" look.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Thanks guys for all the suggestions. From what I've researched it certainly matters to get the '62 fit and this means there is a somewhat limited selection. That said, for me its either:

keep with the aged look and go for an aged white/parchment pg + parts

or black because it looks kind of cool (but maybe not traditional/classy).

I obviously already have the Mint Green finish with cream parts and although it gives a distinctly aged "look" it also looks a bit crappy! (IMO).

So, I'm beginning to think its the aged white/parchment pg or whatever I can get that is a little bit more fresh looking than the Mint Green.

Hopefully I can upgrade the electronics all at the same time from the same supplier.

Thanks again.

Holy CRAP!!!!!

Now THATS what I'm talking about!!!

A kick-ass gee-tar !!! My God the shine - sooooo cool. This is what I wanted: some dudes sending in their pictures of what a relatively boring sunburst could look like.

Haha! And I just ordered a parchment white set with pups!!!

Should have stuck to black... maybe I can call them??

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

the black pick guard has more of a rock or metal vibe IMO
for a look that screams phat stratty tone I would reccomend Mint green guard or if its an option then a brown tortoise shell looks good too (my pic)

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A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence. ~Leopold Stokowski~