I'm trying to find ways to fix up my first guitar, a bit of a beater strat. The electronics gave out, so I was looking at revamping it with a new "loaded" pickguard with Fender Custom Shop '54 Pickups. The questions I have: from an authorized dealer, are these loaded pickguards a good idea? Would it be difficult to convert an 8-hole strat to 11-holes for the sake of the pickguard?

Thanks for any help.

A properly-assembled loaded pickguard will speed the installation and eliminate some of the guesswork if you're unfamiliar with a soldering pencil and common hand tools.

As for converting from an 8-screw to an 11-screw pickguard, it's only a matter of drilling some holes.

(hint: do not use a power drill)



Best of luck, 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

You can often get the same loaded pick guard in your choice of the 8 hole 50s pick guard, the 11 hole 60s pick guard, or the modern 11 hole pick guard.

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

If you don't mind the fact that one screw hole won't have any wood under it ... it's not difficult at all.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Indeed.

A properly-routed '50s type Strat body (originally using a 8-screw pickguard) will not have the "shoulder" within the control cavity to provide support for one of the screws added when Fender switched to the 11-hole part. A piece of surgical tubing could conceivably be used to secure it in the hole......

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

who cares, just use the 8 screws on the other pickguard as well.
the loaded pickguards are usually a pretty good deal.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

Naah, just use the other 10 to hold the guard down and glue the 11th screw onto the guard. No one will know the difference.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Think I found a place that can get me the 8-hole custom made for pretty much the same price as the loaded 11 on ebay. Anyone know anything about "Pickers Parts"? Their website is pretty professional looking. Wondering if anyone knows anything about their quality or reliability.

Thanks
SJ

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'69 Tele Thinline RI
'09 PRS SE Custom 24

Pickers Parts has been around a long time, but I've never done any business with them. Can you check BizRate for complaints?

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

I couldn't find anything on BizRate, but I came across an independent strat forum where Pickers seemed to get mixed reviews. A lot of people seem really happy with their stuff, a lot of other people are downright furious with Pickers. I want to look into the situation more, but now I have a bunch of reservations.

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'69 Tele Thinline RI
'09 PRS SE Custom 24

Another option; If your original pickguard is a keeper, Just remove the electroncis from the new one and mount them on the old pickguard.
Also, keep the original electroncs hidden, they may be of great value someday.