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Post subject: Stratocaster Pickguard Material or Pickguard Repair
Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2015 6:15 pm
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I have been trying without success to find out what type of material my 85-86 Japanese Strat is made from. It is a three layer (white-black-white) which started as a S-S-S. I know it is some type of plastic but there lots of different plastics. I need to do a repair and want to be able to use the proper type of filler or resin to do the job. More specifically I need to fill and redrill a couple of holes. The color of the filler is not that important since the surface will be covered. That it bond to the original pickguard material is important.

Replacing the pickguard is not an option. I need to repair it.

Does anyone know what material these pickguards are made out of?
Has anyone ever successfully repaired a pickguard before?


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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster Pickguard Material or Pickguard Repair
Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 2:23 am
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I would guess it would be acrylic but I dont know.

Why is replacing it not an option? It seems the most obvious.

I'd use car filler, or any plastic filler. Countersink the back of the hole to make a dovetail. Tape over the front of the hole and fill from the back. Getting right into the corners could be an issue so work the filler well in. The double countersunk hole should ensure any filler stays in place even if it doesn't properly bond to the original. A bit of a bodge but it should do the job.

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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster Pickguard Material or Pickguard Repair
Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 1:06 pm
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Probably wants to keep it original and just fix a few blemishes.

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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster Pickguard Material or Pickguard Repair
Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 2:03 am
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ido1957 wrote:
Probably wants to keep it original and just fix a few blemishes.


Well take it off and put it safe in a box. It will be more authentic and original than one which has had holes filled. Then fit a replacement which has the holes in the right place and will, most probably, be indestinguishable from the original (apart from being perfect).

Some jobs are worth doing, some just aren't. This IMHO is the latter.

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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster Pickguard Material or Pickguard Repair
Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2015 7:33 am
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OK. The reason I don't want to replace it is because ~30 years ago I covered it in rattlesnake skin. Hey it was the 80's! It is truly one of a kind as far as I know and I never intend to part with it.

https://plus.google.com/115174711536813 ... PyZc5DrKtw

The short of it is a guy I worked with gave me the snakeskin and I thought covering the pickguard would be cool. I also had my luthier rout the pickguard and body for a humbucker. The HB has a metal protective ring which precludes using a stock Strat volume knob so I switched to brass barrel knobs. I have wanted to remove the protective ring and mount the HB directly to the pickguard and return back to a regular (black) set of Strat knobs. When I took a look under the ring, my luthier had made a couple of holes which were "misfires" I guess.

I want to fill the holes, do some touch up with rattlesnake skin to hide them, and then properly redrill the holes. I want to mount a different humbucker but this time without the metal ring. The color of the filler doesn't matter because it will be covered anyway by snakeskin.

While I'm at it I'll probably re-do some of the shielding and deal with a couple of scratchy pots. I might go back to a three knob layout with a push-pull pot for the coil tap.

So now you know...


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Post subject: Re: Stratocaster Pickguard Material or Pickguard Repair
Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2015 8:58 am
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Wooowww! Seriously cool. I'm not a lover of snakes so it freaks me out (a lot) but what a superb job.

I think you should be fine with the double countersinking and filling option and it isn't going to matter if the surface isn't micrometer perfect in flat and smooth. Perhaps use epoxy resin instead of car filler as the holes are going to be bigger than the fixing holes I was anticipating. Tape over the face side hole really well, lay face down (the pick guard not you :lol: ) fill from the back and then tape over the back as well to keep that smooth.

I look forward to seeing the results.

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