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Post subject: Gold Anodized Pickguard for 2008 Precision
Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 9:51 am
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I apologize if this thread has been previously discussed in this forum but I can’t seem to find an answer.

I’ve got a great 2008 Precision 3-tone sunburst, with a maple fingerboard that came, stock, with a tortoise shell pickguard. I’m not crazy about tortoise shell but I do like the look of the vintage 1958-59 Fender basses.

I’d rather have authentic Fender parts but it appears that Fender does not make a gold anodized pickguard for the 2008 series where the truss rod adjustment is at the heel of the neck.

Can someone please direct me to reputable and trustworthy site where I can purchase one?

Thanks in advance.


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Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 1:36 pm
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sdurborow wrote:
I apologize if this thread has been previously discussed in this forum but I can’t seem to find an answer.

I’ve got a great 2008 Precision 3-tone sunburst, with a maple fingerboard that came, stock, with a tortoise shell pickguard. I’m not crazy about tortoise shell but I do like the look of the vintage 1958-59 Fender basses.

I’d rather have authentic Fender parts but it appears that Fender does not make a gold anodized pickguard for the 2008 series where the truss rod adjustment is at the heel of the neck.

Can someone please direct me to reputable and trustworthy site where I can purchase one?

Thanks in advance.


The tortoise with yellow chunks is my favorite pick guard on a sunburst Fender bass and I personally would leave it alone.

You may be getting into custom made pickguard territory here. I don't ever recall seeing a notched anodized guard. Besides going the custom made pickguard route, which is very expensive, a less costly option would be to get a genuine Fender '57 gold anodized pickguard, (street price is about $40), and modifying it yourself.

After making sure the screw holes match exactly to your original guard, you should trace with pencil or grease pencil directly onto the new guard the truss adjustment notch of your original guard. With the tracing in place, screw down the new guard onto a piece of plywood with the neck portion exposed over the edge of the plywood, PUT ON GOGGLES, and carefully (and I do mean carefully) craft your own notch with a Dremel or similar rotary hand power tool. You could also use a precision jig saw first to very slowly cut out most of the notch instead of a Dremel and then finish with fine straight and round hand files.

Once you get close to the tracing line you will probably want to switch to hand files and take it real easy to get a smoothly finished edge. Beveling the notch is sometimes possible if you have the right power tools, but is impossible to get even by hand. I'm also not sure that these guards would take well to beveling anyway. So I'd play it safe and keep the edges square.

Almost any machine shop should also be able to do a better job at this than I could ever do by hand, but that can be as expensive as a custom guard.

The gold anodized '57 guard has ten pickguard screw holes plus 2 finger rest and 2 pickup cover holes. I think the finger rest and pickup cover screw holes look strange without the intended parts also installed so keep that in mind.

If you do go the custom made route there is no shortage of custom pickguard services. You can expect to pay from $75 to $150 for a custom made pickguard. Just do an Internet search on custom made pickguards and you'll find them. Guards made solely from tracings are sometimes off a wee bit, but most of the custom services have a template already to fit several P-Bass styles and they might just use a tracing to find the right template and then to get it notched like you want. In your case I think sending a tracing would be ok since it is a standard guard with the added notch. They just need to compare your tracing to their templates, pick the right template and then add the notch. Some custom services charge extra to use a tracing.


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Post subject: Re: Gold Anodized Pickguard for 2008 Precision
Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 5:25 pm
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sdurborow wrote:
I apologize if this thread has been previously discussed in this forum but I can’t seem to find an answer.

I’ve got a great 2008 Precision 3-tone sunburst, with a maple fingerboard that came, stock, with a tortoise shell pickguard. I’m not crazy about tortoise shell but I do like the look of the vintage 1958-59 Fender basses.

I’d rather have authentic Fender parts but it appears that Fender does not make a gold anodized pickguard for the 2008 series where the truss rod adjustment is at the heel of the neck.

Can someone please direct me to reputable and trustworthy site where I can purchase one?

Thanks in advance.


What model bass is this by the way?


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Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 9:46 pm
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Quote:
I’d rather have authentic Fender parts but it appears that Fender does not make a gold anodized pickguard for the 2008 series where the truss rod adjustment is at the heel of the neck


I too, had a problem with this. I thought, gee, what a pain to remove the guard to make an adjustment.
But, as I have been told, it's best to loosen screws, even removing the neck when making adjustments.
Soooooo, I gave it a try when I wanted to lower the action, wasn't a big deal IMHO, for sure some extra steps!

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Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 5:27 am
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Maybe take a look at this site.

http://www.wdmusic.com/pickguard_pba_400.html


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Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 1:33 pm
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Hi Brother Dave. Sorry for the slow response to your question.

First of all, thanks for the info and for taking the time to share your thoughts.

It is 2008 American Standard. When I bought it new, I knew I wanted the 3-tone body with a maple fingerboard but really dislike tortoise shell pickguards.

Since Fender doesn't make the anodized aluminum for the 2008 line and I really don't want to deal with non-Fender accessories I guess I'll just buy a parchment pickguard instead.

Thanks again and best regards.

-Steve


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Post subject:
Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 1:54 pm
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Quote:
Since Fender doesn't make the anodized aluminum for the 2008 line


I think I bought the one for my MIM Standard P on eBay.

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