How to Replace and Paint a Guitar Pickguard (Stratocaster)

[@pineapplej7310]

Pretty good video. As a guitar and aerosol paint geek who has learned how to finish guitars the hard way, I have some tips; 1) Use matte paint. Even if you want a gloss final finish. Matte paint contains significantly less or no levelers in it. Levelers keep the paint wet and uncured for much longer, extending curing times and making the whole process more difficult. Matte paint/clear coat goes on thinner, dries faster, gets more even coverage, and adheres more strongly. The thinner your layers, the longer your paint will last. One thick layer will peel right off in a week. 2) Use clear coat! The whole reason why I say use matte paint, even for a gloss final finish, is because of clear coat. If anything, its worse using shiny paint under clear coat, because your adhesion will be worse. Its better off doing everything matte until your final layer. You can even use matte clear coat and use plastic polish/finishing wax to get it up to a gloss after it is cured. A clear coat finish will be way less likely to rub off, or stain anything else like your clothes or fingers. Regular paint will just get gummy and tacky if you have it on a surface thats being touched alot by hands and fingers. 3)Sand between coats. The finish you got in the end was speckled and dusty. To prevent this you can wait longer between each coat and lightly sand before spraying more. This ensures that youre leveling out any peaks or vallies on the surface. 4) Wait significantly longer to put it back on the guitar. I know it seems impossible to wait. But it is *Absolutely worth it* to wait at least a month after spray painting something to let it cure. not just dry to the touch, but actually hardening to its final hardness. It helps to keep it in a room that is between 65-85 F and less than 50% humidity. This is literally the most important step to painting something that is meant to be touched or handled. Ignore all dry times on the back of cans. Real cure times take 2-20 weeks. 5) Spray lighter coats. Your first coat was way too thick. The first coat should always be what we call a dust coat. Just lightly dust the surface with paint and let the wetness flash off. Then its safe to do a *slightly* thicker layer for the next coat. 6) Completely degrease any surface thats being painted with isopropyl alcohol or a similar solvent before spraying any paint. Finger oils prevent paint from sticking! 7) Improve your spray can technique. Start spraying off of the pickguard, move across and let go after going over the other side. Overlap each pass with the last by 50%. Never start or stop spraying while the nozzle is in front of the target. Dont be afraid to "waste" a bit of paint and let it go over the edges. 8) Never paint something that is lying flat. This encourages dust and drips from your spray can's nozzle. Sometimes the nozzle collects paint and will drop a big nasty glob on your painting subject. Use a cheap wooden paint stirring stick and screw the pickguard to it with at least 2 screws. This way you can hold it and relocate it while its wet. This way, you can also look at it in different lighting to observe your surface finish and coverage evenness. You can hold up the paint stick in front of you like a sign and not worry about accidentally touching it while its wet. Thanks for the vid!

[@outbakjak]

Your comment was way more helpful than ANY video on KZbin about this. Thank you so much lol

[@pineapplej7310]

@@outbakjak thank you, i might start making videos about guitars and finishing. So far I've only made a drone flight video lol

[@reimereason]

@@outbakjak I concur. Thank you for your thorough tips. Much appreciated.

[@donnierenner]

@PineappleJ seriously this was incredibly helpful! I'm about to paint a plexiglass pick guard on the back side for a really cool Flying V build, and I'll use almost all of these tips starting with matte finish!

[@muznick]

@@pineapplej7310 Excellent tips, but don't paint and fly.

[@jeffallen3382]

I just painted my tortoise colors pickguard white on my LTD GL-256 It is a 3 ply and I went light over the edges. This way I was able to scrape the edges and show the black middle ply layer. That Fusion paint turned out awesome on mine! The original GL-256 models had white pickguards, but later changed to the tortoise colored ones. The white ones look so much better!

[@janichmondieu6505]

53k subscribers. Glad to see that !!!

[@hiram6760]

thank you man that was so helpful ive fender G5 and ordered the painting and will see how it goes lol thank you again .

[@damightyshabba439]

Great video, very helpful. One minor thought though - actually two.... 1) Given the very unique shape of your specific pickguard, it would have been a great idea to screw it (using only 2 screws) onto a piece of MDF for the spraying - that way when done you have a perfect template to make your own pickguards at home that perfectly match your guitar. 2) You could have loosened those strings considerably to give you easier clearance getting it all back in! (Though I totally agree with not wasting a new set!)

[@tomflynn2912]

Thanks so much! I dont like white pick guards on black strats. I bought a replacement, going to be swapping one out for the first time

[@chrissabbath4551]

this is exactly what i was looking for, very helpful. thanks!

[@terrenceduncanson2716]

Great info including brand and selection of paint! The pickguard on my bass is grateful and thanks you very much.

[@janichmondieu6505]

Thanks, Kelly. Just bought a Matt blue ST style guitar from Eart. It came with a mint green pickguard and I really liked a blue Squier with a black pickguard that I was considering. So now I will paint the Eart pkgrd. black. 😎PS, thanks for all the Aerosmith Rocks stuff!!!

[@smithfield06]

Looks a lot better, cool strat

[@spacerogue1496]

Thank you for the video. Was just about to do this to a guitar I bought. Worked very well thank you

[@StevenBrown-jm8zw]

Hello, Thank you for the demo on painting a pick guard. would you recommend spraying a few coats of clear on it to help scuffing up black paint ? Thank you

[@sd3falco]

Cool. I'm thinking to do this to my G&L bass because ready made replacement pickguards are not available for the tribute series (Indonesia). It's been 2 years. Did the paint stay on? Thanks!

[@CC-qb9sm]

Oh man, that looks fantastic! Don’t you love it when it happens good with an econo-guitar?!? I actually have two Squiers and I think they’re freaking fantastic. I’ve got a Jazzmaster (fantastic neck on that one!) and a Baritone Tele. I wouldn’t part with either. I’ll refer back to this video if I need to paint a pick guard down the road. Thanks.

[@OriginalBadRobotz]

Thanks for the video, I just picked up a squier affinity Jazzmaster for cheap, just don't like the color. I'm painting my pickup guards and my pick guard. Thanks again

[@MrPukerman]

a tip!you can loosen the strings and unplug bridge springs)that way you dont need to do anything with string just put them back ]

[@cinpa2968]

I have a Squier Bullet 1 from the early 80s. I’m replacing the pickups and replacing the pots with concentric ones so all PUs have separate volume and tone. I’ve always hated the white PG but can’t find an aftermarket one. So, I’m thinking about painting this one, but, only if there’s a chance it’ll last. Is the paint on your PG still holding up? Thanks!

[@libiidoism3178]

Love your videos man

[@deaddoomed2380]

nice video, it helps me a lot. only one question, why to cut the string when you can just unwire them???

[@KellyDeanAllenGuitar]

Easier is all.

[@jamman6]

Looks much better man! I also like those screws and the kind of industrial look they have on the guitar... The silver comes through. Do you think a clear coat is necessary Kelly? Just about to spray paint my pickgaurd.

[@serendibits]

16:11 exactly why i'm here

[@BrunoHenrique-jr1uj]

😂😂😂😂

[@BrunoHenrique-jr1uj]

😂😂😂😂

[@Urizen777]

Question - I have a 3-ply black pearl pickguard (or rather a 4-ply, as pearloid pickguards have what is technically an additional ply). Is it possible for me to repaint it to be fully black over a pearl finish?

[@stevefoley2986]

Good video! I have that same Traynor amp you have in the back. Do you dig it?

[@KellyDeanAllenGuitar]

Love that amp. Cleans up nicely, and has some fantastic high gain as well. Really happy with it.

[@themicdfiles1865]

Looks good! I'm removing my old pots and switch from a MIM HSS Strat with the orange to black sunburst as I type this...hate that orange color, but what do you do? How has the Fusion held up? I am a painter by trade and have some Sherwin Extreme Bond primer in the shop that I use if a customer wants their vinyl siding painted. I thought I''d throw some of that in a sprayer and top coat with the fusion in matte black finish and hit it with some paste wax after it cures. Your Squier turned out great! I have a Squier Jaguar SS bass that is black on black...I absolutely love that thing...same kind of deal on that...guy selling on FB for $250 w/ Ampeg amp, 25' Fender Cable, a stand, backpack case, iRig2, !/4" to USB cable, and a strap for $250! I'm going to check out your other content. Good work, brother!

[@dr.kurtjohnson1791]

I like the silver donnor you did. Should mod out a new donnor again

[@KellyDeanAllenGuitar]

It's a good guitar. Need to play it more. Keep forgetting about it.

[@willmartoni4970]

Doesn't it get all scratched up after you've played it a while and the white show through?

[@KellyDeanAllenGuitar]

Many months later, and so far so good. Not a scratch. Play it all the time.

[@MelkeysSaidit]

@@KellyDeanAllenGuitarhey Kellen hope your doing well , how’s the guitar looking now days any scratches now ?

[@oscarwshbrn]

Is this paint going to hold up to years of playing? I would hate to paint mine and after a few hundred hours have it start to wear through and show the original color.

[@watchmania46]

it wont hold out for sure

[@vales4202]

make sure that you sand in circular motion so the lines are not visivlbe

[@tsmo.music.]

Cool!!!😍

[@javierlozano5510]

What grit sandpaper did you use

[@chilldeen4590]

did you find out what grit it is?

[@tsmo.music.]

Nice!!!!!😍👍👍

[@Fernando-yx5ux]

Hi Kelly, can you listen to the solo of the song: amores incompletos los tres, Is a chilean🇨🇱 band, Is like blue song pls you gonna enjoy. Thank you

[@flatroc1]

Viewers, Don't Waste Your Time painting a plastic pick guard. I've tried it many times over 40 years of guitars and It does not work. You can't reproduce the original flawless smooth finish of the plastic and no matter how long you let it dry, it's fragile to any scratching, which is what the guard is supposed to be for. A better option might be 3M vinyl wrap.

[@mpuppets6450]

I recently paint my strat pickguard and looks very well.

[@marcomatillano8917]

Apply clear coat

[@froggyman9588]

How about the knobs and pickup covers?

[@brotherhawk3228]

Yep that paint will come off. Should of used a primer and clear coated it . I would of wet sanded it as well. Pickup covers and knobs just buy new ones, there inexpensive.

[@brandonjackson5865]

Olar Promjay, don’t hate doughnuts ?

[@chipmuellemann7901]

I have done this and the results to me weren't worth it. First off there is always an orange peal effect to some degree. If you don't put clear coat on top of the paint it will look like crap in a few weeks. The clear coat is expensive and adds orange peel effect. It never did look all that great and in the end I was sorry I bothered..

[@juke699]

KDA -- Now that Gilmour month is done any chance you would consider doing the other Jimmy Page pre Zeppelin solo from Puzzles Puzzles -- kzbin.info/www/bejne/mYraZZqajNeeeqM Thanks for the consideration.

[@brianschwartz5673]

I would have left it as it was but

[@jonathanoakley88]

how did it hold up over time?

[@KellyDeanAllenGuitar]

No problems so far.

[@billsedge7360]

Lol, how to ruin a guitar case ,,!🥴