The Do's and (Mostly) Don'ts of Fabricating a Pickguard

[@TeacherAn]

Thank you for the video. Once I have the basic shape of a pickguard, I use a sanding block to take out any bumps and then a card scraper to smooth the edges. Sanding will cause some roughness on the bottom edge of the pickguard, but this can be removed by the card scraper. A card scraper can also be used after sanding to smooth the bevel in the pickguard.

[@zwitchguitars]

Fantastic point, thank you! I do already scrape plastic binding with a card scraper, not sure why that didn't occur to me for the pickguard as well

[@borgonianevolution]

I cut mine with a Dremel cut off wheel. Yes there was melting but I cut the shapes wide then drum sanded down to where I wanted. For the beveled edges I used a sanding block and 600 grit paper, then 800, 1500 and 2k to get super smooth shiny accurate lines around the plates I made. Just keep in mind when working with this stuff it gets SUPER staticky and sticks to everything. You WILL track that all over the house hehe. If you do grind or sand it use a mask as I am sure plastic in your lungs is not conducive to comfortable breathing in your twilight years.

[@zwitchguitars]

Yeah, I’ve still got shavings all over my router table 😂

[@Gyrokosher]

This has come at an excellent time! Waiting for material to arrive for my Jazzmaster build and no idea how to do it

[@zwitchguitars]

Great! Glad you can learn from my mistakes 😂

[@danieldawang2120]

Is it possible to reshape the pickguard using a box cutter? I don't have access to any of this tools but I have a cutter. The pickguard is almost 3mm thick. So it needs a lot more push to do an incision on the plastic. I hope it will work I've never seen anyone posting videos vutting a pickguard with only a box cutter.

[@zwitchguitars]

It will definitely be tough. Once you get the outline cut out, I have used a razorblade to smooth the edge and add a taper. Good luck!

[@danieldawang2120]

@zwitchguitars thankyou so much, sir! I hope It'll turn out okay. Much love from the Philippines. 🙌

[@ProphecyGtr]

What type of glue are you using on the blue tape to get such a good hold?

[@zwitchguitars]

Cyanoacrylate? Super glue 🙂

[@GuyBraget]

What's MDF?

[@zwitchguitars]

Medium-density fiberboard

[@GuyBraget]

Thanks. I'm going to have to make a custom pick guard for a bass body I'm getting from Warmoth. I found a blank pearloid sheet to buy online for about $20. I'd really like to make it work out. I'll be needing some "MDF". Cheers !

[@zwitchguitars]

@user-gl7xm3kf3y You can also use plain plywood, it’s just that MDF is a very consistent material (pressed sawdust and glue).

[@BeardnScars]

I got mine from pick-guard planet and I ruined the electronics

[@johnvarcoe1821]

file file.