Strat pickguard differences from different Manufacturers

[Slobrain]

Well I'm sure some of you have seen this where you buy a off brand strat pickguard only to see the different cuts to the pickup placement from the manufacturer. I just got a couple of strat pickguards with the hum-hum configuration but after looking at the pickguards I find the bridge pickup is a quarter of an inch closer to the tremolo bridge than the stock Fender pickguard with a hum in the bridge and that concerns me a s I feel this would cause the guitar to sound more trebly. The pickguards I normally use are from Warmoth and they seem fine but these guitarfetish pickguards have the humbucker closer to the trem than the Warmoth or my chandler pickguards so I wanted to ask if anyone has ran across this issue and am I on target with my thoughts?

[Jim Shine]

The differences also are in how they cut the bridge notch. I see Fender using a large notch for the Floyds these days, much larger than it needs to be. Yet on Custom Shop orders they make the notch much tighter to the Floyd. That leads me to believe production instruments have larger cuts to allow for larger tolerances.

In the end you need to figure out exactly what you need and take it from there. I prefer Warmoth for the custom stuff over WD.

[jrfrond]

A 1/4" difference is a lot in terms of proper fit. I wouldn't be too concerned about sonics, especially with a humbucker, which has a wide magnetic field.

Garden-variety pickguards from Guitar Fetish, AllParts and Chandler, most all of which are imported, will work for most applications, but I haven't seen ANY pickguard yet that did not require a bit of "reptile dentistry" to fit properly on a guitar. For a Fender guitar, a Fender pickguard almost always fits best, because the stock colors are accurately die-cut on a punch press and not a router like all of the custom stuff. Fender's custom color guards, however, are contracted out (to WD I believe) and will have some occasional fit issues. Having said that, I haven't had any major problems with any pickguards from any source. For custom stuff, I use Pickguardian or WD.

[Slobrain]

Jim,

Yes, the Warmoth pickguards are always on the money for my needs but at $25.00 + shipping that gets a bit expensive, especially when other parts are getting cheaper these days due to Korean and China cheap labor.

JrFrond,

Your right about the Fender Pickguards they do always work well too. After trying the Guitarfetish PG I did notice having the HB a bit closer does give the hi's a tad too much hi so I think I'm going to install a custom Warmoth PG next time for the 2 HB, 1 volume and a Gibson toggle switch.

BTW, are the prices at pickgaurdian expensive or cheap? If cheap I might want to try them.

Thanks

SLO

[jrfrond]

Jim,

Yes, the Warmoth pickguards are always on the money for my needs but at $25.00 + shipping that gets a bit expensive, especially when other parts are getting cheaper these days due to Korean and China cheap labor.

JrFrond,

Your right about the Fender Pickguards they do always work well too. After trying the Guitarfetish PG I did notice having the HB a bit closer does give the hi's a tad too much hi so I think I'm going to install a custom Warmoth PG next time for the 2 HB, 1 volume and a Gibson toggle switch.

BTW, are the prices at pickgaurdian expensive or cheap? If cheap I might want to try them.

Thanks

SLO

Pickguardian is in the same price range as WD. If I need a stock Fender guard, I'll order it direct from Fender, and use WD and Pickguardian for custom stuff and other brands.

Warmoth pissed me off when they scrapped dealer pricing several years ago, so as a service shop, I will not purchase from them. I was turned onto Pickguardian by USA Custom Guitars.

[vintageguitars]

Jim,

Yes, the Warmoth pickguards are always on the money for my needs but at $25.00 + shipping that gets a bit expensive, especially when other parts are getting cheaper these days due to Korean and China cheap labor.

JrFrond,

Your right about the Fender Pickguards they do always work well too. After trying the Guitarfetish PG I did notice having the HB a bit closer does give the hi's a tad too much hi so I think I'm going to install a custom Warmoth PG next time for the 2 HB, 1 volume and a Gibson toggle switch.

BTW, are the prices at pickgaurdian expensive or cheap? If cheap I might want to try them.

Thanks

SLO

You asked if the PGs at Pickguardian are expensive or cheap .... they're obscene considering the price of three ply vinyl. WD is obscene too. Considering virtually none of them are a 1:1 screw on (even Fenders, considering some are made by WD) any thing over $20 is a rip-off.

What I want to know, is why don't any of these guys sell a PG without the body screw holes. You just strip your old one, put on top of the "blank" one, use a Center Punch to mark the holes, drill it, use a bevel bit then and you're done ... don't take a rocket scientist to do this!.

That solves the problem with mounting holes not matching and I sure ain't going to ruin a guitar by drilling new holes in any body, even a good Squier (I don't mean the Chinese / Indonesian / Indian POS ones).

If anyone knows of a PG manufacturer that will sell a PG without the body hole, PLEASE let me know! And forget about WD / Allparts / Chandler (all three are over-priced), they won't do it.

Cheers

[big_teee]

You asked if the PGs at Pickguardian are expensive or cheap .... they're obscene considering the price of three ply vinyl. WD is obscene too. Considering virtually none of them are a 1:1 screw on (even Fenders, considering some are made by WD) any thing over $20 is a rip-off.

What I want to know, is why don't any of these guys sell a PG without the body screw holes. You just strip your old one, put on top of the "blank" one, use a Center Punch to mark the holes, drill it, use a bevel bit then and you're done ... don't take a rocket scientist to do this!.

That solves the problem with mounting holes not matching and I sure ain't going to ruin a guitar by drilling new holes in any body, even a good Squier (I don't mean the Chinese / Indonesian / Indian POS ones).

If anyone knows of a PG manufacturer that will sell a PG without the body hole, PLEASE let me know! And forget about WD / Allparts / Chandler (all three are over-priced), they won't do it.

Cheers

Your correct on the Over Priced thing.
They want to give Extreme Discounts to Dealers, and Everyone Else has to Suffer.
AllParts is the Worse!
Auto Parts Houses Were The Same Years Ago.
Autozone and Most of the Parts Houses got Smart and figured out you can make more Money with a Reasonable Price to all.
Have you looked at MojoTone?
They sell Lots of PickGuards.
Also with MojoTone you can get a Dealers Discount!
Strat Pickguards
Terry

[David Schwab]

And forget about WD / Allparts / Chandler (all three are over-priced), they won't do it.

I'm pretty sure WD will do it any way you want, but you will pay extra. I'm a WD dealer, and I ordered a dual humbucker Strat pickguard with no control holes. It's not one of the pull down options, but you can request it at checkout.

It does seem odd however that they are doing less work, and charging extra for it!

[vintageguitars]

I'm pretty sure WD will do it any way you want, but you will pay extra. I'm a WD dealer, and I ordered a dual humbucker Strat pickguard with no control holes. It's not one of the pull down options, but you can request it at checkout.

It does seem odd however that they are doing less work, and charging extra for it!

Nope, I called them and I got the pat answer "we don't have those available" and I have a dealer account with them too. They wanted me to buy an "outline blank" - no cut-outs for anything! Hey, in my shop, I repair and restore vintage guitars, not so routing so I don't have the router equip to do PUP cut-outs and selector sw slots!

I have a real strong feeling (and I believe I read it on a couple other forums) that WD, or any US supplier, makes nothing here in the US anymore. All their PG's (WD, Allparts, GFS, etc) are made in China now, so there is no room (or logistics) for alternatives. Maybe Chandler and a couple 'boutique' PG makers are the exception, but their prices (even wholesale) are obscene for a cut piece of single or triple layer Vinyl. I contact one guy up in Utah or something and he wanted $65 for a WHITE SSS PG without the screw holes and $85 for a white pearloid!!! GET REAL DUDE!!! It's a RECESSION!! The Music gear biz is DOWN!! Not up!

[David Schwab]

I have a real strong feeling (and I believe I read it on a couple other forums) that WD, or any US supplier, makes nothing here in the US anymore.

No, I'm telling you that I ordered several pick guards and told them what I wanted, and they made them and I got them in a few days. The last one I got they made a mistake and put in the 5-way switch slot, which the customer didn't want. I told them no control holes, but didn't specify no switch hole. So it's obvious they are making them in the states. They charge about full price, plus a $5 up charge though, even if you have a dealer discount, because of the custom order.

They will also make you a pickguard from a drawing, so I don't see how they are making them in China. It's not hard to use a router and template to make pickguards. I do it all the time, so why can't they?

This was in January, so unless they stopped doing it this is what I did. This was the last one I ordered of the guy. He couldn't make up his mind what color he wanted!

Thank you for ordering from WD Music Products, Inc.!

Your order was received on 11-Jan-2011.
And has shipped today!

(1) STBA-204 FENDER® STRAT® BIG APPLE / U.S. DOUBLE FAT - WHITE BLACK WHITE
$xx.xx Right Hand
Floyd Rose bridge rout
As pictured
1 Shipped

(1) MODIFICATION <<<< SEE COMMENTS >>>>
$5.00
1 Shipped

(1) NR/NR <<<< NON RETURNABLE CUSTOM PICKGUARD >>>>
$0.00
1 Shipped

Ordering Instructions
No control holes in pickguard.

Here's the one before that:

Your order was received on 4-Oct-2010.
And has shipped today!

(1) STBA-255 FENDER® STRAT® BIG APPLE / U.S. DOUBLE FAT - PARCHMENT 3 PLY
$xx.xx Right Hand
Floyd Rose bridge rout
As pictured
1 Shipped

(1) MODIFICATION <<<<STBA-Delete Controls and Slide Switch >>>>
$5.00
1 Shipped

(1) NR/NR <<<<STBA- NON REFUNDABLE/ NON RETURNABLE >>>>
$0.00
1 Shipped

[big_teee]

Warmoth makes theirs on site also.
If you want to see, watch the Shop tour.
It's on the Support Tab at the top.
T

[Sweetfinger]

I cut mine to order. There are so many variations that you'd go insane trying to stock every color for every control/pup config for every different model and year. I have to charge more than a cheap aftermarket guard because I have to charge for my time and still have to get the blank material from Allparts or WD. (if you've got a better source, let me know).
Still, people are willing to spend $45 on a custom pickguard that they know will drop right on their guitar without "fudging". My pricing tends to be cheaper than most places but still more than a "similar" Allparts 'guard. The $65 one mentioned above is a bit much tho! Maybe I should get into the outline pickguard game. The Allparts "outline" guards still come with four screw holes... that rarely line up

[vintageguitars]

Leo Fender is rolling over in his grave....

If you watch the YouTube documentary video on Fender from old 8mm film and the video David Glom of G&L did about Leo Fender and the history of the Strat; the WHOLE purpose Leo had in the design of the Strat, Tele, Bases, etc being bolt-on necks and all the electronics on the "scratch plate" (pick guard) was that when or if you needed to replace anything - Body, Neck, electronics on the PG it was a "drop in" with NO modifications. My uncle worked at Fender from around 1960 after the Korean war and leaving the Navy, until around 1999. He was an engineer and was dismayed that CBS stating in the late 70's and the "later" Fender company did not live up to that design/manufacturing criteria Leo established.

Very little became interchangeable between various years and Fender in the late 1980's let the foreign manufacturers including Korea with the Squiers and "Fender" models, do as they pleased. The Recent junk from China, Indonesia, Taiwan and India is like it's from a completely different "knock-off" company not even trying to be an honest Strat, Tele, etc. The situation with Pick Guards, Necks, Tremolos and Tuners not even being close to interchangeable is ALL Fenders fault. Jesus, even the physical size of the PG aren't close between any of the off-shore junk and US or MIM models. PG's on Korean Squiers are 1/4" shorter than Jap. Squiers and US Strats! And the outlines aren't' identical. The Korean models and recent Asian Squier models like the Afinity's have pots and PUPs in wrong locations too when compared to vintage Fender models.

Again, considering nearly all Pick Guards are made on CNC machinery and 1, 2 or 3 ply vinyl is not expensive, PG prices are a rip off, look how cheap the Chinese sell them for! $7.95 to $9.95 with free shipping! And the quality is the same as All Parts, Chandler and WD, if not everyone's - and NOBODY gets the screw holes or parts holes any more right than anyone else. The ONLY time I ever got a PG that was a "drop on" was when I lived in the Bay Area and took my PG to Chandler and they made me two on the spot for $10 each ..... that was almost 40 years ago though.

I just can't understand why someone smart doesn't make PG's with the electrics cutouts in place and no body screw holes. A "silhouette" or outline PG like Allparts sells isn't good enough, 99% of guitar owners are NOT equipped to cut the PUP holes or drill the Pot holes, let alone the 3/5-way slot! Come on, WHO has the equip or knowledge to cut vinyl. I've been repairing and restoring guitars for 35 years and I don't have the equipment, time or knowledge (or interest) to make PG's for Strats, Tele's, JAzz/P-Bases, etc from a blank.

Though I suspect that 4 holes minimum on the Allparts outline PG's are to hold it to the cutting board on the CNC machine. At least those are the 4 that are the most likely to be somewhat universal alt. Has to be a way around having to put any of the body mounting holes.

I think most good guitar owners that appreciate that what they own may someday be worth a lot, don't want to abuse it by drilling holes that weren't supposed to be there. Dn't you think the guy that owned a '65 Strat in 1970 and routed a Humbucker hole in it is kicking himself now?? Even new screw holes depreciates a collector guitar by major percentages of value. My opinion, I'm just sayin'.

[Jim Shine]

the WHOLE purpose Leo had in the design of the Strat, Tele, Bases, etc being bolt-on necks and all the electronics on the "scratch plate" (pick guard) was that when or if you needed to replace anything - Body, Neck, electronics on the PG it was a "drop in" with NO modifications. My uncle worked at Fender from around 1960 after the Korean war and leaving the Navy, until around 1999. He was an engineer and was dismayed that CBS stating in the late 70's and the "later" Fender company did not live up to that design/manufacturing criteria Leo established.

Leo himself veered from the idea starting with the Jazz Bass (designed in 1959) and taken to an absurd level with the Jaguar (released in early 1962). Jaguars were the worst concept in terms of serviceability. Each control plate had to be wired in separate, you had to remove the bridge and a mute assembly just to get the pickguard off. The wire bundles filled up many of holes between routes making it difficult to even replace a wire.

[gtr_5155]

Nope, I called them and I got the pat answer "we don't have those available" and I have a dealer account with them too. They wanted me to buy an "outline blank" - no cut-outs for anything! Hey, in my shop, I repair and restore vintage guitars, not so routing so I don't have the router equip to do PUP cut-outs and selector sw slots!

I have a real strong feeling (and I believe I read it on a couple other forums) that WD, or any US supplier, makes nothing here in the US anymore. All their PG's (WD, Allparts, GFS, etc) are made in China now, so there is no room (or logistics) for alternatives. Maybe Chandler and a couple 'boutique' PG makers are the exception, but their prices (even wholesale) are obscene for a cut piece of single or triple layer Vinyl. I contact one guy up in Utah or something and he wanted $65 for a WHITE SSS PG without the screw holes and $85 for a white pearloid!!! GET REAL DUDE!!! It's a RECESSION!! The Music gear biz is DOWN!! Not up!

I am located within a few miles of WD,and have been in their massive plastics fab room.I saw production from a very different view than most>These guys were cutting pickguards,not unboxing Asian imports.The reason we are in a recession is due to people not wanting to accept the fact that USA labor costs more,so does the USA pickguard material from USA vendors that supply many pickguard makers.I have seen the allparts and GFS pickguards.Not too bad,but very cheap material.Keep the recession going-buy the cheap stuff.