New Pickguard installation question

LQGuitarist

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I did not like the pickguard that came with my 97 Bluesbird (Black and chrome). Fortunately, it was never mounted. I went to StewMac and bought a Black-white-black guard that is a bit smaller and it was already cut for a Gibson Les Paul. Of course I needed to modify the fit and just finished cleaning up the guard with my Moto-tool. I plan to mount it tomorrow but it seems that the hardware that came with it would put the metal bracket into the binding rather than below. Maybe someone can comment if it will hurt to pre-drill the binding for the screw or try to create a new bracket to get the screw into the wood below?
Just for some information, the screw location on the LP guard is closer to the mounting rings and because of the laminated colors, it won't look right to relocate the screw hole in the guard. I can just make it work and may be able to drop the bracket lower by cutting off excess threads on the screw mounting the bracket to the guard. I think this will still keep the pick guard level.
I want the guard because I am a finger style player. I play with a flat pick but having the guard positions my hand as if it were an accoustic. It isn't a big deal, but I do like the white stripe on the LP guard and am not worried about harming any collector value by the change.

Any advice about mounting the bracket will be greatly appreciated.

TIA
LQGuitarist
 

hansmoust

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LQGuitarist said:
I want the guard because I am a finger style player. I play with a flat pick but having the guard positions my hand as if it were an accoustic. It isn't a big deal, but I do like the white stripe on the LP guard and am not worried about harming any collector value by the change.

Any advice about mounting the bracket will be greatly appreciated.

Hello LQGuitarist,

Maybe you should consider the following and mount the pickguard just like they did on the Guild Nightbird; that is without a pickguard bracket.
I realize the guard is not really the same shape but that does not make a difference. You could use the existing holes and use felt spacers to place the guard exactly at the angle that you want. On the Nightbird there are 2 felt spacers. One has a screw through it and the 2nd spacer is glued in place to keep the guard stable at the point where it has no support. It is really stable and it looks better (I think) than with a bracket.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl

[img:743:529]http://www.guitarchives.nl/fotos/NightbirdGuard.jpg[/img]
 

LQGuitarist

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That's a really great idea :lol:
Thanks so much - I like it. Tell me about the felt spacers - are these simply pieces of cut out felt fabric or are they available commercially? Come to think of it, there are some felt (round) spacers used on the Moto-tool that might work. I will look into it, but if can be more specific it would help.

Thanks again.
 

Mr. P ~

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You can buy felt spacers that have a self adhesive back at most any hardware store. They are used as a silencer for your cabinet doors in a small size and bigger ones for use under protective glass tops for furniture.
:)
 

hansmoust

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The felt spacers are not really a big deal. As Mr. P. pointed out, the stuff is available from most hardware stores. You can stack some pieces together if you need a thicker piece.

Anyway, I took off the pickguard of one of my Nightbirds and made a photo just to give you an idea how simple it really is.
As you can see, there are 2 pieces of felt. One a little thicker than the other, so the pickguard rests at the right angle.

[img:850:567]http://www.guitarchives.nl/fotos/NightbirdGuard_2.jpg[/img]

And this is what it looks like when the pickguard is mounted:

[img:851:567]http://www.guitarchives.nl/fotos/NightbirdGuard_3.jpg[/img]
 

LQGuitarist

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Thanks, I saved the pictures and have decided to mount the pickguard this way. I really appreciate the enthusiasm and help I've received from LetsTalkGuild.com.
My wife knows about the pads as it turns out since she uses them on furniture around the house that sets on tile (paver) floors. I like the way it keeps the pickguard cleanly mounted and easy to remove and clean.

Thanks so much!
 

LQGuitarist

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Hans,
What is the little swich that I see in the first picture you posted. Could you tell me about the electronics on the guitar?
 

hansmoust

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LQGuitarist said:
Hans,
What is the little swich that I see in the first picture you posted. Could you tell me about the electronics on the guitar?

Sure, the pickups are made by Kent Armstrong. It was one of the pickup options available on the original Nightbird from the mid-'80s.
The little switch is a coil tap which enables the player to go from 'humbucking' to 'single coil' mode.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
 

LQGuitarist

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Thanks for the information. Does the coil tap let you separate the two coils and phase them or does it just shut one down and if so, is there any hum that results? Would you say that you approach a strat sound or is this more a function of a Maple Neck?

BTW, I sent two pictures to "You?" or the board admiinistrator to show how well the installation worked. My webpage is not working well and I was not able to reference the pictures from that site so I sent them to LetTalkGuild.

As it turned out, my wife had a drawer full of the self sticking felt pads and it only took three - one at both screws and one at the edge of the pick guard between the two pickups to level the top of the guard so it did not look warped on edge. I did not need to support the lower edge since I decided to use the existing screw hole on the pre-drilled Stewart MacDonald LP B-W-B pickguard.

It came out a very clean job and now it is time to play 8)
 

hansmoust

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LQGuitarist said:
Does the coil tap let you separate the two coils and phase them or does it just shut one down and if so, is there any hum that results? Would you say that you approach a strat sound or is this more a function of a Maple Neck?

It's just simply the series connection wire between the two coils that is connected to ground which shuts down one coil.

The amount of hum depends on the circumstances under which you're playing. It's usually not as bad as the average Fender single coil.

I wouldn't say you would get a 'Strat' sound because that is a combination of the way a Strat is built and it's electronics. However, it does allow you to play rhythmic passages more effectively on the fingerboard pickup. Trying to do that in the humbucking mode usually results in a quite muddy sound; much better note separation as well! Makes the guitar much more versatile.

Hans
 
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