anyone else remove their pickguard?

walrus

Reverential Member
Gold Supporting
Joined
Dec 23, 2006
Messages
23,957
Reaction score
8,020
Location
Massachusetts
I just removed the pickguard on my Starfire IV today. I like it much better. Perhaps because I have long fingers, but it seemed to be "in the way". Also, it blocked my view of the bridge position volume knob.

I did the same thing years ago to an Epiphone Casino (of course, so did John Lennon!), but it was because the pickguard "rattled". This was not a problem with the Starfire.

On my '61 A-50, I have the pickguard on, but it is not held in place by the pickups as the Starfire is - it hangs in the air. It is so old that it has sort of "sagged" down, not touching the wood, but lower than normal - at any rate, it doesn't bother me at all.

So, I'm wondering - anyone else remove the pickguard on their archrtop or hollowbody?

walrus
 

Kap'n

Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2006
Messages
284
Reaction score
0
Location
CT Shoreline
I've done it on my Gretsch, to expose more flame, but I ended up putting it back on. Why? I don't know.
 

guildzilla

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2006
Messages
2,108
Reaction score
1
Location
Worthington, Ohio
Ditto that. I took the pickguard off my Starfire III for about of month and thought it looked really cool. Put it back on and thought it looked cooler.
Go figure.
 

Squawk

Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2005
Messages
757
Reaction score
0
I see no purpose in removing something that protects my guitar's body (especially archtops where I always use a flatpick). I prefer to use my imagination in other ways :)
 

walrus

Reverential Member
Gold Supporting
Joined
Dec 23, 2006
Messages
23,957
Reaction score
8,020
Location
Massachusetts
Squawk - You make a good point about protection - that is certainly an issue. I am wary of that. I also like how it looks without the pickguard, but that is not a reason to take it off necessarily.

However, for me, I find that it is more playable without the pickguard on it - again, it may be a physical thing or a physchological thing (I hope not!), but it seems more comfortable to me without it. "Made to be played", after all!

walrus
 

dklsplace

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2001
Messages
3,325
Reaction score
0
I usually end up taking mine off. In particular, I'm not crazy about the stair step design that Guild has used for so long. Looks better in person than photos, but I still prefer them off. I'm also not a particularly heavy player, so pick scratches usually aren't much of an issue.
 
Top