Copying a Pickguard - Troubleshooting, Tips and Tricks!
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- Опубликовано: 28 июл 2024
- Chapters:
0:00 Not your average pickguard
0:42 New Tips and Tricks for Copying Pickguards
1:40 Rout the Excess
2:41 Humbucker to Single Coil Conversion
3:42 The Pickups Won't Fit in the Template!
4:54 Blade Switch Routing Template
5:44 Cleanup by Hand, and Double Check
Got this job in from a Swedish customer. Love the international jobs! Tips and tricks I've developed since my last pickguard cutting tutorial videos. Fun job in and of itself that happened to make a great addendum to my pickguard cutting tutorial series. Stay tuned for more! 
Видеоклипы
Dude, this is probably the best tutorial on pickguard cutting I've ever seen! Great job 👍
Thank you so much! You may be excited to hear I'm working on a new tutorial that will be even better. I've spent a lot of time gathering the footage. There will be no voiceover, just workshop audio with text overlays explaining everything in great detail.
Keep an eye out for it. I'm doing my best to get it finished. Very excited to get it up.
And I really appreciate the support! I'm a very small channel and don't get many views so comments like these go a very long way in keeping me motivated to make more content. Thanks again.
This channel is so underrated I hope it blows up some day
You make it look easy in this video😂, but I know it's really hard because I'm in the process of completing my pickguard by following this video, Thanks Dude👍🏻
If only I'd came across this video earlier, I wouldn't had turn down 3 pickguard making job and messed up my own pickguard. Very useful info!
I applaud the big effort and attention to detail for making a template of a pickguard, using templates over template🫣!👏🏼👏🏼
I‘ve done for myself a handcut with a professional Dremel type handtool, but modified pickguard for an Gio Ibanez, and I can tell how time consuming it is. Specially the pickup holes.
On the original pickguard the pickup poles (HSS) were not lined up with the strings by 3mm.
So, with a new pickguard I additionally corrected the too sharp corners cut out for the humbucker, a more pleasant harmonious outline, a better angle (flatter) of the switch blade, a more ergonomic placement of the control knobs (on strat types I always remove or move the vol. knob down and back, put a mini on/off switch for either neck pup on/off or a kill switch in that position).
Later I made a mini adjacent extention covering a routing for two mini toggles, for humbucker split to each coil and for connecting in series of the single coils. I do it bit by bit, as a hobby.
Cheers
I become so engrossed in watching this. Awesome!!!!
Thank you!
Thanks once again for the help with my pickguard brother! I recommend you guys to get in touch with Guitar MD if you need any help with your guitars, he'll make it perfect! Greatings from Sweden :)
Absolutely! Thanks so much, and it was a pleasure doing it for you! So glad you're enjoying your guitar even more now 🎸
Great job thanks for the video, lots of useful information here!
You're welcome, and thanks so much! I've got more videos on the way (including new pickguard making videos), so stay tuned! Thanks again.
Nice job man! Im kinda in similar boat as guy you did this for. I have Hamer Slammer EX-1 which is copy of Gibson Explorer and no pickguards fit
Looks a lot like my Greg Bennett Malibu cover. Need to get it replaced. 🙄
Nice tutorial!
Excellent, excellent, excellent!! Did I say excellent?
Thank you so much!
very nice 🍻
Thank you!
you did a great job man
Thank you!
It is so refreshing to watch a video that gets to the point fast with clear, concise instruction and excellent video quality. Bravo for a great product! What beveling bit did you use? Also, have you ever made a template for a Fernandes Vertigo H-65? I need one but don’t have the original pickguard.
Thank you so much! The beveling bit I used is:
Amana Tool 47204: Carbide Tipped Bevel Laminate Trim 45 Deg x 1-3/32 Dia x 1/4
On Tools Today: toolstoday.com/v-5621-47204.html?ne_ppc_id=961261602&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw2uiwBhCXARIsACMvIU3HiAVAwRqdXgKcXWeMi5xsWGvAOEuIuK2aTkFZUcvnYL4599CiyD0aAl5eEALw_wcB
On Amazon: www.amazon.com/Amana-47204-Bevel-Trim-Router/dp/B000637V9O?th=1
Unfortunately, I haven't made a pickguard for a Fernandes Vertigo H-65 yet. But that makes me want to catalog the templates I have made. I have dozens upon dozens in a few boxes but nothing labeled or organized.
If I ever come across one, I'll let you know. One of my favorite things to do is hunt on eBay. Sometimes you'd be surprised at what you'd find. Currently they only have the entire guitar, but a pickguard for one of those *might* show up at some point.
Also, just found this guy on eBay from Serbia with some crazy aluminum pickguards with great art. Just a side note here. But man. Makes the stuff I do look like kindergarten play!
www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?item=285137733906&rt=nc&_trksid=p4429486.m3561.l161211&_ssn=maxxs_26000
Seeing you make the actual pickguatd would have been very helpful
I have a video showing the whole process here:
ruclips.net/video/8s_7rrb486Y/видео.htmlsi=KHDAc4r4CtTLDdQH
I plan on uploading more. Check out my "Pickguard Making" playlist for all the videos I currently have uploaded on this topic. Hope that helps!
Do you have a templet for a G&L Fullerton ASAT Deluxe Bluesboy ? I've tried many times without luck to order the replacement Tortise shell guard thru G&L but get crickets.
Nice video. I'm curious what you would have done if you didn't have the Suhr pickguard to resize.
Thanks! I've made my own templates by hand, and if I didn't have the reference pickguard, that's what I would have done.
I did this recently for a Lollar split P-bass pickup. It was a Squier Vista bass pickguard that the customer wanted converted from a '51 single P-bass pickup to a Lollar Precision 90 split p-bass pickup.
There is no template for the Lollar, and it's bigger than a standard Fender P-Bass pickup. I copied a Fender P-Bass rout to start on a 1/4" MDF template, then used digital calipers, a file, and a dowel with stikit-sandpaper to meticulously hand-file the template down.
The pickup dimensions were listed on the Lollar site, so I went by those. I just kept going by hand until the template was perfect, then used that template double stick taped to the *other* template to rout the pickup.
It's an extreme amount of work. It took me over several hours to get the template exactly where I wanted it. Once it's done, it goes into the drawer with all my other templates.
Hand making templates is extremely time consuming, but sometimes it's your only option. I do use 'reference templates' as often as I can. Another trick is using guide bushings in a trim router if you want the same pattern, but slightly smaller.
A perfect example is making a Tele pickguard with a neck pickup rout for a neck pickup *without* a cover. I used a guide bushing in my Colt router to copy a standard Tele neck pickup rout, but cutting in a little bit.
I can't remember what sized guide bushing and what sized bit I used, but I think I cut it undersized around 1/32". Something like that. The result was a neck pickup rout on a Tele pickguard that is a perfect fit for a neck pickup without a cover.
There are more tricks you can use. I'd love to make a video about it when I have the time. Still catching up on so many videos.
I'm actually working on a 2024 updated version of my pickguard cutting tutorial. Excited to get that one done!
@@guitar_md Thanks for the amazing answer! I didn't realize you also made the silent film video too, that one I watched several times before starting my project. Definitely time consuming work but I want it perfect, safe and I like to learn smart ways of doing things.
I got a jaguar that had two humbuckers and putting in three old Tiesco pickups. I will no doubt need to borrow some of these great ideas. The pickup routes are the last thing I have to do. They are rectangular so I want to first try using a dado stack with tiny adjustments on two half pieces of wood to get the exact fit of the pickups. I've just started using routers so I'm actually more comfortable making the initial pup template on the table saw.
Anyway, huge thanks for your help and the videos. Glad I found your channel.
@@CTBAB We innovate according mostly to what we're familiar with. I actually have very, very little experience with table saws. So little in fact that I'll have to look up what a dado stack even is to understand what your plan is!
But being familiar with that tool and methodology, you can see how your brain already has a game plan for mapping out how to do it. That works to our advantage.
I've only dealt with rectangular routs for slider switches, in which case I use my Amana Tool 3/16" guide bearing bit to start it, then I finish it by hand with a square file.
Pin routers are something I'm aware of, but never used. Those have a ton of advantages and is arguably the best way to make pickguard copies, since the pin is stationary and doesn't put the original pickguard at risk when tracing it, as is the case with flush trim bits on a router table.
I'd be very curious about the dado idea. I'm always up for new things, though table saws scare the crap out of me.
I do recommend the Amana Tool miniature line of flush trim / guide bearing bits, very heavily so. Amana Tool in general is my favorite for router bits.
I've done a LOT of routing, mostly on the router table, but also with my Bosch Colt trim router, and Dremel 4300 mounted in the Stewmac Plunge Router Base. So my mind naturally gravitates there.
And if you're comfortable with a table saw, you should pick up routing very quickly and easily. Nothing to it at all once you get the hang of it, though I will say with guitar work and intricate pickguards, you have to be *VERY* careful. There's definitely a feel for using the router table and you have to be very deliberate and confident with pushing the workpiece against the bit. There's a sort of Zen to it.
That goes for freehanding as well. Freehanding on the router table can be incredibly useful. That's where the extra small bits come in handy too. Another trick I use on occasion is using a Stewmac Precision Router Base, and clamping it in a vise mounted upside down, so I can use my Dremel as a mini router table.
Very handy for various tasks.
Anyway, I could talk forever about all this. Keep me posted! I'm currently in the process of working on that 2024 updated pickguard tutorial video. It will be similar to the silent film one, but just workshop footage/audio and plain text.
I have a lot of ground to cover with it and a lot of updates I've made. It's going to take forever, but all my videos do, as I'm only a one man show. But that's the way I like it. Thanks for reaching out and again -- keep me updated on how that goes! Would love to know.
@@guitar_md Thanks man. Yes I will let you know how it goes. I do love routers and it went pretty smooth. Creating a template from a pickguard wasn't the best starting project but I got through it so far so good.
Love the new blade switch method; but now - what tool did you use to make the 1/8” slot in the template?
I used my Colt router with an 1/8" regular router bit and a 5/16" guide bushing. So it did require me to use the previous template I'd made.
And I made *that* template based on Potvin Guitars' blade switch template, which had the holes and slot separated. I never understood how to use it so I made my own.
I might even make some for my eBay store. Maybe for 10 bucks plus postage. It's such a useful template and I'm much happier with the 1/8" slot and the Dremel!
The Potvin template uses a 1/2" guide bushing, by the way. That's too big to fit the switch holes on there too, and my first adaptation does work great, but the Dremel is so much more compact and quick to use.
@@guitar_md thank you! That Dremel method definitely seems like the way to go; I think I’ll cobble together my own template with an 1/8” router bit and some kind of bushing, similar to how you did it. Thanks again! Your videos are great.
@@mikepintoguitar You're welcome! Always beyond happy to know someone is enjoying my videos and getting useful information from them. Doing my best to put content out there that I haven't seen anywhere else.
Let me know how it goes. Once you make that template you'll be good to go forever. I do use wood hardener on MDF just to waterproof it because I get paranoid about them warping over time. But the 1/8" slot with those holes makes everything so much easier and so much cleaner.
Though on my latest Strat I don't even use a blade switch! I made a video about that one and am using a 3 way box switch on a custom jack plate I made out of pickguard material. Absolutely love it. Sometimes I wish I had a CNC machine, and I might have to learn how to use CAD so I can design some simple templates and have a place make them for me.
So many ideas, and lots more content to come. Thanks again for watching and for your comment!
i'd love to see the making of the bevel ????
I'll have to see if I can record some macro closeups of this. Maybe I can make it into a short video.
It really helps to see how the bit cuts the bevel in very closeup detail. It's hard to visualize otherwise.
I mostly use a 45 degree beveling / chamfer bit. You want the pickguard material facing down, as in, the pickguard material is touching the workbench. The MDF template is facing up.
The chamfer bit has a bearing on the bottom, meaning it's on top on the router table -- as the router is mounted upside down on a router table. So you'd look for a bottom guide bearing 45 degree beveling bit. Or 30 or 35 degree if you can find one. 45 is the most common but with 30 or 35 you can get very nice, subtler results. Mostly though I end up going to 45 as with 30, the bevel isn't obvious enough.
Anyway, check here: ToolsToday.com. Great site. Amana bits are my favorite:
toolstoday.com/search-results/?q=chamfer+bit&page=3
In the meantime, I'll see if I can record a quick clip at some point, of a beveling bit in action.
Actually, I just realized i haven't posted it yet, but I already have gotten some closeup footage of a bevel bit, in action. It's from a video I've been working on but haven't published yet. I'll see if I can put a short together that shows it off.
How did the pickup holes magically appear in the template ? :)
LOL...good catch!
Occasionally the gnomes help me out. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and a bunch of work is just magically done. They do have my back. They've done a lot for me in my life and continue to support me. They're great little guys. Sometimes they work so fast you can't even see them. They don't like being seen so they go to great lengths to work as fast as possible when humans are in the vicinity.