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hateandwar
Gold Member
Australia
524 Posts |
 Posted - 01/26/2010 : 09:32:58
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Recently i started to dislike the pickguard on my Telecaster.
It is a plastic one with a mirror finish.
I thought to my self, hmmm i could BUY one....but what if i MADE one??
Since im a welder, i know a thing or two about steel.
So i found an old 2mm thick railroad sign (aluminum) that was laying about at work,
and carved a pickguard out of it!
I took a few photos of how i went about it.
The sign as it was before hand
The pickguard traced out on the other side.
Few holes drilled out, the pickup hole was cut out with a drill and a grinder.
All of the pickguard cut out by a jigsaw
Other side..
New pickguard all filed up and sanded up ready for painting, and the old pickguard.
The new pickguard painted, by my dad.
He used to paint cars, so he knows a thing or two about painting
The finished thing!
Can you say...David Gilmour?? haha
And thats all folks!
Cheers |
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sp-1
Platinum Member
Germany
1454 Posts |
Posted - 01/26/2010 : 09:59:07
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Good job 
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 01/26/2010 : 11:24:30
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Nice job .....
I noticed you have a hot rails in the bridge on your tele...is that a coil split switch in between the tone and volume controls..?.... |
Edited by - FRANZONI on 01/26/2010 11:24:51 |
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Miky
Silver Member
Czech Republic
184 Posts |
Posted - 01/26/2010 : 12:33:26
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Good job.
I like the look of the pickguard after being sanded. Maybe I would just stick to it and forget about painting it.  |
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Dr. Bob
Moderator
Australia
6593 Posts |
Posted - 01/26/2010 : 12:51:51
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Fantastic Job hateandwar
I guess we might have to call it "The Australia Day Guard".
If you manage to add a (GND) wire to the back,
it will be a most excellent shield as well.
Regards Dr. Bob 
6262 |
Edited by - Dr. Bob on 01/26/2010 12:54:54 |
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natthu
Gold Member
Australia
756 Posts |
Posted - 01/26/2010 : 13:17:03
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Sweet Dude.
I think that suits your style a little better than the old guard.
Is the hotrails like having a humbucker? I've been looking at getting a Bigsby Trem for one of my Teles but they all seem to only work with single coil PUs... Maybe a hotrail will solve that problem?
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zerksies
Double Platinum Member
USA
3406 Posts |
Posted - 01/26/2010 : 13:41:46
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| why have an aluminum pick guard then paint it ??? |
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 01/26/2010 : 17:14:20
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quote:
Originally posted by natthu
Sweet Dude.
I think that suits your style a little better than the old guard.
Is the hotrails like having a humbucker? I've been looking at getting a Bigsby Trem for one of my Teles but they all seem to only work with single coil PUs... Maybe a hotrail will solve that problem?
The Hotrails is a single coil sized high output humbucker..i have one in my tele as well,it's great for hi-gain stuff but pretty muddy sounding on cleans..i was wondering if hateandwar had put a coil split in his as i thought i spied a mini-switch between the pots and if he did how it worked for him..i tried that but i took it back out as it made the hotrails sound weak(to me anyway) when split and when mixed with the neck pickup(also a SD,a vintage stack in my tele)...what worked best for me in the end as a compromise was to wire the hotrails in parallel rather than series...it lowers the output slightly but i found it was easier to balance the 'inbetween' sound with the neck pickup,i also installed 1 meg pots as it seemed to clear the sound up a bit as well on both pickups......
P.S..just thinking about what miky said and the when you had the sign before sanding when you could still see part of the 'no entry' on it ..that might look good as well for a future project and go well with the Joe Strummer/clash sticker and the vibe...rather than use the back of the sign trace it out on the front...and NO i'm not suggesting you go out and ...ahem...'aquire' another roadsign........ |
Edited by - FRANZONI on 01/26/2010 17:45:51 |
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Dirk
Platinum Member
Netherlands
1309 Posts |
Posted - 01/26/2010 : 17:43:35
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| Nice pickguard Hateandwar |
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Joske Turbo
Silver Member
Belgium
412 Posts |
Posted - 01/26/2010 : 17:48:03
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Good job! You're right, it has quite a Gilmourish look.  |
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Radioheading
Silver Member
United Kingdom
494 Posts |
Posted - 01/26/2010 : 17:58:04
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Gorgeous!  Nice work. |
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JCDenton6
Bronze Member
USA
101 Posts |
Posted - 01/26/2010 : 18:43:02
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| That's awesome work!!! At least you won't have to worry about it cracking. |
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Laurie
Double Platinum Member
Canada
4854 Posts |
Posted - 01/26/2010 : 18:47:32
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That is very seriously impressive! I have a clear understanding about how much work and talent was requied to get that result.
Bloody good job mate! |
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jack
Platinum Member
USA
1418 Posts |
Posted - 01/26/2010 : 20:22:18
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| Depending on how much signs cost, you may be able to make some money off eBay with pickguards like that. I have seen Tele pickguards on eBay made out of old vinyl LPs...I'm sure people would like the metal polish look, or depending on the sign, may just like the sign itself as a pickguard. |
Edited by - jack on 01/26/2010 20:23:30 |
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zerksies
Double Platinum Member
USA
3406 Posts |
Posted - 01/27/2010 : 01:51:27
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| I still say why paint it?You clean and polish the aluminum it would really look nice. |
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hateandwar
Gold Member
Australia
524 Posts |
Posted - 01/27/2010 : 03:31:37
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Zerksies: I originally already had a plastic guard with a mirror finish or chrome or whatever you wana call it. That was exactly what i didnt want. I made it out of aluminum because it was the other material available to me to use. And at the end of the day, it comes to to personal preference. Ive wanted a black pickguard for a long time.
Dr Bob: Thanks alot and What exactly is a GND wire?
Natthu: Thanks man, yep that hot rails is pretty hot like a humbucker. i like it alot.
Franzoni: I have to agree with you about the hotrails been muddy on the clean side, which annoys me alot, but i usually use my neck pick up for clean stuff
Laurie: Thanks alot mate. Im glad a builder such as your self can appreciate it
Everyone else: Thanks for the nice feedback. I love building stuff! |
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Topic |
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Homemade Aluminum Tele Pickguard
