Well a few years back I found a guy selling stainless steel pick guards on ebay so we emailed back and forth for a while turns out he makes it all himself no middle man or anything so I mailed him my plastic (Stock) pick guard, truss rod cover, and back plate then about two weeks later he sent those back along with the stainless steel version of each. He even etched his signature and "made in usa" into the back of each one. Since then Ive been completely satisfied with them for 2 years now! They are mirror finish, and extremely polished! I talked him into giving me a package deal so for everything it was about $150...
Im pretty sure this is the same guy:
http://myworld.ebay.com/990658?_trksid=p2047675.l2559
Just feel free to email him he was extremely friendly and helpful!
I have the Limited Edition Epiphone Thunderbird in Alpine White... Being the Custom Shop edition it already had the chrome pickups so now the only plastic on my bass is the volume/tone knobs, spacers on tuning key, and the pick up guards.
What else are you looking to customize? If you have the money I have tons of Ideas for you... there mainly upgrades I have been considering for years but dont have the money for yet! (Also what finish do you have on it?)