Input needed on pickguard form!

[belzebass]

Hello!

I'm planning to make a pickguard for my bass , so I made a paper design to what it would look like. I has to cover the area around the bridge pickup.

What do you think? The upper curve is hard to make pretty.
Feel free to unleash your photoshop skills if you have suggestions

Thanks a lot.


Here's the beast:

[Turnaround]

OK, now you have a white bass with a bit of sunburst around the edges. I really dislike it. (You did ask for our opinions, right?)

[EricssonB]

Originally Posted by Turnaround

OK, now you have a white bass with a bit of sunburst around the edges. I really dislike it. (You did ask for our opinions, right?)

I actually kind like the idea of a white bass with a bit of sunburst around it. This doesn't quite fit. I'm not really sure what to contribute beyond that.

Is this to compensate for some handiwork on that MM pickup?

[Stilettoprefer]

Too much pickguard IMO. Maybe do a pickup ring around the MM pup? I hate it when I see custom pickguards that cover over 75% of the bass.

EDIT:

How about a stingray style pickguard? That would cover the MM route and the P pup. Then a control plate would cover the control cavity.

It would be nice to see a pic of what the pickguard is covering

[Kenzy]

Why do you want such a huge pickguard? I don't really dig it, personally.

[belzebass]

Originally Posted by EricssonB

Is this to compensate for some handiwork on that MM pickup?

No-no-no, not at all, I don't see what are you talking about

It wasn't my handiwork, at least.


As for colour, I intend to make it more of a beige or cream.
This is a paper version just to model it, that's why it's spankin' white :-)

Originally Posted by Stilettoprefer

How about a stingray style pickguard? That would cover the MM route and the P pup. Then a control plate would cover the control cavity.

Now that's an interesting idea. I'll model it tonight to see how it goes.

Yesterday I thought that it just didn't belong, but this morning it looked somewhat ok. Guess I got used to it. Definitely, the P-Bass design is so well-known, that changing it even a little different looks weird.

Hey, but maybe with tort pickguard and flats it will be traditional enough?

[Smilodon]

I have to agree wit the rest here. It does look a bit too dominating.


IF you go for this design, at least refine the bass side part next to the MM pickup. That kink in the curve looks strange.

[96tbird]

Yeah, no. Time for plan B.

[202dy]

Ugly as sin dipped in misery.

[jobo4]

Plus 1 on the pickup ring idea.

[belzebass]

Now here are the options I have modeled:

The huge total pickguard:


The sterling inspired design:


The stringray inspired design (I find it really ugly):


And for the last one, I thought just to "Keep It Simple, Stupid" and to put a black frame around the bridge pickguard, and voilà:



What do you think about it?

[belzebass]

And since I'm into it, I made the mix-n-match of the first and the second designs, and that's what I got:

1) This one looks lighter than the initial "huge pickguard" design:




2) This one is lighter and, personally, I find it quite funky and strage in a good way.



I'll wait for your opinions before starting the real work :-)

Which one is better than others?

[Kmonk]

I honestly don't like any of them. If I had to choose, I would pick the tort but without the black frame around the bridge pickup.

[Smilodon]

Of those posted I would definitively go for the normal pickguard and small pickup ring.

How does the MM pickup route look without any cover? If it looks alright I would just leave it as it is.

[belzebass]

Well, I do need some sort of cover around the MM pickup because of this:




Initially, I bought the bass for pieces because of the pickups and the preamp, as well really good hardware at a low price. But finally I love the way it pays and it sounds, as well as real-life relic look (it was owned and gigged regularly by a restaurant bass player, and sold by his son who didn't seem to understand much in instruments). The former player seems to have used an axe to make the routing :-\ And then he slapped a piece of plastic on it, and gigged it. And it was not even a punk band.

Here's the photo of how it was when I bought it:

[96tbird]

Maybe it's just the angle of the pics but the MM pup looks crooked. You may as well correct that and then go with the ring idea; it's the least offensive.

[Lee Bruton]

Buy a new body and start over!!

[monti2889]

Originally Posted by EricssonB

I actually kind like the idea of a white bass with a bit of sunburst around it. This doesn't quite fit. I'm not really sure what to contribute beyond that.

Is this to compensate for some handiwork on that MM pickup?

Why not try a larger style MM pick guard with a P pickup cutout, if you want to extend the guard past the pickups why not try to tapper it towards the neck pocket.
Kind of like a big tear drop.

[202dy]

The first order of business is to straighten out the MM rout. Then commence the design. This is a good time to move the fourth pot up to space evenly with the others. A thick ring at the MM pickup that does not allow some margin between the pickup and the bridge will look heavy handed.

A single ring at the MM coupled with a control plate may provide the cleanest look. Red tortoise would tend to blend rather than contrast the differences.

[Andyman001]

How about a chrome bridge cover?