will an American special jazz pickguard fit an American standard?

[SkiFor3]

They appear to look the same but want to know if the holes line up correctly before buying. Thanks

[walterw]

yep, should fit just fine.

you might have an extra screw hole or two (i don't think so), but that's no big deal.

[Wyattsgroove]

I bought a stock Fender American tort guard for my AM Spec. Jazz and it dropped right in.
Shouldn't be a problem.

[mitchgilbert]

I think the VM Squiers are a bit larger than most other Fenders.
I bought a black 3-ply VM pick guard for my Squier Jazz and it was a little too big but I think you should be good.

[walterw]

american and mexi fender pickguards are compatible, the east-asian stuff is often a little bit off.

[Bongolation]

One caveat: Do not buy a Fender pickguard that's been hanging on a store hook long enough to start shrinking and curling. They do shrink badly enough where the holes don't properly line up any longer.

Fender pickguards are too expensive to have to deal with this!

[walterw]

that just happens with celluloid, i.e., tortoise or pearloid. they'll curl over time if they're not bolted to a flat guitar body.

it isn't that big a deal, as they'd have to be decades old before they actually shrunk so the screw holes didn't line up anymore.

usually you can just screw it to the guitar and it'll lay fine.

[Bongolation]

Originally Posted by walterw

that just happens with celluloid, i.e., tortoise or pearloid. they'll curl over time if they're not bolted to a flat guitar body.

it isn't that big a deal, as they'd have to be decades old before they actually shrunk so the screw holes didn't line up anymore.

Pretty comprehensively not true.

One, according to FMIC their tortoiseshell is plastic and hasn't been nitrocellulose since 1964...

Two, it's the backing plastic layers that are shrinking, not the top -- which the plies are warping away from...

Three, they do shrink in a very short period off the instrument. GC has an entire sale bin full of new pickguards (including genuine Fenders of all colors) in their bags that have seriously shrunk/curled in a year or two.

I ordered some current Genuine Fender Jazz pickguards from Amazon recently.

ALL were shrunk and curled back.

NONE lined up properly, entirely due to shrinkage, which I would conservatively estimate at a bit less than 1/8"x1/8". All holes were about a half of the screws diameter toward center. I compared them with the new pulls from 2011 Jazzes.

By carefully heating the pickguard and very gradually tightening up the screws, which barely start and not entirely straight, the pickguard will go on, but it's obviously not right and eventually the top layer shows ripples from the inner laminates stress-cracking.

For the princely sums FMIC wants for its pickguards, this is a load of crap you don't deserve.