Hey guys, just recently got a Fender Jazz bass in a lovely Sage Green and am going to take it to get set up later this month. Check it out. But first, I have some a choice to make. Pickguard. I have no issues at all with the stock white, but at the end of the day, it's just stock white. It looks NICE, but I wonder if it can be changed for better or for worse. It is a MIM 2018 Player Jazz Bass (sage green has since been discontinued) so the stock white pickguard/the green white color combo holds no sentimental or consumer value to me or anyone who would be looking at the bass. My first thought was to go black. (I have a whole nother thread about debating what color pickguard I would go with if I ended up changing it. Feel free to voice your thoughts here. Would a black pickguard look nice? Or should i stick with white? This thread in particular is about a black pickguard.) I would go with WD, although more pricey, to ensure fit. Thanks to the great @Yools , we can get a rough idea of what the black would look like. Thanks Y. Check it out. This is good. I'm pretty sure if I did this, I'd be happy with it. But here's where possible regret comes in. The black is very nice. Yes. But can it be nicer? Here's what I was thinking. White pickup covers. I have no issue with the stock pickups, + upgrading the actual pickups would be very expensive for me. However, pickup COVERS can be found online for like 6-15 bucks. This is my rough sketch of what this would look like. Check it. Btw, does anyone have any experience buying pickup covers? Do they fit consistently? Or is there a slightly more expensive warehouse to buy them from to ensure fit? Anyways. The white pickups seem like a hit or miss. I can see myself loving it or hating it. Do you guys think white pickup covers is something that could easily spark feeling of regret? I think a lot of times, when your bass strays too far from the stock look it tends to look like a parts bass, but not a cleanly finished one. Like one where you can kind of tell you got all these pieces from here and there. Not a bad look, but not the look I'm going for with this bass. Upgrades are fun but I want to keep some sort of clean sleekness to it that I feel like looking like I made this bass in my garage the other day would take away from that to some extent. Maybe I'm wrong? Who knows. Not me. I wouldn't really call this a mod, but a lot of times when people make a big change to their bass there ends up being regrets. I can't tell if this would be one of those times. Well, that's why I made this thread. Let me know if you think I would regret this, and share similar experiences you might have had! Thanks in advanced guys!
I like the black guard with the black covers but not with the white covers. Maybe the white covers would go better with the white guard. I also think a black MOTS or black/dark abalone guard would look good with the black covers on Sage Green.
The black guard looks better than the white. Brown tort might look good with the rosewood board. An aged pearl would look nice. It's not as stark as a regular white pearloid. If you go with the black though, do NOT use white pickup covers!!! The black ones look much better. Here's how the Aged Pearl looks on my Sonic Gray Am. Pro II. But of course mine has the maple board. That's why I'm thinking brown tort might look much better than most people think on your Sage Green.
Your bass is an interesting color, so add a pickguard that will make it pop and give it some real personality. Check out Quick Guards Mike does GREAT work, and has many unique designs - several of which will go well with your bass. Don’t be hasty. Avoid the boring stock choices and have some fun!
I think the white looks better than the black. Might or might not look better with white pickup covers. You had stated that the existing one is "just stock white", but the black one you pictured below looks like "just stock black".
My P bass is the same colors and I have been looking at either a Metallic gold or metallic green pick guard I just can't make up my mind. I can't find the gold image now. It was a lighter gold color.
I'd go with the white pick guard and white pickup covers. I like white covers on certain basses, and I think they would look good with that sage green.
Truthfully I think it looks good as-is. If you MUST change, maybe tone down with cream 3 ply guard & cream pup covers.
Black on black I like with that body color… Set it up yourself, it’s not difficult and can be quite fun to get everything just the way YOU like it.