The used Squire P-BASS I bought recently had a very generic look, with a white plastic pick guard that had begun to crack around the screw holes, a thin, ugly, rattling quality to it.
To make the used bass mine I drove to Home Depot and bought one of them sheets of birch wood furniture laminate. It's 1/8" thick or so, haven't measured it. I outlined the original pick guard with a pencil and used a jig saw, drilling machine, then the drilling machine for the screw holes. File and sanding paper. The brown cover is a semi transparent high gloss, oil based. Then I put in another tone capacitor and padded the well for the wires with a sheet of cotton insulation that my wife use with her quilting projects. The rattling is almost gone when I pluck at the strings. The slight rattle on some high pitched notes come from the pick ups or wires, not the pick guard. The original pick guard had a bad look to it near the bridge, straight, so I added curve to it there.
To make this work you have to be very diligent at keeping the pick guard in place when you outline it. Tape it to. I still had to widen the screw holes slightly in the pick guard to make them connect with the screw holes in the body.
To make the used bass mine I drove to Home Depot and bought one of them sheets of birch wood furniture laminate. It's 1/8" thick or so, haven't measured it. I outlined the original pick guard with a pencil and used a jig saw, drilling machine, then the drilling machine for the screw holes. File and sanding paper. The brown cover is a semi transparent high gloss, oil based. Then I put in another tone capacitor and padded the well for the wires with a sheet of cotton insulation that my wife use with her quilting projects. The rattling is almost gone when I pluck at the strings. The slight rattle on some high pitched notes come from the pick ups or wires, not the pick guard. The original pick guard had a bad look to it near the bridge, straight, so I added curve to it there.
To make this work you have to be very diligent at keeping the pick guard in place when you outline it. Tape it to. I still had to widen the screw holes slightly in the pick guard to make them connect with the screw holes in the body.
