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Do good cheap tort pickguards exist?

Axstar

Axstar

Inactive
Jul 8, 2016
4,443
8,636
Scotland.
#1
I picked up a nice sunburst P bass last month. It came with a badly fitting 3-ply tort pickguard that didn't fully cover the control plate. The pickguard also didn't have the usual fourth white player on the bottom, so it was tort/white/black. Very odd!

I've bought three pickguards from Ebay since then, and each has been a bit disappointing. The first was advertised as 'red tortoiseshell' but, against the sunburst, has an almost subtly pink hue to it. It also doesn't seem to be 'mixed' very well, with big white/cream splodges down at the controls. The white edge is also brilliantly white (almost a blue white) that stands out a bit starkly.

Second pickguard was from a different seller, and was called 'vintage red tortoiseshell' or something but was clearly cut from the same generic blank as the pickguard above (albeit not drilled out for a tug bar or chrome pickup cover). I've bought some of this blank material before today, so I know it well!

The third pickguard was advertised as 'brown tortoiseshell' and was very dark, with minimal but very blobby tort effect. It reminds me of the pickguards you see on some early '70s Japanese copy basses.

In the past I paid too much for a Fender '6s reissue pickguard that was too dark and had almost no tort effect going on, beyond a sort of small creamy grain going on. I also had a pretty nice celluloid tort pickguard from Basschat, but sold it with the bass I attached it to.

My main issues are that, compared with a quick scan of vintage P basses on Reverb, modern pickguard are the wrong colour and don't capture the correct swirl and movement you see in a vintage pickguard. The white plies in the beveled edge tend to be far too starkly white. All three pickguards I've bought have had a degree of ugly, wavy inconsistency to their edges as well, which I've block-sanded out on two of them.

I don't want to pay vintage of Spitfire prices, so is there any decent cheap, correct-looking tort out there?
 
#9
gln1955 said:
Good
Cheap
Tort

Pick two of the three ;)
Click to expand...

I was suspecting this would be the problem. To be honest my first two pickguards would do the job if they got the colours right. Swap out the white outline for parchment and maybe dial back the blue-ish pink tone from the red and you would be on to a winner. I don't need anybody to swirl volatile plastics together if they can get the colour right through other means.


Dark Horse said:
Of course buying cheap pickguard after cheap pickguard after cheappick guard adds up fast, when you could just buy one nice one and get it done with.
Click to expand...

I'm tempted to stick a 3-ply black pickguard on the bass until I pony up for a decent tort or another source becomes available. My issues are partly that a lot of Ebay vendors seem to sell out of tort pickguards first (and are left with weird pearloid pickguards left in their inventories), and that there isn't a clear consensus between sellers as to what each tort permutation is, so you pay different sums for pickguards cut from the same Chinese blank stock.

nerkoids said:
You could make your own with casting acrylic and some dyes.
Click to expand...

That is hardcore. I guess I would need a 3-ply parchment pickguard and to somehow laminate a DIY tort effect pickguard on top of that.

What surprises me is that pickguard builders clearly aren't looking at photos of real vintage Fenders in the main. If they did then they might get the colours closer.
 
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#10
The problem is, if you are looking at 60's cellulose tort pickguards as your benchmark, you'll never find anything that comes close except Spitfire. The rest just look cheesy in comparison, or at least any that I've seen. The reason is that the old cellulose material has long been unavailable, and there isn't any other material that looks the same.

I have a '62 P-Bass with an original pickguard that shrunk and cracked at the screw hole/stress points to the point where it was unusable (not untypical). To replace it I ordered a Spitfire in vintage red/burgundy mix, 60's subtle pattern and medium aging, and it is close enough to the original that it looks right. Of course I hung on to the original (!)

Because the '62 P is a relatively valuable instrument it was worth shelling out $200+ for a pickguard. With a cheaper bass it might be questionable whether it's worth it. I guess it's just a question of aesthetics and how important that is to you.
 
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#11
Fenderparts uses actual cellulose nitrate for their guard stock. Their guards aren’t perfect, but they are better than most. Here’s a photo of one on my 1962 jazz bass. This is kind of a placeholder until I find a semi affordable vintage one, or just go with a Spitfire.

image.jpg
 
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#12
Firstly, there is no material that looks like the original material, except the original material. If you could find what you are looking for, Spitfire would not have ever had a reason to exist in the first place.

I have no problem with the Fender Pure Vintage tort. It's darker than the '60s ones (which IMO looks way better than the actual '60s bright tort), and it isn't the original material, but it has the wide bevel and looks good. It obviously isn't the shrinking, flammable variety from the old days. The white plies on the edge are slightly soft white. Best you'll get for the price IME.

Here it is straight from Fender: Invalid Link Removed
 
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#19
ad9000 said:
The problem is, if you are looking at 60's cellulose tort pickguards as your benchmark, you'll never find anything that comes close except Spitfire. The rest just look cheesy in comparison, or at least any that I've seen.
Click to expand...

Spitfire is making them as they originally were, but I don't know if that is necessary. There must be a way of making them using modern techniques. It seems like a lot of pickguard manufacturers (or the makers of the blanks they are all using) simply haven't studied a '60s pickguard. I don't need it to smell right when I file it or to dissolve if I drench it in acetone, I need the reds to be the right colour and the yellows to be another colour.

If these guys studied a Fender '60s pickguard for two seconds they would notice that the black layer is way thinner than on modern pickguards.

mark286 said:
This is very cool stuff. Thanks for sharing :)
Click to expand...

To second this, thanks @nerkoids for the link to TDPRI. I love the Strat knobs that the guy makes. A bit like Gil Yarron's threads over there, he makes this stuff look easy (and I bet it isn't).

At the moment my P bass has a dark pickguard on it that looks a bit to 'Tokai Hard Puncher' for my tastes.

XW032J4.jpg


Not the worst I've seen (the tort effect isn't a tiled raster image, for example).

This is another one, and one that I think has a bit of pink to it:

0WKhEk2.jpg


And the 'activity' in the tort effect is weird down at the controls:

wIsBj2F.jpg


In evening sunlight it looks ok...

xS5hsOV.jpg


gGtWiUh.jpg


But I do feel like there is a little bit too much blue or maroon going on, rather than a warm burgundy.


First world problems, eh?
 
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#20
I personally really like the warmoth ones (I Think they are generic fender fit). A little on the brown side as tort goes, which Isn't a bad thing. Pretty reasonable price, good material and well made. Of course, won't compete with something like spitfire, but they are about 1/6 of the price
 
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