Don't be afraid to make your own pickguards

[bbao]

In modifying my basses with pickups etc., I found myself having to make new pickguards by myself since these designs werent available anywhere else. I would recommend anyone to not be afraid and try it for yourself!

It was quite simple really. It only requires 3 things:
1. Dremel
2. Pickguard material
3. Patience

I've made pickguards with acrylic and typical 3 ply pickguard sheets. It took an hour or two depending on how detailed you are but it is completely worth it and easy enough if you cant buy these designs already.

Some examples and progress photos.
Cut from a 3ply white pearl sheet

cut acrylic

 

[Beej]

Nice work!

I agree, they can be easily and quickly made with tools that many have at home. I've made one-offs by hand with a jigsaw, hand drill and some files. Here's a couple:

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[bbao]

Nice work!

I agree, they can be easily and quickly made with tools that many have at home. I've made one-offs by hand with a jigsaw, hand drill and some files. Here's a couple:

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Very nice! And cool design bass

 

[KohanMike]

In modifying my basses with pickups etc., I found myself having to make new pickguards by myself since these designs werent available anywhere else. I would recommend anyone to not be afraid and try it for yourself! It was quite simple really. It only requires 3 things: 1. Dremel, 2. Pickguard material,3. Patience

Very nice work. A few weeks ago my repair guy mentioned how time consuming making custom pickguards is. I thought I would ease his pain by making them myself for the bass ukes he mods for me. I got online and searched for a more automated way of doing it. I found a CNC routing machine, read reviews and guides, seemed straight forward enough, so I bought it. To make a very long story short, what a disaster. In my preliminary research, nothing showed how unbelievably involved and how much you have to know. I ended up selling it, way more complicated than I wanted to deal with.

I posted my exploit here and a number of replies showed how they do it by hand with a band saw, router table and drill press. I watched a few videos, but it still seemed more complicated than I wanted to deal with. But your post makes me think about it. I actually draw up and cut out the pickguard on heavy weight paper already for my guy. I have a battery Dremel and all kinds of bits that I've used to install preamps in my ukuleles and bass ukes. I also have a Dremel drill press and counter sink bits, and Dremel mini table router and router bits.

How do you be sure you stay on the line, isn't easy to stray? What bits do you use on the Dremel? How do you make the bevels? What files do you use? Do you think my little router table would be good way to do the cuts? My pickguards don't have any pickup cutouts, which makes it that much easier. I also see table top scroll saws that seem like a possibility.

I'm going to take your advice and try it on one I was getting ready to bring my guy, for which I already cut out the paper template and have a pearl blank. In this photo are the two style pickguards I need for my 21" scale bass ukes; a very standard looking Hofner style (the pearl, silver and cream ones), and an extended one (the tortoise and black ones). Truss rod covers as well.

 

[bbao]

Very nice work.

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hey mike,
I used the following bits:
1. Cutting wheel - to get the general shape
2. Grinding files - to shape the pickguard in detail + the bevelling

I'm pretty new at using a dremel and all the bits available for it. Mine was done on the cheap with very few parts and a lot of patience.
All of my pickguards were done free-hand but i'm sure you'd be able to figure out a way to get a straighter cut than me. It took me a lot of mini-grinding and checking to get things nice and straight.
The bevelling was easier with the angled grinding bits. I just had to have it flat against the edge of the table. For some sections, I had to hold it off the table though. Again, depends on the level of detail and complexity you want.

Your hofner styles dont seem too bad. I have no doubt you would be okay making that style at home as well.

EDIT: honestly, having a band saw and drill press available would have sped up the work SO MUCH. It really depends on how much time you want to spend making a pickguard. I dont have space for such tools though so the dremel was all I could use. Worked great in the end anyway

 

[SteveCS]

I wouldn't say made, but modified. Simple addition of self-adhesive acoustic guitar tort over pearl, then cut back to shape:
From...

...to...

 

[landrybass]

I just made a pickguard! All I used was really a jigsaw and a file to make a mdf template from a pickguard I already had the shape of. And then a battery powered router with an end bearing to cut the shape and a 45degree bit to cut the bevel. It was easy took about 4 or 5 hours from nothing to finished

 

[Jon Clegg]

Even hard materials like Carbon Fiber and metal (nickel silver in this case) can be done with minimal tools (bandsaw, drill-press and files)

 

[Phaidrus]

Nice work!

I agree, they can be easily and quickly made with tools that many have at home. I've made one-offs by hand with a jigsaw, hand drill and some files. Here's a couple:

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Very nice! How did you cover the headstock with tort material?

 

[Deleted member 365158]

Agreed!! I’ve been making my own by making a template and using my small router.
I’ve used pick guard materials and thin plywood.
Here’s a couple

 

[Five or Six]

I've used everything from plexiglass to lexan to regular pickguard material on several mods. Plexiglass can be a little more difficult if time isn't taken, but it can be done. It is very brittle, breaks or cracks easily. I usually make a template before each build.

 

[HardNHeavy]

great work guys, i love the homemade stuff.certainly want to dabble in this aspect for a possible next build

 

[KevInDaBassment]

....

Coming from someone who names their basses, I have to wonder if that's the connection with the names on your pickguards

 

[Beej]

Very nice! How did you cover the headstock with tort material?

It's the self-adhesive acoustic pickguard material. On the green/mint bass it's a tilt-back headstock so the adhesive held it easily. On the orange bass, it's a fender style headstock, so IIRC, I used contact cement and clamped it down with a wooden caul I made on the bandsaw.

 

[Phaidrus]

It's the self-adhesive acoustic pickguard material. On the green/mint bass it's a tilt-back headstock so the adhesive held it easily. On the orange bass, it's a fender style headstock, so IIRC, I used contact cement and clamped it down with a wooden caul I made on the bandsaw.

They both look very professionally made!

 

[Deleted member 365158]

Another thing to that’s helpful if the pick guard is the control panel as well is to make them separate, I haven’t perfected it yet to be almost seamless but the red bass with black pg posted above is pretty darn close (the other one is meh but fine)
Sooo handy if your in and out of that cavity like I can be.

 

[KohanMike]

I did a test in my storage/workroom of the Dremel mini router table using a cutting bit on a spare piece of pickguard material. I can see how this could work. I also have Dremel router bits that I'm going to test, cut and bevel at the same time. I just ordered a set of counter sink bits that will fit. Here is my workspace, a slide out shelf that I made for the CNC machine.

Oh, I also have a Milwaukee M12 rotary tool that can use all Dremel accessories, it's in the Dremel drill press, so no need to keep moving the Dremel. I may even buy another Dremel 8220 so I don't have to remove the other two.

 

[KohanMike]

I may even buy another Dremel 8220 so I don't have to remove the other two.

This statement got me thinking. I will need to make three types of cuts, flat on a couple of edges, bevel on a couple of edges, and then drill/countersink the screw holes. Changing the bit on the router table is a pain while the Dremel is attached, removing it to change bits is also a pain.

Since I will need to use two different bits in the router table, I'm going to buy another router table and Dremel 8220 to have three dedicated tools. I love GAS, too bad I had to waste so much time, money and expletives on the CNC machine.

Oh, I forgot to mention that the red box back there is a Milwaukee M12 wet/dry vac with a hose that I place right where the bit cuts, keeping a clean surface.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

This statement got me thinking. I will need to make three types of cuts, flat on a couple of edges, bevel on a couple of edges, and then drill/countersink the screw holes. Changing the bit on the router table is a pain while the Dremel is attached, removing it to change bits is also a pain.

Since I will need to use two different bits in the router table, I'm going to buy another router table and Dremel 8220 to have three dedicated tools. I love GAS, too bad I had to waste so much time, money and expletives on the CNC machine.

Oh, I forgot to mention that the red box back there is a Milwaukee M12 wet/dry vac with a hose that I place right where the bit cuts, keeping a clean surface.

There you go....Now you are building up the set of tools that you need to efficiently make pickguards. My Pro setup is like that: A holding fixture for the templates, one small router with a straight cut bit, one small router set up with a bevel bit, and a small drill press set up to countersink the screws. Some files and a scraper for final cleanup. And a nearby shop-vac. That's what you need for making the pickguards.

The Dremels are a little underpowered for my taste, but they'll work. A small trim router from Harbor Freight is less expensive than a Dremel....I'm just sayin'.

Making the MDF templates requires a few more tools, but not too many. You know, you could also consider having the MDF routing templates made for you by some woodworking shop, working from your paper/cardboard templates. Then you make the actual pickguards.

Also, if you invest in a few of these tools, and spend a little time learning the technique, you could start a little side business making custom pickguards for people. Maybe specialize just in custom pickguards for Ukes? There is a constant demand of people looking to have custom one-off pickguards made. Most of us Luthiers know how, but don't want to do it. And it's tough to operate a full business doing it. But as a little hobby side business, you could make it work. Think about it.

 

[Flamingo21]

For my Explorer I cut a lightning bolt shape from 3mm (1/8") plexiglass. The main tools were a hand saw and a hand drill, which went pretty easily. (At the time, I had no band saw and no drill press. Otherwise I would probably have used them.)