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Help Make My P Bass Pretty

Which pickguard looks best on honey blonde?

  • It's already beautiful. Leave it.

    Votes: 20 4.8%

  • Classic Tort.

    Votes: 118 28.3%

  • Anodized Gold.

    Votes: 121 29.0%

  • Black.

    Votes: 86 20.6%

  • Rosewood.

    Votes: 54 12.9%

  • Other.

    Votes: 18 4.3%
  • Total voters
    417
#61
I definitely agree the PG should be swapped out. The white just doesn't look very nice...

Of all the available options, I think the rosewood compliments that Honey Blonde color best.

The gold PG lacks contrast and looks a little tacky, IMO.
The black PG looks really nice, but may be a little boring. Lacks character.
The tort PG is a pretty close second based on the options available. Nice and classic, but then it's just that - classic. Lots of tort out there. But if classic is what you're goin for, tort isn't a bad option at all.

Either way, congrats on the new bass :thumbsup:. Let us know what you end up going with.
 
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#63
Here are a few from casa del 9mm:
The first one is a 2011 with a 50's MIM neck.
The second and third are the same 2009 bass with a '62 AVRI neck and with different guards.
The last one is a 2010 with a '71 neck & black guard. Sorry that pic is so fuzzy.
100_2276a.jpg
100_1856f.jpg
100_1907.JPG
IMG_0485a.jpg
 
#66
Nice bass!

I'd go tort or gold. Definitely. Either will pick up the warmth in the honey blonde finish, and keep that classic look.

Mint could work. And it will certainly pop. But you can't always predict how well it will work with a given shade of color until you put it on. So mint's a bit of a gamble. I've seen mint pickguards dropped on two guitars that were finished in what's technically "the same" color, and it worked on one, but not with the other.

Wood pickguards are just way too "early '70s" for my tastes these days. YMMV.
 
#70
The '57 AVRI blonde and even the 50's MIM blonde basses are quite different than the HWY basses. I have all three. The alder HWY's look like bandaids :). With a mint guard, they look a little pinkish. The '57 AVRI's are white over ash. The alder 50's MIM's are hardly translucent at all. Not sure about the later 50's MIMs when they switched to nitro though.
 
#77
Ghastly said:
Anodized gold.

blondie_1.jpg
Click to expand...
I would totally agree with you if it had a maple board. But with rosewood, I prefer brown tort, without a doubt.

This was a Classic 50's with tort, but again, that' with a maple board. A maple board gives you a lot more options, IMO.
IMG_1099_zps61114d8e.jpg


Same bass (Classic 50's) with gold anodized:
100_1252.jpg


And here's a 2006 Highway One in Honey Blonde (similar to the OP's) wearing brown tort, but the color of the Honey Blonde looks more faded than it did in real life:
100_0987.jpg
 
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#79
Jeff K said:
I would totally agree with you if it had a maple board. But with rosewood, I prefer brown tort, without a doubt.

This was a Classic 50's with tort, but again, that' with a maple board. A maple board gives you a lot more options, IMO.
IMG_1099_zps61114d8e.jpg


Same bass (Classic 50's) with gold anodized:
100_1252.jpg


And here's a 2006 Highway One in Honey Blonde (similar to the OP's) wearing brown tort, but the color of the Honey Blonde looks more faded than it did in real life:
100_0987.jpg
Click to expand...



Great pics. Tort was my second choice, but pre-CBS tort, like Spitfire makes. I keep thinking of swapping my gold out for a Spitfire one of these days.
 

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