I wrapped a pickguard in adhesive Vinyl

[Skillet]

This Jaguar has been through a lot, and it took some whittling on the pickguard to make the neck I put on it work so I figured it would be a good test subject for changing the guard color with vinyl. The guard is black, now red.

Ordered the vinyl from Vvivid Vinyl. Sample sheets were 1 x 5 feet. The patient had already undergone some lightening experimentation (successful!).

The trick is to get it on without bubbles and then trim it without gooching it too badly. After the first trim I put the blade at an angle to expose the underlying ply color. It came out a bit rough but gave me enough confidence in the product to try again another day.

 

[pacojas]

thanks for the tip!

 

[Jim C]

How much weight were you able to remove?
Sound any different?
(guard looks great btw)

 

[Skillet]

Well I didn't have access to an accurate scale, just my old wonky bathroom scale. But by drilling those holes out, first with a paddle bit, then a forstner, it made a very noticeable difference, I'd guess at least a pound, maybe pound and a half.
I was a little surprised by how heavy that little short scale body was when I got it. After drilling the body and putting Hipshot ultralite tuners on the headstock, the bass is around 7.5 lbs now, and a real pleasure to play.

 

[Skillet]

How much weight were you able to remove?
Sound any different?
(guard looks great btw)

As for sound, I wish I would've paid more attention to that detail during the process, but between two rigs and 10 or so basses in rotation at the moment, that nuance slipped through the cracks. I can say that with short scale Dunlop flats on it, and the factory pups, the bass sounds amazing.