Is this a real or printed "photo" tortoise shell pick guard?

[SharpCat]

I have an Ibanez acoustic with Tort binding, and in the yellowy bits you can see the edge grain of the back and side through the semi-clear plastic. I think that's what @96tbird is describing.

 

[96tbird]

I have an Ibanez acoustic with Tort binding, and in the yellowy bits you can see the edge grain of the back and side through the semi-clear plastic. I think that's what @96tbird is describing.

Kind of what I’m saying.

This is the ops pic blown up on my phone. You can see right at the screw hole countersink that the colors are solid right near the red lines I added

 

[Jeff Scott]

I don't know but I doubt it. The outer layer of the shell is made of keratin the same thing our fingernails and hair is made of, the inner layer is bone.

EDIT: You question made me curious. I knew that the keratin could be heated and molded. It seems that heat can also weld it together. So you are probably correct. They could break it into pieces, then arrange them into a sheet and use heat to weld them back together. My earlier post (#15) appears to be completely wrong.

Thanks for looking into it; it just seemed to have been used, given descriptions I read about old guitars.

 

[maturanesa]

Since all the electronics are attached to the pickguard in P Basses i would use the ugliest pickguard available before changing it

 

[Erenzkm]

Heres a littke macro view of the pickguard.. There are two plys on the black and white ones, I think one is a print(the yellow bits?) And the outermost ply is made either of transparent plastic or actual celluloid..