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Pickguard - best vintage Jazz replacement?

Wehner

Wehner

Mar 13, 2007
132
2
Denmark
www.myspace.com
#1
As a hobby, I buy up old Fender bodies and necks and have them restored. Up until now, I have bought original Fender pickguards for them, but I was wondering, if there is a better looking alternative. Especially the tortoise ones I have seen do not come close to the original one on my 1969 Jazz, and I also feel that the mint green one I have on my newest project could be better.

The the pickguards need to be the 11 + 4 hole types. Anyone hos found something better than Fender's own?

My 1968 Sea Foam Green refinish with Fender mint green guard:

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#2
i agree that the color of the fender RI tortoise ones do not look at all like the '68-'72 tort guards.

for this reason, whenever i use one, i dye mine with a deep red dye that etches into the celluloid and then buff it out. they come out alot more red-ish (rather than brown), and look more like the originals.

here's a pic of one that i dyed:

69Jbass-bodyfront.jpg
 
#4
johnk_10 said:
i agree that the color of the fender RI tortoise ones do not look at all like the '68-'72 tort guards.

for this reason, whenever i use one, i dye mine with a deep red dye that etches into the celluloid and then buff it out. they come out alot more red-ish (rather than brown), and look more like the originals.

here's a pic of one that i dyed:

69Jbass-bodyfront.jpg
Click to expand...

That dyed pickguard looks nice.

I don't like the tort on my SB jazz 6:

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I prefer the old tort pickguards.
For example, here is my '72 J pickguard:

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#6
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#11
Sorry to drag this up from the dead but I am looking for the same thing! I want a tort guard for my 78 jazz. I would like to have all the holes line up and the extras for the covers and thumb rest. Does anyone make one that looks decent or are they best left custom ordered?
 
#13
gbazinet said:
Sorry to drag this up from the dead but I am looking for the same thing! I want a tort guard for my 78 jazz. I would like to have all the holes line up and the extras for the covers and thumb rest. Does anyone make one that looks decent or are they best left custom ordered?
Click to expand...

Here's one choice, scroll down past the Strat & Tele parts for the bass pickguards to find it: http://gmvintagerestorations.com/f_parts/f_parts.html

real_cell_jb_b.jpg


Pricey though at 130$. Made by Montreux Guitars in Japan, their Retrovibe parts are lightly aged & reliced. I have a Montreux tort guard installed on my '75 P-Bass: the pickup cover holes didn't match body holes, all other holes lined up perfectly and it was an easy install, no tweaking needed. It looks pretty good with more red colour than the current Fender tort, but it's not a 100% authentic replica of an early-mid 1970's Fender tort (I don't know if anything currently available is!), the swirl patterns are slightly different. Here's some pics of my tort guard:

fender%2520020.jpg


fender%2520094.png


fender%2520001.png
 

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