Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Pickguard choice for a Fender Pbass
- Thread starter Phaidrus
- Start date
Tort is always out of the questionNot that I have 60 bucks to burn but I've been considering replacing the stock mint color (3-ply, middle ply black, see pic below) pickguard of my Fender Am.Pro Pbass with a black one (Fender 3-ply, middle ply white). I like the bass as it is but a black pickguard would perhaps spice it up a bit. Or not. What do you think? No, tort is out of the question.
View attachment 5450628
Have you given any thought to a mirrored guard, specifically a "smoked" mirror guard. Depending on the lighting and the angle, they go from a high gloss black look to a black mirrored look.
Notice the difference between the solo pics and the group pic.
Guards are from WD, and not cheap. But the smoked mirror guards really shine on stage under the lights!
If you want cheap, but durable, and under 50 bucks, checkout Carmedon. They have 3D printed guards priced at 35 - 40, plus shipping. Based out of Jacksonville, FL. and are very quick and responsive. They even sent me a template so I could throw my own design on there and then email it back to them to produce a guard for me. Here's 6 pages of Jazz and P bass guards they offer, anything from wild to basic colors.
P-Bass/Jazz Bass Pickguards
Here's a guard a got from them a while back before eventually changing out to the smoked mirrored guard I use now from WD Pickguards. I'm real tempted to change it back to the Carmedon guard except I like my green and blue Jazz basses being "twins"
Another option, again WD, and not cheap, damn thing was basically a C note after adding shipping, black pearl. Comes in a 4 ply, black pearl, white, black, white, plus I opted for a shallower and wider bevel which on a 4 ply being so thick, it's good enough to use as a thumb rest too.
Another option, gold, I think gold would look good too, and you could get that from Carmedon. I can get two guards from Carmedon for the price of one from WD most of the time.
Last edited:
Tort is always out of the question
Have you given any thought to a mirrored guard, specifically a "smoked" mirror guard. Depending on the lighting and the angle, they go from a high gloss black look to a black mirrored look.
Notice the difference between the solo pics and the group pic.
View attachment 5451560 View attachment 5451561 View attachment 5451562
Guards are from WD, and not cheap. But the smoked mirror guards really shine on stage under the lights!
If you want cheap, but durable, and under 50 bucks, checkout Carmedon. They have 3D printed guards priced at 35 - 40, plus shipping. Based out of Jacksonville, FL. and are very quick and responsive. They even sent me a template so I could throw my own design on there and then email it back to them to produce a guard for me. Here's 6 pages of Jazz and P bass guards they offer, anything from wild to basic colors.
P-Bass/Jazz Bass Pickguards
Here's a guard a got from them a while back before eventually changing out to the smoked mirrored guard I use now from WD Pickguards. I'm real tempted to change it back to the Carmedon guard except I like my green and blue Jazz basses being "twins"
View attachment 5451569
Another option, again WD, and not cheap, damn thing was basically a C note after adding shipping, black pearl. Comes in a 4 ply, black pearl, white, black, white, plus I opted for a shallower and wider bevel which on a 4 ply being so thick, it's good enough to use as a thumb rest too.
View attachment 5451583
Another option, gold, I think gold would look good too, and you could get that from Carmedon. I can get two guards from Carmedon for the price of one from WD most of the time.
Hey, thanks for all the info!
Smoked mirror looks cool, not sure whether I play cool enough to justify it.
Having read all posts so far - thank you all! - I realize I don't really know what I like best. The bass as is, with the stock mint guard, looks good to me but looks somewhat bland. So I thought of 3-ply black, which on a white body with maple neck screams rock'n'roll. But myself being rather shy I'd perhaps find it a bit too much and would reinstall the mint guard.
Interestingly I find the other Pbass, also Olympic White, not dull at all with the 3-ply white guard.
The 3 ply black on a white body is classic, but so is the mint, can't really go wrong with either. Again, gold too, another classic. The beauty of pickguards is they're easy to swap around, and any easy way to personalize our basses.
Thank you, it's a Mesa / Markbass setup. Mesa D-800+, and of course the 4 Markbass cabs. It is definitely a thumper. And to think all four cabs and head don't weigh a whole lot more than the single Peavey 1820 (1x18,2x10 in a single cab) that I used to drag around with a Peavey Megabass 400 head for several years.Thanks again. By the way, nice Markbass rig of doom in your profile pic.
So these are four 8 Ohm cabs and the Mesa head can go down to 2 Ohm?
A couple of years ago I bought a Markbass 410HR cab and the thing sounds so deep, tight and crunchy. I can't imagine the pressure levels of a 2x210+2x15 rig... A thumper indeed!
yes the cabs are 8 ohm cabs, so all four at the same time are a 2 ohm load and the Mesa D-800+ is 2 ohm capable. It has a switch to run it in 8 ohm(400 watt) / 4 ohm(800 watt) or 2 ohm (800 watt) modes.
Well...Not that I have 60 bucks to burn but I've been considering replacing the stock mint color (3-ply, middle ply black, see pic below) pickguard of my Fender Am.Pro Pbass with a black one (Fender 3-ply, middle ply white). I like the bass as it is but a black pickguard would perhaps spice it up a bit. Or not. What do you think? No, tort is out of the question.
View attachment 5450628
Both of my P-Basses - a '78 Fender, and an '18 Warmoth Mini-Precision - have cream/black/cream pickguards; my '23 G&L Kiloton lined fretless will, too. If I ever get off my lazy butt and order one. The tort one it came with is... well, let's not go there.
However... all of mine are 3 tone burst finishes; I don't think cream/black/cream would look nearly as nice on yours, as they do on mine. The black/white/black pickguard? I think I'd go with that, if it were me...
I second this opinion. Anodized gold.I’m partial to gold anodized aluminum on cream and antique white PBs.
View attachment 5450728
This bass originally had a black 3-ply. But I didn’t think it worked that well with a yellowish white body.
Black. Maple neck, white body needs black pickguard. Every serious punk rocker knows this.
Well...
Both of my P-Basses - a '78 Fender, and an '18 Warmoth Mini-Precision - have cream/black/cream pickguards; my '23 G&L Kiloton lined fretless will, too. If I ever get off my lazy butt and order one. The tort one it came with is... well, let's not go there.
However... all of mine are 3 tone burst finishes; I don't think cream/black/cream would look nearly as nice on yours, as they do on mine. The black/white/black pickguard? I think I'd go with that, if it were me...
Yes, given that mine already sports a low impact pickguard (3-ply mint on olympic white), it would perhaps make more sense to go for a high impact combo, like 3-ply-black on oly white. And as @Datsgor aptly mentions, it would be oh so rock 'n' roll! And probably better suited to my current (and very unexpected, but that's a different story) post punk /goth infatuation. But would such stark color combo inhibit a future return to playing funk with this Pbass?
The white looks very nice too. Sort of Hendrixesque. Very clean.
Reinstalling the Ebony/Rosewood tug bar would make a nice contrast and it would give those screw holes something to do. If the bar didn't come with it, get one. I do know that fender would put the holes in but not the bar as some kind of groovy Road Worn appreciation thing but throwing a tugger in there would be a nice finishing touch to the face.
I saw a pickguard once that was sort of like an impressionistic painting of an autumn leaf motif that was kind of cool looking but I don't think I would go to that extreme.
I have a black MIK P-FSO bass with a white face 3 ply pick guard on it and I really do not like that contrast. But it's my emergency backup bass so it's not going to change.
Last edited:
Thanks. In case you are referring to my other Pbass in the picture, the one in the foreground with the white pickguard, this is a 2008 Am.Std. that came stock with tort guard, which was immediately replaced
with this white one. At the time I was not aware of all such intricacies, so I didn't order the exactly appropriate pickguard for this Pbass (namely without tug bar holes and with truss rod notch), so I had to carve out a notch and leave the extra holes unused. It's my favorite bass and like it as it is, not perfect but mine. And sort of hendrixesque, as you mention.The other Pbass, 2017 Am.Prof., is the one in question. Came stock with mint pickguard. I like it too but as mentioned above, another guard could perhaps spice it up a bit.
It certainly might; but I'm sure that a man of your perseverance and intestinal fortitude will manage it quite well...Yes, given that mine already sports a low impact pickguard (3-ply mint on olympic white), it would perhaps make more sense to go for a high impact combo, like 3-ply-black on oly white. And as @Datsgor aptly mentions, it would be oh so rock 'n' roll! And probably better suited to my current (and very unexpected, but that's a different story) post punk /goth infatuation. But would such stark color combo inhibit a future return to playing funk with this Pbass?
It certainly might; but I'm sure that a man of your perseverance and intestinal fortitude will manage it quite well...
The funk is unstoppable.
