Hi, I have a black MIA P-Bass and I'd light to paint the pick guard black instead of the stock white. Has anyone done this? What are the steps? Which paint did you use?
Just order a new Pickguard. They're only $18. New P-Bass Pickguards Spray paint it, and it'll look like someone spray painted it. Not very Professional. Lower's it's value too.
i would suggest just getting a new pickguard as well if it's readily available, but i have spray painted a pickguard before with good results. it was a bullet bass which wasn't worth the cost and trouble of a custom pickguard. just tape the edges carefully if you want to preserve the layering, spray evenly (watch the spurts) and generously and let dry flat in a room with little dust. you might have to lightly sand the edges clean once it dries. let it dry COMPLETELY. this may mean over a week. i started playing the bass when i thought it was dry and got deep scratches. it takes awhile to really harden.
You'd have to seal whatever you do with some kinda pro-grade poly finish to be successful, IMO. Years ago I decorated the white pickguard on my Jazz bass with a trippy pattern, done with a permanent marker. I tried to protect that with the best clear stuff I could find in a can (Krylon something-or-other, don't honestly remember). Anyway, wasn't long before I had worn through both the clear cover and the "permanent" marker on the parts that my fingers regular came in contact with. Mind you, it has that cool, well-used look, a la Jaco's bass (I wish I had a digital camera to post a pic, dang it!), but it certainly didn't hold up to fingers and fingernails for any length of time...
You can put one of the Warmoth pickguards on your MM, if you like it. A search gave me 10 titles about this same topic. Here are three! http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=96442&highlight=Painting+pickguard http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=96083&highlight=Painting+pickguard http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=96083&highlight=Painting+pickguard Treena
Try these. http://www.fretland.com/reppic.html http://www.megaguitars.com/guitar_pickguards/guitar_pickguards.htm http://www.gui****en.com/parts/fender2.html http://www.gui****en.com/parts/IMAGES/fender/Pick%20Guards/pickguards2.jpg Treena
I have a jazz bass with precission pickups, so the pickguard is custom-made. what kind of pickguard could I use if I don't like the one I have? I was thinking about painting mine cause I don't like the white-pearl finish.
Paint just doesn't want to stay on pickguards, for some reason. Warmoth makes blank pickguard material, you can order one of these and cut it to fit. http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Pckgrd/PGmatl.htm http://www.usacustomguitars.com/usacg/pickguards.html Treena
Dont bother, just use a nice plastic and cut to fit. We found a nice two-ply piece, black on one side and white on the other at B&Q (Think Home Depot)
I have a cheap strat that I painted the pickguard on. I took it off, washed if off nice. Then I took some fine sandpaper and roughed it up to prep it for spraying. I used normal orange auto paint and it worked fine, haven't had any chips on it so far and it's been this way for a year and a half.
if you're handy, the other option is contact paper. put it on and trim with x-acto knife. if you have bubbles, just prick with pin and flatten. not as permanent, but OTOH, not as permanent.
