'Tis a fair question. I left them empty for two reasons, both of which came immediately after I put a bunch of black pickguard screws into the holes.
- They stick up above the surface of the body. Fender-style pickguard screws aren't topped at a flat level, rather they have a bit of a dome shape. Having them sticking up above the surface is practically begging for gouged fingertips, something that my career (full-time massage & neuromuscular therapist) frowns upon. I mean, who wants a massage from someone with chewed up and hemorrhaging fingers?!
- Tighten them down too much and they crack the finish. I tried to sink them further down in an attempt to make them more flush with the body, but all I got was a bunch of screws still sticking up and a chip off the finish for my troubles.
If you look carefully at the hole along the bottom edge, the second one right of the control plate, you'll see what looks like a larger than normal hole. In fact, it's a piece of finish that flaked off when I tightened a screw down too far. I just blackened it out with the same Sharpie marker I used to dye the visible wood.
Pickguard screws are meant to hold down a wide sheet of plastic which spreads out the downward force. Also, they're thick enough to let the screws mostly/entirely submerge below it's surface. One would have to be riding very high in it's hole to run the risk of biting into one's finger.
