Making your own pickguard?

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I am looking for a black pickguard for my Squier 51 but they are so hard to come by...

How easy is it to make your own guard from a blank given that I already have the template? What tools are required and do you have any tips?  I got the basic DIYer tools  ;)
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  • CasperCasterCasperCaster Frets: 760
    edited November 2018
    By template I assume you mean your existing plastic pickguard? And I assume you want a professional outcome? In all honesty I'd contact someone like Jack's Instrument Services in Manchester to get one made - not too expensive once the cost of materials is taken into consideration. My rational is that to make a decent job you will first need a proper template in harder material like ply or MDF. A professional would use an overarm or pin router to copy the existing plastic pickguard into the harder material, then use that ply or MDF template to rout the pickguard, including bevelled edges etc. It's possible to make an effective template by hand, but it's time consuming, and you'll still need a router to create the final product. If you only have a handheld router then you might want to configure it as a table router, or alternatively you will need to find some way to support the router on both sides when using your ply/MDF template - a pickguard template isn't likely to be big enough to support a handheld router in a safe or stable manner, so you need to prepare a jig to do that. It's all just a lot of work if you don't have the right equipment, which I'd consider to be a pin router and table router as a minimum.
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  • Thanks for the knowledge @CasperCaster sounds lime an effort!
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  • CorvusCorvus Frets: 2924
    tFB Trader

    It's slow and very, very dull without a router, but manageable. Depending what yr making it from but for similar I've lightly sprayed white paint and scored onto that to give outlines, marked drill holes with a pointer. The white will wipe off easily later with celly - with ABS & similar - some materials won't like it.
    Cut somewhere outside the line. Get a bit closer with a bench grinder or disc sander. Then to the line with files, sandpaper, blades.
    Bevel with Stanley blade or scalpel, polish edges.
    Drill & countersink.

    Pickup cutouts are the hardest to get neat esp single coils where anything slightly off, looks really off.
    If you've got a router I'd use that every time.

    TLDR - Jacks or similar is a load less faff..

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  • Brilliant service and simple process,,


    My trading feedback

    is it crazy how saying sentences backwards creates backwards sentences saying how crazy it is?

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  • Cheers guys. It does sound lime a lot of pfaff without the right tools I'll check out the suggestions above :+1: 
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  • longjawlongjaw Frets: 420
    @lovestrat74 ; I thought 'lime' was a typo but you've used it in 2 posts - am I missing something?
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  • 545454545454 Frets: 184
    I tried once with a Dremel - it didn't go very well! If I need another one, I'll be going to one of the guys mentioned above. 
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  • longjaw said:
    @lovestrat74 ; I thought 'lime' was a typo but you've used it in 2 posts - am I missing something?
    No I am just a shit tpyer :D lime = like  ;)

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  • TJT1979TJT1979 Frets: 181
    I second what Billkat said.... with basic tools and patience you can get a professional-looking job. It takes a bit of time though.
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