Adjusting pickguard humbucker routing?

Alun

Hey all, apologies if a dumb or frequently-asked question, did a quick search and been struggling to find many opinions on this.

So, I've got a Fender Play Strat HSS and I'm looking to upgrade the humbucker. The pickguard I've got is routed for an uncovered humbucker and ideally I'd like to replace it with a covered humbucker, which is of course a more squared-off shape. So I'm wondering whether my local tech should be able to take out a bit of extra plastic from the corners on my existing pickguard to accommodate, or whether I'm going to have to get a completely new one. I know it sounds trivial, but I really like the tortoiseshell colouring on my current pickguard and am worried that I won't like the replacement as much if I go down that route. First world problems eh?

Of course, the other option is that I just get an uncovered pickup, but I thought I'd just see if anyone had been down this road before just in case.

WezV

It should only take a few swipes with an appropriately sized file to open then up

paulnb57

WezV said:

It should only take a few swipes with an appropriately sized file to open then up

This, its pretty easy to square the corners with a file

Alun

Ah good to know, thanks both.

BillDL

Use a fairly fine file and use downstrokes from the upper side, or else you can get chip-outs.  Alternatively, sandpaper wrapped around a piece of wood with the sharp corners rounded over will work.

Funkfingers

Finish the cut-out corners with a narrow round file. The result will more closely resemble cutting by a rotary bit. 90° corners are a dead giveaway of an amateur filing job.