I could use some help with making a p...

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Author Message   Cmangeot Username: Cmangeot Registered: 4-2005 Posted on Wednesday, August 01, 2007 - 10:15 pm:    So, NO ONE can make a replacement for my GB20, which is lacking one, for less than 200 bucks... I am planning on making one myself. Does anyone know what thickness tortoise material I need?? I am going to buy a sheet, and maybe some wood binding....maybe plastic. Has anyone ever made one??   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2007 - 3:53 am:    What? $200.-? Try www.pickguardheaven.com In the most expensive material available, you pay $45.- They have a template for the GB20. It is on their list. But the laminated tortoise I see pictured is more for a Fender I think. I would contact them for the possibilities. But I think $45.- is a good price, considering that the smallest quantity of laminated tortoise material at stewmac is already $33.45 So you pay $11.55 for cutting it into the right shape (at THEIR risk). If you make a mistake, you will have to order new material: $66.90 And then we haven't talked about the tools yet. What you actually need is a ONE layer thick tortoise/tshell or whatever they call it. The old ones on many vintage jazzboxes were some sort of celluloid and their gas can harm your hardware. So you should communicate about this aspect before you order. And then the binding... A binding laminator costs $19.94 Plastic binding materials less then $5.- per 65" per colour. You do the math... Ginger   Cmangeot Username: Cmangeot Registered: 4-2005 Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2007 - 8:15 am:    I already tried that place. I sent them the exact tracing that i received from Bjorn, and they said that it is twice the size of the GB20 tooling that they have. So logic would dictate that they are mistakenly calling the GB30 pickguard GB20. Either way, without the original, which I do not have, they will not create a tooling, or a pickguard. Plus I really don't think that I would be satisfied without the binding on the guard. So I am still looking for the best route....   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2007 - 11:32 am:    Hmm... So, Bjorn has a GB20. He could do what I did: take the pickguard off, lay it on the flatbed scanner next to a ruler with inches and centimetres and than scan the •••• thing like a photo. Then e-mail the JPEG to Pickguard Heaven. Did you talk with them about the binding and the tortoise material? What did they say about that? Are they able to make a good bound L-5CES pickguard for instance? Or do they want easy jobs only? From whom came the $200.- story? Ginger   Jazznote Username: Jazznote Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2007 - 11:47 am:    Ginger, how do you call the highly transparent material they use for the original L5's pickguard?   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2007 - 12:06 pm:    Whoever said that is now going to loose customers. Grr rip-off... 'cause when I really start googleing, I always find something better: http://www.pickguardian.com/pickguardian/Archtop.h tml And look at the article number in Stewmac's guide http://www.stewmac.com/tradesecrets/bridge_body/ac oustic/ts44pkgbinding/pkgdbinding01.html It says: "Our new #1045 .120" (3.06mm) thick imitation tortoise plastic pickguard material is perfect for mandolin and archtop guitar pickguards, or for any work requiring a thick, stable, tortoise material. It's a 3-ply laminate with tortoise in the center, and .020" clear rigid acrylic on each surface. As Don MacRostie, StewMac's resident expert on mandolin building explains, this tortoise plastic has two new advantages: The lamination keeps it from warping (a common ailment with celluloid pickguards). The glue line between the tortoise and the celluloid binding doesn't shrink back after the pickguard is scraped, sanded, and buffed to a high gloss. (When celluloid binding is glued to celluloid tortoise, the glue line shrinks after buffing and leaves a visible "sink" between the two plastics -- even after the joint has dried for many, many weeks. The acrylic doesn't react this way. So, because the acrylic is on the outer surfaces, "glue line sink" is eliminated, and can be buffed within days." So, two possibilities that are less expensive and good, I think. There is one web address, which I can't reach, because their server is down or something. Just through the Google cache I can see something, but no pics: http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:NLfsk3RNiIIJ: www.terrapinguitars.com/+tortoise+celluloid+pickgu ard&hl=nl&ct=clnk&cd=8&gl=nl&client=firefox-a So, pick what you think is best. Ginger   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2007 - 12:19 pm:    Hmm... Size A (ES-33http://www.ibanezcollectors.com/discus/messages/16 /1001625.html?1186070769# Create a hyperlink5 is mentioned), tortoise celluloid: $35.- http://www.terrapinguitars.com/maindocs/prices.htm That's good isn't it? Oh, they charge $10.- template fee, so we're back on $45.- then, without the binding. Now, if you do the binding yourself, you need the tool, which is $19.94 and you need to buy binding material for about $10.- so we're talking about $75.- + double shipping expenses (because you'd have two suppliers then) + your time... You could ask what they charge for a binding... And then you do the maths. Ginger   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2007 - 1:10 pm:    Ouch, that's messy... Bloody Firefox... Ginger   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2007 - 1:13 pm:    Oh, Jazzbo, I googled for "tortoise celluloid pickguard" Ginger   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2007 - 1:18 pm:    So, we need the transparency of the good old celluloid, but WITHOUT the deterioration and gassing, which causes our hardware to corrode. So read carefully, WHAT you order, and COMMUNICATE about these aspects. Ginger   Cmangeot Username: Cmangeot Registered: 4-2005 Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2007 - 1:35 pm:    #1045 tortoise sheeting is apparently no longer in the Stew Mac catalog. #1049 is laminated... Ugly if you ask me. Is .120 the standard thickness I should be lookin for??   Cmangeot Username: Cmangeot Registered: 4-2005 Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2007 - 1:36 pm:    WD Music charges the high amounts for their pickguards. Super Pricey.   Cmangeot Username: Cmangeot Registered: 4-2005 Posted on Friday, August 03, 2007 - 8:31 am:    Pickguardian wants $185-205.00 for a replacement.... SHEESH this is gettin out of hand.   Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 5-2006 Posted on Friday, August 03, 2007 - 3:13 pm:    Did you ask for that NEW MATERIAL, which would be BETTER and CHEAPER? They write: "Have you seen the prices being charged for bound custom archtop pickguards? $150, $200 and even $250 and up! Why? Solid 1/8" Nitro-celluloid plastic is extremely expensive and the process is very labor intensive. Pickguardian has come up with new material that laminates thinner sheets of real nitro-celluloid plastic tortoise material to an inner sheet of clear acrylic. The result is stunning! This material is semi-transparent, like solid tortoise, and has real dimension to it. Plus, the stable middle acrylic layer eliminates the usual problem of shrinking. Our guards are hand-cut, bound and polished one at a time, which is still fairly labor-intensive, but with a lower material cost, Pickguardian can offer custom bound archtop pickguards for as little as $100. Of course, standard Solid 1/8" Nitro-Celluloid Tortoise and other materials are available. Deluxe bound guards are available for most solidbody instruments as well." So, if you order the NEW LAMINATED MATERIAL, as described, you save about $85-105 and you don't have all these issues of the solid celluloid. And talking about celluloid gas, a small experiment: take an old dented ping-pong ball, put it in a cup of water, set your microwave on just a little more than defrost (40% power or so) and then heat it up just little by little until the dents have disappeared... Now smell your ping-pong ball... You don't want that in your guitar case, do you? Ginger

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