How to Remove an Acoustic Guitar Pickguard (Scratch Plate) and Install a Clear Pick Guard
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- Опубліковано 17 лют 2018
- I'm removing a self-stick tortoise pickguard (cheap) from my 2013 Martin 000-28vs acoustic guitar and replacing it with a clear pickguard (scratch plate) using a Frank Ford technique.
To remove the pickguard, I use a hairdryer, some naphtha, and some patience.
To install the clear pickguard, I'm using the Frank Ford technique where I put a bit of water/soap solution on the guitar top and then lay the pickguard into it and squeeze out the bubbles. It works like a charm!
Frank Ford Clear Pickguard Installation: www.frets.com/FretsPages/Luthi...
Frank Ford Self-stick Pickguard Removal:
www.frets.com/FretsPages/Luthi...
Many thanks for posting (thanks also to Frank Ford) this video. Wish I'd have watched it before I attempted to fit a clear pick guard i made for my parlour guitar - result, "mottled" effect, a mixture of transparent and white, where trapped air bubbles made the pick guard opaque. The trick, now i know is the use of water/detergent!! Back to the scissors and the 3M sheet.....many thanks again :-)
You sir are bold. I’m not sure I’d have the guts to do that to any of my guitars. I kept thinking any minute the wood was going to rip off! Thanks for this.
The video is sped up so it looks dangerous. But it took quite a while and I went slow with minimal heat and no pulling.
Heat it. DO NOT USE ANYTHING METAL like a filler gauge to scrap it. To start the pick guard use a thin credit card. Once it's started you can just grab it heat it as you pull it up. Decals on cars paint the same way. You can use a razor blade to scrape glass.
It does if you are not careful. The temperature matters, but so does the speed of the peel, if in doubt go ver slowly. Also the type of finish of the guitar, you really need to know what it is finished with. UV cured lacquers are fairly bombproof, but nitrocellulose and shellac based polish or varnish are not
Thanks alot mate been wanting to do this for a while but didnt have the courage to do it because i was scared off damaging the guitar but now ive seen this im concidoring buying a new pickguard
Thank you, 897 657!
Nice job...I might be picky, but I hate scratching up my pick guard..I know it really doesn't matter, the less scratches means I don't play much..thanks for the video..Martin all the way!
Thank you, DS 2324!
Coconut oil gets the residue off as well as other things like stickers on computers or other metal surfaces and such and is great for the wood! I wood not use anything else besides it. Just rub it with a cloth and watch it come right off like magic. I clean my guitar with water in a mixed solution of Dr. Bronners Castile soap then oil it from head to toe with olive oil with other essential oils dilluted for a nice scent. I love cedar oil with sage and vetiver. I oil all parts including the bridge, the slots on the nut and saddle, the bridge pins, fretboard, top, sides, back of neck, and headstock. Then follow it up with a thorough rub down with a clean cloth and be sure to get the fretboard especially good so you don't have residue that will dirty up your strings. It makes it play like a million bucks and slide so nice. Not to mention your wood just pops and shines showing all the wood grain beauties it has to offer on display. Try it out!
Thank you, Micaiah!
1. This is very informative.
2. One surely needs a lot of patience.
3. The protective film could have been removed later.
Cheers.
Note to self. Never use a feeler gauge to start lifting a pickguard. Great video though.
that's a great idea with the tape as a hinge.
Keith R It is Dan Erlewine’s technology. :)
Great video, thank you!
Thanks Yetti!
How About A Wood Pick Guard Is It The Same Process Cause It’s More Stiff?
I have removed the pickguard from my acoustic guitar without using a hair dryer. Maybe some pickguards are more difficult to remove with just a chisel, scalpel or similar tools, but mine came off without any problems. I carefully lifted the edge with a scalpel and a flathead screwdriver and literally peeled it off. All in all it took me about 30 seconds! Maybe this helps someone...
Thanks, Bojan Tomić, for the excellent information!
Always wanted to do this to my Sapele Washburn. The pickguard is so distracting., looks like a bloch on the guitar.
Great video! My satin finished guitar has never had a pickguard on it, so will I need to clean it before I put a new one on it? If so with what?
I would just wipe with a damp cloth.
@@InkquiringMinds thats what I was thinking as well thanks.
Thank you!
You're welcome!
I want to remove a pickguard on my new Sigma J200 copy (that's a big pickguard) and have seen a lot of videos on YT, where everyone uses a hair dryer. However, I have read on a forum somewhere that the heat from a hair dryer can damage the bracing, which will not be noticeable immidiately and to never apply heat, but do it very patiently with just naphtha. So, can the heat from a hair dryer loosen the bracing inside? Thanks!
Yes. If the bracing is glued with hide glue, the glue can melt easily. That’s why you go slow and low heat. You don’t pull, you lift gently. In the video, I did the lift using time lapse so it looks faster than it was.
@@InkquiringMinds First of all, thanks for the very quick response! Secondly, very nice guitar and the clear pickguard looks amazing!
I ordered a black pickguard sticker with yellowish J200 ornaments to put on the existing pickguard, so I'll first see how that works. The only reason I want the pickguard off is that I don't like the reddish tortoise look on a tobacco sunburst finish. If the sticker looks cheap & crappy, I'll remove the pickguard altogether using your technique. Thanks again!
Thanks!
You bet!
It is not always so easy to buy a clear pick guard, or even the self-adhesive sheet material to make one. You want one made of polyester (PET), since it is clear and tough - relatively scratch-proof. Unfortunately, many vendors do not tell you want their pick guards are made of and there are a lot of cheap 'clear' poly(alkathene) guards around that are not clear. They are turbid, or somewhat milky, and they look awful. They are also soft and hence scratch or plough very easily - just raking your nails across one lightly will mark it. They are rubbish in my view, but seem to the more common offerings online than 'real' ones.
The other thing to watch out for is being sold a very old or badly stored guard - the 3M adhesive can become less plastic on storage to the point where it fails to produce a clear adhesive film - if it looks patchy when you peel back the paper you might find that you have problems, although warming the pick guard first might help. You can always peel the thing off it not satisfied though.
Excellent video, by the way, even if the higher fuel hairdryer combo makes me very nervous - I would use higher boiling white spirit myself.
Great video , is the Ronsonal oil or lighter fuel ? Because I can’t find the oil anywhere ?
It is lighter fuel.
Zippo bought Ronsonal in 2010 and changed the formula so that it no longer contains naphtha. You can try Home Depot, Walmart or Lowes Hardware and get VM&P Naphtha in the paint departments
@@OurBackwoodsHomestead use Goo Gone as it’s much safer and it is lemon based. You can get it Amazon 👍😊
May I ask where did you get the transparent pickguard material ? Nice job
I purchased the clear plastic pickguard at my local Long & McQuade here in Canada.
Great video, got 2 questions :
1 Should I losen the tension in the strings when removing the old pick guard?
2 Does zippo lighter fluid work for cleaning?
Thank you in advance for your help! Keep up the good work😁
Yes and yes. Yes, you should remove the strings (just take them out of the bridge and use a capo to clamp them to the fretboard) to get them clear of your work area. And yes, zippo lighter fluid is naphtha and works brilliantly for cleaning. No smoking!
Is it just a question of having a clear work area or is there a risk of damaging the guitar if I leave the strings on? I've just installed new cords and I'd prefer leaving them on if there is no actual risk 😁
It is a question of string clearance. The pick guard sits under the strings and when you stick the guard down you can’t move it. So getting it placed properly requires full access to the surface. I use the tape hinge technique which also requires full clearance. You don’t have to take the strings all the way off. Put a capo on fret two and loosen the strings, pull them from the bridge and move them aside.
@@InkquiringMinds
Thank you for your rapid response! 😁 Have a great day!
Thanks again Mr.Douglas.......have never taught of that...back then till now ..probably it's been 30 yrs I would use thinner kerosene water so on so on. Guess I have spoiled many guitars ...😚🙁. By the way ....can you give us ideas if we the bridge starts to distance from the body ..it happens to many acoustic that I have those years......Grand Suzuki Horugel etc etc. ..anyway great video...greatly appreciated...Oo ya we're you on a full red attire like Un.Sam? In just seconds? That was a great looking moment.....!🤠🌎🌏🌍
Not Uncle Sam - Canada eh?! As to the bridge; are you saying the bridge is lifting from the surface of the top or that the strings get higher off the fretboard?
Oo you need not reply my question....so kind of you...since you did....Is wooden bridge next to the sound hole..is call a bridge also ? Many 🎸 when not play for sometime n the strings not loosen it warps a little away from the body....1mm e.g ..have
Not done it alone but the guitar shop usually reglue it pretty well...Just wondering....maybe is the luthier expertise Is o.k ..if it is hard to explain.
Ooo...I'm sorry guess i loss my memory's....the bridge should be call the saddle ..am I right....
Yes. So. As I understand your question, guitars move with temperature, humidity and string tension. That happens seasonally. That is what the truss rod is for. I’d the guitar gets dry in the winter, a little tweak on the truss rod to tighten, will counteract that. Same with higher humidity and loosening the truss rod. Over time, a guitar neck bends in because of the constant tension. That’s when you start lowering the saddle ( white piece in the bridge). When there is little saddle left, the neck needs to be reset.
Apologies if I missed it in the video but what's the point of the water/soap solution before applying the guard and is it absolutely necessary to do it? Thanks for posting.
The soapy water is a surfactant that breaks up air bubbles and allows the pick guard to lay flat.
@@InkquiringMinds Good to know. Thanks again!
Does this work on a nitrocellulose finished guitar.
The Martin 00028vs IS a nitro guitar.
@@InkquiringMinds thank you. It worked nicely.
1000 times better
'Liked' this vid cos you put an El Cheap-O pickguard on a $5000 guitar! 😂👌
Clear plexi is clear plexi. Nothing fancy about that. And I get to see the Martin the way Martin intended. Plus, there wont' be any tan lines if I remove it! :)
@@InkquiringMinds it's a beautiful guitar and an excellent video! 😊
I have a 200 dollar brand new guitar and I’m scared to do it. Let alone on a 000 Martin. I’m just going to pay someone to do it. No idea why I’m just scared to mess up.
It is easy. You can do it yourself especially with the naptha to remove the glue. The glue removal without the lighter fluid is a bitch on your fingers and can take 4-ever. Not to mention the blisters you can develope. Nothing a guitar player wants are flippin blisters like that. Peace, M.A.
Never use anything that's metal to start to take it off or take it off. Heat it, use a credit card same way with a decal on a car.
A beautiful Guitar like that and you are using a metal filler gauge. And I thought I was crazy. 🤔😳😳😳😳
Nuda è più bella!
Thank you, Matteo Artuso!
Great way to ruin the top of a nice Martin is apply heat to it.
The video was sped up. That was on low heat and took a LONG time. No damage.
@@InkquiringMinds You are putting heat to one place on the wood. NOT good
Simple procedure, what's the big deal ?
Woo hoo I removed my pickguarts on my $7k guitar and used Goo Gone to remove sticky residue . Thanks So Much❤️
That is awesome!