In one of my earlier posts, I mentioned that I was looking for an "aged" pickguard for my '62 vintage Strat. I have a newer replacement guard but it doesn't match the vintage look of my guitar. Does Fender (or anyone else) sell aged "yellowed" pickguards? The vintage ones on eBay are ridiculous - upwards of $3000, and some of the "homemade" jobs look like crap! If not, is there a way to relic a pickguard to give it a "yellowish" aged tint?
Can you buy a Fender "relic" pickguard?
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Oct 4, 2008 11:11 a.m. audiodrome:
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Oct 4, 2008 11:24 a.m. wenzel:
You can age it yourself with a plastic bag and some coffee grounds and tea bags. Then if you want the guard to not be as shiny new you can suff it up a bit. I've heard of people using motor oil too to darken the vinyl guards. Good luck.
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Oct 4, 2008 11:27 a.m. JBGretschguy:
Brown KIWI paste shoe polish is a trade secret among the "pro" relic guys.
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Oct 4, 2008 11:34 a.m. audiodrome:
I just came across this website:
Anyone ever dealt with these guys? The price seems ridculously cheap, so I wonder what the quality is like, and I wonder why they call it aged green instead of aged yellow?
As for the shoe polish thing, I just take a rag and rub a little on the guard and it will "yellow" it a bit? Have your ever tried it yourself?
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Oct 4, 2008 11:51 a.m. dubkitty:
a lot of people on this forum like the GFS pickups; i ordered a loaded pearloid pickguard from them, and the pickguard was not equal in quality to a Fender guard. specifically, it was thinner and had fewer layers than a Fender guard.
"aged green" is precisely that, a pale yellowish green that is intended to mimic aged pickguard material but which IMO is usually a shade or two too dark.
have you tried asking the Fender Custom Shop people if you can get one from them? beyond that, perhaps one of the luthiers who specialize in reliced Fender clones like the Nash guitars can help. for a vintage instrument like yours, i'd want to get the most realistic rendition i could.
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Oct 4, 2008 12:08 p.m. Walter Broes:
"I wonder why they call it aged green instead of aged yellow? "
Early 60's Fender guards had a green-ish (not yellow) tint to them even when new, and were made out of celluloid. White vinyl guards came in around '65. I'd look for a nice greenish white celluloid guard for my strat if I were you, and let time take care of the rest. It might cost you a little more, but it's going to look (and age) so much better than a white plastic guard with some shoepolish or other crap on it.
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Oct 4, 2008 1:42 p.m. audiodrome:
I found a website called GR Guitars that have really authentic looking aged Fender pickguards (they also sell sets with knobs and pickup covers). They have an aged white '62 pickguard (top) and an aged mint green '62 pickguard (bottom).
So for my '62 vintage reissue Strat, do you think the aged mint green pickguard would be more vintage-correct? Now, would I need to buy the macthing pickguard shield or could I just use the one that's one my guitar now?
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Oct 7, 2008 4:24 p.m. Chonny:
Yeah the green ones came on the early 60s. If you buy an American Vintage '62 Strat (or whatever it is) it will actually come with a green pickguard. The '57 RI comes with a single ply white pickguard. I think the late 60s is when they went to the 3 ply white/black/white.
I'm sure Fender makes replacement parts for their Custom shop instruments, they might have a better match. Just call or email.
There was this site that sells nothing but relic'd bodies and necks for strats and teles, they also sell relics of every other part or you can order a whole guitar. This is the site I would try to find, wish i could remember the name
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Oct 7, 2008 6:14 p.m. Wishinfora(nother)Falcon:
If it were me, I would spray it with "rattle can" laquer and leave it out in the sun for a while.
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Oct 7, 2008 6:44 p.m. Pappy:
Careful not to leave it out for too long though, if you do do that.
My tele's pickguard started bowing after a bit.
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Oct 7, 2008 6:45 p.m. Pappy:
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Oct 8, 2008 2:54 a.m. Shuggie101:
Is it a real '62 audiodrome or a reissue? If it's original you should be looking for a celluloid nitrate guard if you want original spec. A guy I know in the UK can make you a relic nitrate guard, but they do cost a bit more than the plastic ones. PM me if you're interested.
If you're happy with a relic plastic guard, I believe JM Rolph makes them in the US. Alternatively I've seen some great looking ones from Fatboy Guitars.
