Inlaid scratch plate?

[ScoopD]

Hey guys, has anyone ever routed the 2 mm deep shape of a scratch plate on a solid body guitar so that the scratch plate could be installed flush with the surface of the body, giving an inlaid kind of effect?

I don't own a router and I am not thinking of doing this with my current build, but a mate at work has said I can borrow his router and I was wondering what I could do with it. I would think that this would be quite tricky as you would end up with the router without two sides to sit on.

Anyway - just dreaming about guitar mods. I'm sure none of you have ever done that ;)

[wokkaboy]

Hey Scoop, I've never recessed the pickguard but thought about it. Would look great. I've recessed the tremelo cover behind with a dremel and small router bit.
You would need to make a template and a very shallow pattern following router bit that will run the bearing on the template and only cut about 2mm deep, ask your mate if he has one of these bits would have to be a cutting edge max 10mm long and then you would need say 15mm marine ply would have enough of an edge for the bearing to run on.
You could do it without a template but risk messing it right up.
The trem cover plate was easy as it's mainly straight edges. The pickguard would be a challenge but look very cool.

[pablopepper]

It's a great idea. I've seen it done and it looks fantastic. So clean.

[pablopepper]

With a pearloid guard, it looks like inlay. Which it is, technically. I guess.

[robin]

Hi Scoop, not exactly what you were planning but I wanted my pickguard to sit flat on my JR-DC so I had to countersink it at the crown of the arch-top.

I just used the guard as a template and chiseled and carved it all out by hand until it was sitting flat.

rob

[ScoopD]

Thanks guys - that is definitely on my future plan list now.

Rob - that must have taken ages but the result speaks for itself. Fantastic and quite unique.

[wokkaboy]

Scoop you will definitely need to recess a strat pickguard with a router and template, there are some narrow points where a chisel would be too hard. Best remove the hardware from the pickguard and trace the shape onto some marine ply and cut out the shape

[tcjbrown]

If you were worried about not having anywhere for the router to sit while routing a larger template like the pickguard you could possibly get a large rectangular (or square) piece of thick (12 - 18mm) plywood wider than the template that you wish to use. Mark the centre, make a hole for the router bit and attach it using screws through the holes in the base meant for mounting to a router table.
This essentially makes a larger router base that allows you to safely work with large templates, as long as the plywood is wider than the template, you have two sides for the router base to sit on.

[pablopepper]

I do this with 6mm clear acrylic. Then you can see what you're doing.

[tcjbrown]

I do this with 6mm clear acrylic. Then you can see what you're doing.

Far better idea than plywood, what's your preferred method to attach the router base to the template?

[pablopepper]

Countersunk machine screws.

[tcjbrown]

Countersunk machine screws.

Great, will give that a try.
Thanks.