Making a wood veneer pickguard? Please Help!

[gavinturner]

Hi guys,

I would really like to make a custom wood veneer pickguard for my next kit build. I have some wood veneer in mind, but it's 0.6mm. I assume that I should stick this onto some kind of base material. Can someone give me some hints as to what I might use? I have looked into aircraft plywood, but it is amazingly expensive and I can't justify a $60 sheet for a 20cm pickguard. I was wondering if I could stick the veneer to the plastic supplied pickguard, but that doesn't seem right either.

I know many out there have created their own amazing pickguards, so any advice greatly appreciated. Please help!!

Many thanks,
Gavin.

[stan]

what about marine ply? shouldn't cost as much.
Any other ply or flat sheet should work.
If you use a single timber piece run the grain in the opposite direction to your sheet - it helps stop warping.
Something like craftwood might work, but you would have to seal it so it didnt delaminate.

Dont know how you would go bonding it to plastic...

[lawry]

You could always take the cheaper option and use wood grain Laminex. Sorry, I'll go to the naughty corner now.

[DanMade]

I've made two timber pickgaurds so far. The first I used a sheet of Blackbean reconstituted veneer , 0.6mm. Because it's a reconstituted timber product it was cheaper, but it is also more stable. Because it was cheap enough I laminated 5 sheets together.

The second one I have just made for a Tele deluxe, I used some Birdseye maple vaneer, 0.6mm. Because it was a bit more expensive I opted to use some 3.0mm marine ply as backing. This also worked well. For this one I made a 12mm routing template. I also use the template to keep the timber pickgaurd screwed down so that it stays flat while you apply finish's and such.

Because it's a thin veneer it will tend to cup very easily. Keep it flat under some weight or screwed down flat while you are not working on it. Keep in mind when you apply a finish that if only applied to one side it will cup almost instantly, so it's best to finish both sides to help stop this.

It is really quite simple and can really set a guitar off.

I hope this helps, if you have any other questions, I will try to help.

[DanMade]

Here is some pics of the two.

[Brendan]

Gavin - what sort of wood were you thinking of? I've been toying with edge joining a couple of pieces of "maple headstock veneer" from China that you can pick up delivered for ~$8 for 3. They're all around 20cm long 8cm wide and 3mm deep. Also available in Sapele and Rosewood. Downside is that they're all 20cm long - no longer. Bass pickguards are at least 23 ... For about the $30 mark I've seen Zebrawood ukulele wood that's enough to "make a soprano ukulele" - never got around to getting dimensions, but they wouldn't be too thick or thin - to make a top / bottom of the Uke. Also will depend on your tools and woodworking skills - I'd considered edge joining as I know someone who can help - has done it before and has the tools.

[gavinturner]

@Dan: thanks for the info, this is exactly what Inwas hoping for. Just need to work out what 3mm backing material to use.
@Brendan: thanks for the heads up on the cheap veneer. I may do what you propose and stick a couple together.

Thanks to everyone who replied with helpful suggestions This community rocks!

Cheers,
Gavin.

[lawry]

Hey Dan. Those plates you made are stunning. And yes, I'm the one who did not offer a 'helpful' suggestion. Sorry Gav, couldn't help myself.

[gavinturner]

@Lawry: lol. damn man, i didn't mean it like *that* . *all* responses are very much appreciated. i'm very grateful to everyone who takes the time to post on any topic in these forums. no one is under any obligation to post anything, and yet everyone does. it's awesome.

cheers,
Gavin.