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Thread: Best Strat Repro guards?

  1. #1
    Forum Member sticko's Avatar
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    Best Strat Repro guards?

    Where's the best place to get plastic for a Strat? I did a search, but seems like a lot of places have closed up shop, etc.

    I've decided the sort of "light khaki" color of the guard on my 2005 CS 1956 is too much for me to deal with. Looking to get a true white guard. Doesn't really need to be super aged.

    What say ye?

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    Re: Best Strat Repro guards?

    Chandler? Are they still around?
    There are some guys out there that will sell you real nitro stuff for a lot of $$$. The material is from Italy & the layers are a little bit different from originals

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    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: Best Strat Repro guards?

    Quote Originally Posted by Cogs View Post
    Chandler? Are they still around?
    They are!

    http://pickguards.us/

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    Re: Best Strat Repro guards?

    Then I'd look there first. They can be kind of testy to deal with but if you know what you want it shouldn't be too bad

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    Re: Best Strat Repro guards?

    You want a plain white Strat pickguard and can't find one? Seriously?

    Fender, Warmoth, All-Parts, blah blah etc.

    BTW, they were never made of nitrocellulose. They were made of celluloid, a fire-prone material that is still available if you like a pickguard that shrinks, discolors and cracks over time.

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    Re: Best Strat Repro guards?

    Quote Originally Posted by Gravity Jim View Post
    BTW, they were never made of nitrocellulose. They were made of celluloid, a fire-prone material that is still available if you like a pickguard that shrinks, discolors and cracks over time.
    I'm lining up for mine right now!

    Seriously, you can't be blinded by "old is better than new." I'm with you: I'll take the contemporary pickguards.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

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    Re: Best Strat Repro guards?

    Regardless of what they are/were made of they've been identifed as "nitro" guards for decades. Everybody knows what that means

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    Re: Best Strat Repro guards?

    & yes, I like the material that shrinks, discolors, & cracks over time.

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    Re: Best Strat Repro guards?

    Quote Originally Posted by Cogs View Post
    Regardless of what they are/were made of they've been identifed as "nitro" guards for decades. Everybody knows what that means
    Yes, more guitar dumb. Like calling tremolo "vibrato" and calling a vibrate arm a "trem." I've been playing for 50 year and don't know that "nitro" means "something that should not chemically be referred to as nitro."

    But I suppose that's because I think "vintage" is a supremely stupid concept and I don't give a shit what a pickguard is made out of. You want a white one? They're all the same. Who the fuck wold want a flammable material that slowly falls apart? Do ya think that makes you closer to being a rock star or something?

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    Re: Best Strat Repro guards?

    It would be nice if you went back to being "Silent J"

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    Re: Best Strat Repro guards?

    Shiza. Sorry I asked.

    I come from the land of the LPF where folks obsess over M69 rings and such. Lots of talk about plastic. Just wondering what was cool out there, and came over here to try and find out.

    It's all good. I got a guard from Crazyparts. Like I said, I didn't like the color of the guard on my CS Strat. I found it odd that the CS would put a discolored guard on a 56 reissue, as I've never seen a single ply guard from the 50s that wasn't white. This pickguard was beyond parchment, turning to beige. Turns out it had discolored over time to look like that. Took off the knobs and lo and behold, white circles. For whatever reason, the knobs and pickup covers never changed color. Still white.

    Anyway, glad not to be looking at that weird colored guard anymore, had a chance to throw in a 5 way switch while I was doing the change and had a fun little project to do here at the house.

  12. #12
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    Re: Best Strat Repro guards?

    Different sunlight, but...

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    Re: Best Strat Repro guards?

    Nice! Much better than the parchment, imo. Without thinking I mentioned the nitro guard, forgetting the pre-rosewood fingerboard Strats would have single ply white (with some transitional overlaps).
    That is one of those cosmetic features that I can do without knowing because as soon as it is pointed out I can't unsee it! lol Thankfully, Leo designed & built these things to be modular & easily serviced, repaired, & customized.
    Do you know what pickups come in this model?

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    Re: Best Strat Repro guards?

    Quote Originally Posted by Cogs View Post
    Do you know what pickups come in this model?
    Not sure, exactly. Whatever the Custom Shop was putting in '56 Relics in 2005.

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    Re: Best Strat Repro guards?

    I really like the Custom '54 sets & have them in all my Strat & Strat type guitars. Very chimey & bell-like.

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    Re: Best Strat Repro guards?

    I like that pickguard. Keep a white one on my own sunburst.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

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    Re: Best Strat Repro guards?

    That looks great!

  18. #18
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    Re: Best Strat Repro guards?

    Quote Originally Posted by Cogs View Post
    I really like the Custom '54 sets & have them in all my Strat & Strat type guitars. Very chimey & bell-like.
    Yeah, these are way low output and have that going on for sure.

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    Re: Best Strat Repro guards?

    I think that LOW OUTPUT is the key to getting great tone out of a Strat or Tele. It's almost like the needle on a phonograph.

  20. #20

    Re: Best Strat Repro guards?

    I have WD pickguards on all 5 Strats, Strat XII , P Bass. They are top quality. There are Ebay stores that sell them for less.

    http://www.wdmusic.com/guards_guitar_fender_strats.html


    http://www.wdmusic.com/pickguards.html

  21. #21
    Forum Member Kris Ford's Avatar
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    Re: Best Strat Repro guards?

    I just used a Fender 57 RI guard..which replaced a warped and cracked one.

    Everything I have read and seen suggest the original white single plys stayed relatively white.

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