Pickguard Removal
Source: Guitar Plate Repairs
Pickguard Removal:
There can be multiple reasons for replacing a pickguard on an acoustic guitar. The most prevalent reason is replacing a pickguard on a vintage instrument where the pickguard has shrunk or curled up from old age. This replacement can also be accompanied by crack repair requirements around the old pickguard due the differential expansion of the pickguard and the wood top plate.
Another reason can be for aesthetics. The current owner of the instrument may wish to have another pickguard installed in lieu of the one on the guitar. This can range from any number of materials such as celluloid, plastic, or even some of the great wood pickguards now available.
There are a couple of different installation methods utilized on acoustic guitars.
The pickguard will either be adhered on top of the guitar top plate finish, or the pickguard will be adhered to the bare wood itself and the finish is applied over the top, including the pickguard.
As you can imagine, dealing with a pickguard that is adhered only to the finish is vastly easier than that of one that is adhered to the bare wood.
Removing a Vintage Pickguard:
The first thing you should do cut around the perimeter of the guard with a very sharp knife, such as an Xacto or a woodworkers marking knife. You may need to slice through the existing finish – if there is much of it left that is.
Next take a Reworked Putty Knife, or an Artists Palette knife that you have sharpened to a razor thin edge with rounded corners and gently shove it under the perimeter of the pickguard.
Slowly work the Knife under the guard, being careful not to lift up any wood grain while doing so. Always work with the grain so as to minimize the lifting of grain slivers.
If you do get slivers of wood with the guard, immediately glue them back into place. If you are having trouble with the wood splintering, try to work the Knife in from the opposite direction.
Additional Repairs:
If, after removing the guard, you find that the top is cracked for reasons of differential expansion and contraction, the cracks will need to be addressed. See the article on Top Hairline Crack Repair and Top Open Aligned Crack Repair for information on how to deal with these issues.
Tags: guitar repair, guitar top repair, how to remove a pick guitar, pick guitar removal
