Strat Pickguard

Hi.

I'm modifying my old, but extremely good Ibanez guitar. I want the sound of a Strat, and the playability of my Ibanez.

I bought 3 vintage low noise single coils as replacement for my old pickups, whish were 2 single and 1 Humbucker. Of cause I needed a new pickguard as well, but an original Strat pickguard would not fit my Ibanez, so I bought a rectangular pickguard, and now I’m about to cut the shape and the holes for the pickups. The shape is not the problem, but placing the pickups exactly on the right spot I find very difficult. Does anybody know where I can find measurements or a 1:1 blueprint of an original Fender Stratocaster pickguard.

Best Regards

Sjøgge.

You said an original Fender Stratocaster pickguard won't fit the Ibanez, so I'm unsure what you want the drawing for.

Unless you plan to chew up the body of your Ibanez to put the new pickups in exactly the same place as the Strat, what you really need is a way to transfer the dimensions of the cutouts in your Ibanez to the material for your new pickguard.

A low-tech method, that actually works, if you're careful:

1) Find some fairly stiff paper that's a bit bigger than the final size of the pickguard.

2) Strip the guts out of your Ibanez. (There's no turning back, now!)

3) Smooth the paper over the front of the guitar body, taping it in place. It must be smooth, and snug!

4) Holding a pencil sideways, gently rub the side of the pencil lead at an angle across the edges of the pickup cutouts. Take care not to press the paper into the holes, as this will distort your pattern.

5) Mark the switch and control locations the same way.

6) Get as much information as possible. 'Trenches' between the pickup pockets, screw holes, any feature of the guitar body that you may want ot cover up, or make use of.

7) Carefully remove the tape, and lift the pattern clear of the guitar.

8) You can apply this pattern to the 'face' of your material, and cut and drill as required. Some spray-on rubber cement will hold the paper in place temorarily. Be sure to test a small area of the pickguard to make sure the glue doesn't do rude things to the material, and that it will peel off cleanly. Otherwise you have to 'trace' the lines onto the plastic by cutting along the pattern lines with a very sharp, pointy knife. If you cut some 1/4" holes in the pattern near the edges of the cutouts, you can tape across the holes to help hold the papre down to the material.

9) Cut your material, sand and polish the edges, and you're done. Easy, no? :D

[Edited by Lordathestrings on 11-04-2001 at 05:27 PM]

Hi again, and thanx for your reply.

Quote: Unless you plan to chew up the body of your Ibanez to put the new pickups in {i]exactly the same place as the Strat.

Actually that is (as fare as I understand “chew”) what I want to do.
I want the pickups in the exactly the same place as the Strat.

A blueprint could help me find the right places for the pickups.
As I wrote first; “The shape of the pickguard is no problem”. I just take the old Ibanez pickguard as a model for the shape. But marking the holes for the new pickups is the big problem. As I wrote earlier, I had 2 single coils and 1 humbucker(brigde) on my Ibanez, and I’ll have to cut some material (wood) out of the body, to fit in the new single coils.

Hope I make myself clear this time. I’m from Denmark, so English is no my first choice of language :-)

Best Regards

Sjøgge.

I was really hoping you were not intending to make new cuts in the Ibanez body. That is why I used the word 'chew'. It implies a ragged, messy job.

So... to place your new pickups exactly where the Strat pickups are located...

If your guitar has a 25 1/2 inch (~65 cm) scale length like a Strat, you can apply the Strat dimensions directly. But if it is different, you will have to 'stretch' or 'shrink' the dimensions proportionately, in order to keep the pickups at the proper position relative to the string length.

If you don't get a reply from someone who can provide the dimensions, you will have to borrow a Strat, or at least a strat pickguard, to copy.

Hi again.

Yes, I have thought about this too, but I don’t know anybody who would rip his pickguard and lend it to me (and I don’t blame them).

My Ibanez has a 25 ½ “ scale, but I was not quite sure about the Strat. Thanks to you, now I know.

I guess I’ll have to ask my local music store if they could provide me with an original Strat pickguard, for a day or two.
But still,,,, if anyone out there has a 1:1 drawing of an original Strat pickguard, I would like to have a copy.

Email: bandidde@mail.tele.dk

Best Regards.

Sjøgge

... who's getting some work done on their Strat.

I mean, we have almost 15 thousand registered members, surely there is someone who can make a good tracing of the pickguard while they have it off?