My idea for a custom pickguard

[martindupras]

I was a bit bored with the pickguard on my MusicMan Bongo.

I went to a metal fabrication company and brought the old pickguard and asked them to duplicate it in metal.

Total cost: £20. It didn't fit perfectly first time but they were very kind and tweaked it a bit for me at no charge. Fits great now.

I buried it in the garden for a few days to rust a little. Then I piled dead leaves and left it for another couple of days.

Below is the result. What do you guys think? Success? Abysmal failure?


- martin

[attachment=63488:rustpickguard.JPG]

[Cat Burrito]

I picked up a 1979 bass with a metal pickguard & it really added to the weight. Do you find that? It looks cool but on a P-bass it made a HUGE difference which surprised me

[icastle]

[quote name='martindupras' post='1017915' date='Nov 9 2010, 06:19 PM']I was a bit bored with the pickguard on my MusicMan Bongo.

I went to a metal fabrication company and brought the old pickguard and asked them to duplicate it in metal.

Total cost: £20. It didn't fit perfectly first time but they were very kind and tweaked it a bit for me at no charge. Fits great now.

I buried it in the garden for a few days to rust a little. Then I piled dead leaves and left it for another couple of days.

Below is the result. What do you guys think? Success? Abysmal failure?


- martin

[attachment=63488:rustpickguard.JPG][/quote]


Good grief
You [b]do[/b] realise that in 500 years time, Time Team are going to find a whole pile of these where people have forgotten where they've buried them don't you?

[martindupras]

It's not noticeably heavier than the 3-ply plastic pickguard that I had. The metal is quite thin too, I'd guess about the same thickness as 1-ply pickguard.

I'd left a marker in the garden. Besides, my wife rightly pointed out that "I might forget" so she wrote PICKGUARD in enormous letters on the whiteboard in the kitchen. I didn't forget.

- martin

[Doctor J]

Interesting. Looks good, though I wouldn't be a Bongo fan in any way. Just make sure there are no sharp edges, cut yourself on that and you'll be getting tetanus shots for months

[DarkHorse]

[quote name='icastle' post='1017942' date='Nov 9 2010, 06:41 PM']Good grief
You [b]do[/b] realise that in 500 years time, Time Team are going to find a whole pile of these where people have forgotten where they've buried them don't you? [/quote]

And then people will be asking "Is that a genuine relic?"

[leschirons]

[quote name='martindupras' post='1017915' date='Nov 9 2010, 07:19 PM']I was a bit bored with the pickguard on my MusicMan Bongo.

I went to a metal fabrication company and brought the old pickguard and asked them to duplicate it in metal.

Total cost: £20. It didn't fit perfectly first time but they were very kind and tweaked it a bit for me at no charge. Fits great now.

I buried it in the garden for a few days to rust a little. Then I piled dead leaves and left it for another couple of days.

Below is the result. What do you guys think? Success? Abysmal failure?


- martin

[attachment=63488:rustpickguard.JPG][/quote]

Seriously cool, a James Trussart Rustobongo

[icastle]

[quote name='DarkHorse' post='1017972' date='Nov 9 2010, 07:01 PM']And then people will be asking "Is that a genuine relic?" [/quote]

As opposed to a faked relic fake?

...I think I'm getting another one of my funny headaches...

[icastle]

[quote name='martindupras' post='1017915' date='Nov 9 2010, 06:19 PM']Below is the result. What do you guys think? Success? Abysmal failure?[/quote]

All kidding aside Martin - it does look really good.
What metal did they use, it looks like copper to me?

[DarkHorse]

[quote name='icastle' post='1018068' date='Nov 9 2010, 08:14 PM']As opposed to a faked relic fake? [/quote]

Exactamundo!


[quote name='icastle' post='1018068' date='Nov 9 2010, 08:14 PM']...I think I'm getting another one of my funny headaches... [/quote]




But seriously....I [i]really[/i] like that pickguard, it just seems to suit the Bongo shape.

[martindupras]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate all the comments.

I think it'll be there to stay, for a while anyway. I actually had them make me two, the second one being galvanised steel. I have to say up close the galvanised one looks vvery good but from afar it just looks like dull metal. I'll see how I can make it more interesting-looking.

I'm not sure what metal it is but I assume it's regular steel. All the rust is from leaving it outside a few days. That worked really well.

- martin

[thisnameistaken]

Sorry bro but it still looks like a Bongo. Twenty wasted quid, that.

[DanOwens]

I really like it, but as said, sharp edges would worry me.

So would the scratches it might be putting in the finish on the other side!

Dan

[waynepunkdude]

Bongo SUB??!?!?!

[martindupras]

[quote name='DanOwens' post='1018540' date='Nov 10 2010, 10:59 AM']I really like it, but as said, sharp edges would worry me.

So would the scratches it might be putting in the finish on the other side!

Dan[/quote]

I'm not too worried about that, but I might put a thing sheet of something or other in between the guard and the body. Good point.

- martin

[martindupras]

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='1018571' date='Nov 10 2010, 11:11 AM']Bongo SUB??!?!?![/quote]

I'm not quite sure I get your point. Do you mean that it looks a little like a Sub because it's a metal guard? To me, rust metal looks as different as threadplate as tortoiseshell does to pearloid. Then again some people think PRS guitars look like Les Pauls, and I don't see the resemblance.

- martin