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Pick guard or Scratch plate?


Twincam

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Which way do you say it? 

Is there a more common way we say it in Britain? I noticed while doing a search online putting in either brings up different product results. 

Which leads me to my next question. Pick or Plectrum?..... Of course if you answer anything other than fingers then your not a "real" bass player 😜.

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It was scratchplate and plectrum when I started playing , It shall remain scratchplate and plectrum until I'm dead 😉

 

I don't care if folk use other terms,I just wont change mine to make them happy. I also prefer machinehead to tuner though when talking with my old pal I may use tuning peg.

He calls a headstock a peghead so not much I can do there 😁

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46 minutes ago, mikel said:

Scratch-plate.  Pick-guard is yet another Americanism.  I never play with a pick (I hate that term, its a plec, as in plectrum) so It would also be impossible for me to have a pick-guard. :D

Damn those pesky Americans, fancy making up words to describe things on instruments they invented!

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2 minutes ago, Teebs said:

I play with fingers, so that makes the scratchplate 'bass jewellery'! :biggrin:

I'm a proper daredevil, I play with a pick (or a plectrum, whichever comes to hand) and use a bass without a pickplate or a scratchguard. Radical, or what?

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The scratchplate has always baffled me. The nomenclature suggests that it is there to protect the finish underneath from scratches, although they are seen as more of a decorative design feature, to mount controls, or hide unsightly routing.

But let’s assume for a moment that they are there purely to protect the finish underneath. To what end? Do the manufacturers think that players might remove the plate for a very special occasion such as a gig in front of the Queen where the full glory of the bass can be shown to Her Majesty?

It’s like those little plastic surrounds that go round light switches to protect the finish on the wall. Would there ever be cause to remove them for a very special visitor to your house?

Don’t get me wrong - I love the look of scratchplates and think that solid colour or burst finish P’s and J’s look odd without them. Just a bit of a tongue in cheek offering 😁

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