Hydra19 Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 (edited) I've been looking for a custom made pickguard for my P bass in red celluloid tort but I cannot find any. Most of them are too yellowish. I had googled and found Tiny Tone in manchester. They were very friendly on the phone and I sent them 3 pickguard to copy. In the end, they didn't have the materials so I ended up with only 1. Vintage 60's Red Celluloid tort, I told them I wanted to make my bass look like James Jamersons, and after £100, I got a really yellow tort guard, and not what I had asked for at all. Here it is, along with some other pickguards I got from china (for £20), the 'custom' ordered one is even more yellow than the other ones, even though I specifically asked for a 60's red tort like James Jamerson's bass. Does anyone else have any good places in the UK go get a custom made pickguard? Edited June 16, 2022 by Hydra19 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
such Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 There's this great guy in Glasgow, @kodiakblairwill know the details, actually I'm thinking about reaching out too about one custom thing. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pea Turgh Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 25 minutes ago, such said: There's this great guy in Glasgow, @kodiakblairwill know the details, actually I'm thinking about reaching out too about one custom thing. Search earlpilanz on eBay. The issue might be supply of the correct colour tort though, probably all comes from the same place! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorks5stringer Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 Supply chain issues with tortoises.....? I blame Tortext 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hydra19 Posted June 16, 2022 Author Share Posted June 16, 2022 They shouldn't have taken £100 and blamed me for picking the color. Total scam 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kodiakblair Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 5 hours ago, Hydra19 said: They shouldn't have taken £100 and blamed me for picking the color. Total scam No, they should apologise as they refund your £100. Here's the link to Brian in Glasgow, you've the choice of 5 or 6 Torts (4 being red tort). https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/115165557727?hash=item1ad066f3df:g:DagAAOSwob5h0FKA 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulThePlug Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 I'd be sending it back for a refund... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoulderpet Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 Gig.ink is good 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hydra19 Posted June 16, 2022 Author Share Posted June 16, 2022 (edited) 41 minutes ago, PaulThePlug said: I'd be sending it back for a refund... They refuse, they said I picked this color! They thought hard and long for a solution and decided to offer me a discount for a new pickguard but after £100 I already paid, I just couldn't spend more. They took no responsibility for the look, after I had asked for vintage 60's red with not much yellow at all. I am really disappointed by the lack of service, and then they turned around and blamed me for it. They were happy to leave me £100 out of pocket with that abomination, which says a lot about their customer service. i also sent them these pics asking to explain to me where are the dark spots in the pickguard they sent but they refuse to answer. They just said I picked that color and now I'm not happy that it doesn't match my imagination. So disrespectful.... Any other recommendations for some nice looking guards? Thank you! Edited June 16, 2022 by Hydra19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 This is a bass doc special from a few years back. Layer of real cellulose not printed. From memory it was around £30 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete.young Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 Mike Walsh, @Cosmicrain, makes a lovely Precision pickguard. You could do worse than ask him what he has in the way of red tort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meterman Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 Assuming you’re in the UK, I’m going to give another shout for Brian / earlpillanz on ebay. He’s done 4 custom pickguards for me and they’ve all been good quality, inexpensive and a fast turnaround too. Whether or not he can do a 60’s tort exactly like you’d like it, I couldn’t say but it would be worth sending him a message via ebay. Recently I fancied some 60’s-ish tort on my cheapie jazz bass but all the really good looking guards were costing close to the price of my bass 😮 So I caved in and got one from a local seller on ebay for €10. Looks alright on the bass, but not super 60’s by any stretch. Oh and £100 for what looks like the cheap tort that’s all over Amazon and ebay for a tenner is really bad service. I’m sorry to hear you had to go through that. Is there no way to do a PayPal claim or something? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Pickguard Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 I recently got a custom pickguard from Brian Pillans (Earlpillanz) in Glasgow and will be getting another one soon for a squier bullet mustang once I have decided what I want. His customer service is excellent—and he really seems to go the extra mile. He has several colours of tort and I wouldn't be surprised if he'd be able to accommodate a request to send a pic of an actual piece of material in stock before you place an order. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hydra19 Posted June 17, 2022 Author Share Posted June 17, 2022 TinyTone just called to offer a free recut, they said if I'm not happy with the celluloid tort they can cut one that's not celluloid but has that look. Either way, if I get a good pickguard I'm happy with, it's all good. Nice of them! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Pickguard Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 Ask for a photo of the tort before they cut, or even better photos of a selection of pieces so you can choose the exact piece used. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassApprentice Posted June 18, 2022 Share Posted June 18, 2022 Hard to tell on a phone screen, but if any of the cheaper ones are quite dark tort I'd gladly take one off your hands. I'm building a Pino style P if that helps 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hydra19 Posted June 18, 2022 Author Share Posted June 18, 2022 4 hours ago, BassApprentice said: Hard to tell on a phone screen, but if any of the cheaper ones are quite dark tort I'd gladly take one off your hands. I'm building a Pino style P if that helps 🙂 Sure, I've got 2 that don't fit. One is a little more red due to less yellow spots. I'll take a pic of both and let you know. I don't need either, and you can have it for postage cost 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted June 18, 2022 Share Posted June 18, 2022 On 16/06/2022 at 18:04, shoulderpet said: Gig.ink is good But they don't do any of the usual materials, only acrylic with whatever design printed on the back, do they? At least that was the case a while back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted June 18, 2022 Share Posted June 18, 2022 @lee650has had 2 recently from Brian - both lovely, one was very dark like the late 60’s/Early 70’s “burgundy” ones. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted June 18, 2022 Share Posted June 18, 2022 https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/earlpilanz?ul_noapp=true Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jono Bolton Posted June 18, 2022 Share Posted June 18, 2022 Brian Pillans made a great pickguard for my JV P Bass. The original tortoiseshell plate was a bit knackered and had a wonky cutout for the pickup where someone had tried to widen it and made an derrière of it. I sent him the original to trace and he did a smashing job and got the new pickup hole spot on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted June 18, 2022 Share Posted June 18, 2022 I had a bass which cost more than I care to even think about. The scratchplate was not cut well. I sent Brian Pillans it with a description of what was wrong. The replacement was bang on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lee650 Posted June 19, 2022 Share Posted June 19, 2022 (edited) Yes I've recently used Brian Pilanz (earlpilanz on ebay) and he's got a few shades of Celluloid Tortoise. I had contacted Tiny Tone but I didn't like their colours, and they came out twice the price of Earlpilanz or Bass Doc. I had a Dark red Tort and vintage Tort from Brian and my old Jazz had a Bass Doc. I know which type you mean without much yellow as it's what I was after. The only place I've seen that was Spitfire$$$$$$$$$ Below is Earlpilanz colour choice, I suspect they'll all have too much yellow for you. BTW - both these guards were £30 posted and I had them within a few day,including the BB when I sent a template, highly recommended. He also does little samples of his Tort on EBay for £1.99 (cheaper if you buy more) so you can "Try before you buy" Edited June 19, 2022 by lee650 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lee650 Posted June 19, 2022 Share Posted June 19, 2022 On 16/06/2022 at 18:04, shoulderpet said: Gig.ink is good Tim doesn't do Tortoise, his graphics and solid stuff is good, but no Bevel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lee650 Posted June 19, 2022 Share Posted June 19, 2022 On 17/06/2022 at 11:42, Hydra19 said: TinyTone just called to offer a free recut, they said if I'm not happy with the celluloid tort they can cut one that's not celluloid but has that look. Either way, if I get a good pickguard I'm happy with, it's all good. Nice of them! The printed ones look Awful IMO! Certainly up close, it's what they put on all the cheap Fenders. So theyve offered you another not as good guard for free,but you've still spent £40 more, than if you'd bought two guards from Earlpilanz. That's rubbish,if you hadn't removed the plastic covering, you should still be able to return for a refund. If you bought on online does DSR not apply in this situation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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