A pickguard (also known as scratchplate or golpeador in Flamenco music, and uncommonly, a finger rest) is a piece of plastic or other laminated material that is placed under the strings on the body of a guitar, mandolin or similar plucked string instrument. Flamenco is a Spanish term that refers both to a musical genre known for its intricate rapid passages and a dance genre characterized by its audible footwork The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles A mandolin is a musical instrument in the Lute family (plucked or strummed A string instrument (or stringed instrument) is a Musical instrument that produces Sound by means of Vibrating strings In the Hornbostel-Sachs The main purpose of the pickguard is to protect the guitar's finish from being scratched by the guitar pick. A guitar pick is a type of Plectrum designed for use on a Guitar.
As well as serving a practical purpose, the pickguard may also be used for decoration and is often made in a contrasting color to that of the guitar body (popular variants are white pickguards on darker guitars and black pickguards on lighter guitars). As well as plastic, other pickguard materials can include acrylic glass, glass, plywood, fabrics, metal and mother-of-pearl/pearloid varieties. Poly(methyl methacrylate ( PMMA) or poly(methyl 2-methylpropenoate is a Thermoplastic and transparent Plastic. Glass in the common sense refers to a Hard, Brittle, transparent Solid, such as that used for Windows many Plywood is a type of Engineered board made from thin sheets of Wood, called plies or veneers Nacre, also known as mother of pearl, is an organic-inorganic Composite material produced by some Mollusks as an inner shell layer Expensive guitars may have luxury pickguards made from exotic woods, furs, skins, gems, precious metals, Mother of Pearl and abalone pearl.
The pickguard is a very common site to place an autograph, since the signed pickguard can easily be detached and moved to another guitar. An autograph is a Document written entirely in the handwriting of its Author, as opposed to a typeset document or
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Pickguard types
Pickguards come in various designs and shapes but designers usually try to match a headstock and pickguard design. This article is about part of a stringed instrument A headstock is also the motorized chuck on a Lathe. Both can be used to incorporate logos, branding or elements of the manufacturer's style. A logo ( Greek el λογότυπος = el-Latn logotypos is a graphical element ( Ideogram, Symbol, Emblem, Icon, Sign)
Acoustic and classical guitars
Aggressive strumming with a pick can easily damage the polished surface of the guitar's soundboard. Pickguards fitted to acoustic guitars are usually made from thin (2 mm) sheets of plastic (such as PVC), attached with an adhesive just below the sound hole. Glue or adhesive is a compound that adheres or bonds two items together A sound hole is an opening in the upper Sounding board of a stringed Musical instrument. The material should not be unduly thick or heavy since this might reduce vibration of the soundboard and alter the tone or volume of the instrument. Although not a job for the novice, a badly scratched pickguard could be removed and replaced by a guitar technician or luthier. On some older Martin guitars it is quite common to see the black pickguard curling up at the edges where the adhesive bond between the plastic and the wooden top has broken down. This does not usually present a problem and adds to the "character" of the instrument.
Classical guitars rarely have a pickguard since they are usually finger-picked and are not subject to much scratching. Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the Guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips fingernails or picks attached to fingers as opposed to Conversely, the Flamenco guitar is subject to heavy strumming and tapping with fingers and fingernails and often has pickguards fitted both above and below the soundhole. A flamenco guitar is a type of Classical guitar, built for the purpose of playing Flamenco music Such flamenco pickguard is sometimes called a "tap plate" or "golpeadore".
Fender-style
Fender-style plastic pickguards are usually fitted on solid-bodied electric guitars such as the Fender Stratocaster and Fender Telecaster (and their many replicas) and often cover a large area of the top surface, because Fender guitars are front routed. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation of Quincy Illinois is a manufacturer of stringed instruments such as solid-body Electric guitars including the The Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as the Strat, is a model of Electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton and Freddie Tavares The Fender Telecaster, also known as the Tele (pronounced Telly is typically a dual-pickup solid-body Electric guitar made by Fender. Most of the guitar's electronic components (pickups, potentiometers, switches and wiring) are mounted on or behind the pickguard and this design simplifies repairs to the wiring once the pickguard is removed. A potentiometer is a three-terminal Resistor with a sliding contact that forms an adjustable Voltage divider. Repairs are usually much harder with Gibson-style guitars, especially archtops, since all the internal parts are only accessible through the f-holes in the soundboard. A sound hole is an opening in the upper Sounding board of a stringed Musical instrument.
Raised
On most carved-top guitars, such as the Gibson Les Paul, the plastic pickguard is usually elevated on adjustable metal support brackets. The Epiphone Company is a Musical instrument manufacturer founded in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulos Joe Pass (born Joseph Anthony Passalaqua, January 13, 1929, New Brunswick, New Jersey, U The Gibson Les Paul is a solidbody Electric guitar originally developed in the early 1950s This design allows the height to be adjusted to suit the guitarist's playing position, especially if this involves resting one or more fingers on the pickguard (thus, it is also called a finger rest). Electronic parts are not usually mounted on this type of raised pickguard.
Materials
While custom pickguards are made from variety of materials, most mass-production manufacturers use various plastics. The following are the most common:
- Celluloid. Celluloid is the name of a class of compounds created from Nitrocellulose and Camphor, plus dyes and other agents Commonly associated with "vintage" guitars, this plastic is available in variety of colors and designs, but it has several cons that hinder its usage nowadays:
- This material is extremely flammable. Performers who smoke near their instruments with celluloid pickguards can occasionally put everything on fire with a misplaced cigarette.
- As a solvent based plastic, celluloid tends to shrink over the years, making pickguard curl around the edges. A solvent is a liquid or gas that dissolves a solid liquid or gaseous Solute, resulting in a Solution. It puts extra stress on wood beneath the pickguard and sometimes cracks appear. This is very common on older Martin acoustic guitars. The CF Martin & Company is a US Guitar manufacturer established in 1833 by Christian Frederick Martin. On electric guitars, where pickguard was attached with screws, vintage celluloid pickguards tends to develop cracks in themselves due to shrinking stress.
- Vinyl. A vinyl compound is any Organic compound that contains a vinyl group (also called ethenyl) &minus C[[Hydrogen H]] =CH sub>2 This material does not tend to shrink and is not highly flammable.
- PVC.
- Acrylic glass. Poly(methyl methacrylate ( PMMA) or poly(methyl 2-methylpropenoate is a Thermoplastic and transparent Plastic.
Custom designs
The pickguard on a solid-bodied electric guitar is often the first item to be modified (modded) by enthusiasts wanting to add creative designs or use different materials. Modding is a Slang expression that is derived from the verb " modify " Many companies now offer custom-made replacement pickguards to give an instrument a unique look.
The pickguard is sometimes deliberately missing from a guitar's design. For example, superstrats with neck-thru designs aim for maximum sustain and tend to have no plastic parts, pickup frames or plastic potentiometer handles. Superstrat (sometimes spelled as super strat or super-strat) is a name for an Electric guitar design that resembles a Fender Stratocaster but Neck-through or neck-thru (or in full form neck through body) is a method of Electric guitar or Bass guitar construction that involves extending Sustain is a Parameter of Musical Sound in Time. As its name may imply it denotes the period of time during which the sound is sustained before Anything that might dampen the sound is stripped off the guitar.
External links
- Pickguard in Illustrated glossary at FRETS.COM
- Fingerrest in Illustrated glossary at FRETS.COM
- Pickguard colors and materials chart at Warmoth
- Pickguards article at Fret Not Guitar Repair
- Martin pickguard replacement article at Fret Not Guitar Repair
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