Pickguard glue?

[ArtieToo]

I might be wanting to make my own pickguard color combination. On a classic B/W/B pickguard, are they just gluing those layers together? If so, what kind of glue would that be? Or, is it a more complex process?

[PFDarkside]

The big Pickguard houses like WD don’t have what you are looking for?

[ArtieToo]

What I want is simple, yet I haven't found it yet. I want a white top, with double-black bottom. (W/B/B) I want to put a white pickguard, on a white guitar. So I want the black "pinstrip" to be prominent.

[St_Genesius]

I'd be very surprised if the individual layers are produced and then glued together. My suspicion is that they're bonded much earlier in the process. I really want to use the phrase "extruded together" but I'm not sure if something as wide as a big sheet of plastic can accurately be described as extruded.

[ArtieToo]

I'd be very surprised if the individual layers are produced and then glued together.

I agree, and that's what I'm afraid of. I don't have a problem with making the "press" because I have two nice blocks of marble to act as top and bottom anvils. I'm just afraid of some glue oozing out after it's done. Superglue would be difficult to spread over a large surface before you could get the pieces together. Although, I know they make SG retardants to slow the process.

[Francois]

they're bonded much earlier in the process.

Yes ! Most probably.

[beaubrummels]

What I want is simple, yet I haven't found it yet. I want a white top, with double-black bottom. (W/B/B) I want to put a white pickguard, on a white guitar. So I want the black "pinstrip" to be prominent.

The way Gibson used to do that is dremel more of the top layer away around the edges. Ever look at a 59 or Custom truss rod cover?

[ArtieToo]

The way Gibson used to do that is dremel more of the top layer away around the edges. Ever look at a 59 or Custom truss rod cover?

I haven't, but I'll "Google" it.

[ehdwuld]

Get a black black one or just a thick sheet of black abs plastic

White contact paper

Alternatively

They can be bonded with heat

Research plastic welding

I have bonded many materials with heat

[ArtieToo]

White contact paper.

While that idea might be a bit cheesy, it did make me think. I wonder if I could just airbrush a layer or two of a good quality white paint over the black? It would need to be a paint that didn't chip or crack when I did the bevel.

BTW, I didn't mean "cheesy" as an insult to your suggestion. I just wonder how durable contact paper would be, since this will be a pickguard.

Edit: Oops. Paint would be worse.

[ItsaBass]

I have done some of my own pickguard material laminating, with a home-made laminating press, which is, at the most fundamental level, two pieces of plywood that sandwich the plastic sheets, pressed together by a large number of clamps. There are refinements beyond that (for the purposes of alignment and containing glue squeezout), but that's basically what it is.

I did some with two-part epoxy, some with E6000, and some with strong spray adhesive (3M brand #90). They all work pretty well in terms of getting the job done.

Spray adhesive is the easiest to apply. Very noxious fumes, though. Make sure you use it outside, and with a good mask on. And there is absolutely no second chance with it. You align the sheets right the first time, without bubbles, or oh well; they're stuck that way. And of the three glues I've tried, it gives the the thickest glue layer between the layers of plastic.

Epoxy is easily the strongest bond, but you need a lot of it, and it's hard to work, being thick. It's also the hardest to press, due to that thickness. That is, the hardest to squeeze out. Incomplete squeeze out means inconsistent flatness. Definitely get the slow setting kind, and definitely thin it with a solvent.

E6000 is a good compromise between the two. It's a single part glue, in a large enough tube that only one should be enough. It applies and squeezes out more easily than epoxy. It's more workable than spray adhesive. And the bond is strong enough. All things considered, it's the best of the three IMO/IME.

I have also laminated cellulose nitrate sheets to make custom guards in the old style material similar to that used on '50s flying Vs and Explorers. For that, I used lacquer thinner loaded into an airbrush as the glue. You need to work fast, as it evaporates quickly. And this only works on materials that lacquer thinner will melt. I also suspect it would work with a paint brush, as opposed to a spray gun...but would be a lot messier.

There are plastic glues made for ABS, PVC, acrylic, and various other forms of plastic. They'd probably work similarly to the lacquer thinner method, but I have not actually tried them to laminate pickguard material. My lamination projects have always involved bonding non-standard or non-matching materials (Bakelite to polystyrene, for example, or the aforementioned cellulose nitrate to cellulose nitrate).

There is also a guy who does custom laminating, in Phoenix. The shop is called Precision Guitars. .060" of black with .030" of white on top of it probably wouldn't be hard for him to do. He has been sick, however, so he is far behind in his work.

Spitfire does custom laminating as well, but they are ungodly expensive.

FWIW (and while I generally don't like to endorse them), Stewart MacDonald sells a .104" W/B/W pickguard material on which one of the white layers is thinner than the other. If you put the thin layer down instead of up, it would probably disappear visually against a white guitar. This would especially be true if you were to, after beveling the guard, go around the perimeter with a scraper, eliminating the bevel on only the bottom white layer.

[ArtieToo]

Thanks ItsaBass. That's great info. I'll look up those glues when I get back. (Going to pick up another guitar job.)

[ItsaBass]

Thanks ItsaBass. That's great info. I'll look up those glues when I get back. (Going to pick up another guitar job.)

Groovy.

Here is a link to the glue that I recommend: http://eclecticproducts.com/products...-adhesive.html

As mentioned, several things will work. But that was my favorite, and probably the one I will go to for my next pickguard laminating project.

Do be aware that it takes a couple days to fully set, and it does not dry hard in the end, but dries flexible/rubbery. Be sure to let it fully cure before milling the guard out of the new material.

[ehdwuld]

For pvc
you dont really need glue
The cleaner, acetone, will soften the surface of both faces
Pressing them together would bond them

Think About the old wash ringer
With the two rollers

Start the materials in
Then heat or acetone between
When soft
Roll press forward to bond

I hate pvc glue
It becomes brittle over time and separates

[AlexR]

Remember that most multiply pickguards have a 45 deg bevel. Just gluing 2 finished guards together won't make for the most dramatic look. Its best sometimes just to buy the sheet, or go to pickguardian or the like