Francisco_BR
New member
Many people have been amazed by the sheer colour depth and vintage feel of celulloid guitar pickguards. In my case, as a fountain pen enthusiast as well, I also have been digging into the beautiful italian celluloid from many pens as well. It is hard to not admit it- celulloid has a depth and feel that is hardly matched (or, I have never seen matched) by acrylic or plastic resins.
Few places in the word produce celluloid these days. Italy has the tradition of producing world's finest celluloid, used on (mostly italian) high-end fountain pens (we are talking of writing instruments of $800, $1000+)of unique colour and feel. The italian manufacturer of celluloid is MAZZUCCHELLI ( http://www.mazzucchelli1849.it/newsite/default.htm ). As manufacturers of celluloid, expect them only to sell sheets starting from a couple hundred of kilograms of it (what may cost a couple thousand dollars...according to a fountain pen colleague, the kilogram of the celluloid rods used for fountain pens costs 80-90 euros, and it is all completely custom-made, customer-designed stuff. The minumum ammount for ordering is some 700 rods, and each rod weighs 0.3 kilograms). If you manufacture a lot of pickguards, that may be a fine deal...SPECIALLY if you charge $275 for pickguards for your custom made guitars.
Anyway, we have seen these boutique guitar manufacturers including some really beautiful (and expensive) celluloid pickguards in their axes. It is not the Warmoth stuff (which looks great). When questioned about their source, all they say is that is "a trade secret". We would love to have them anyway. But these Italian Celulloid pickguards are beyond the reach of most of us, costing $250. If the supplier of their celluloid is ITALIAN, then there is no secret- the only italian celluloid manufacturer, as stated above, is Mazzucchelli. This is "the secret" about who makes italian celluloid. Nothing really special or hard to figure, specially if you are into fountain pens. But, as I will state below, I am afraid the secret may be a little dirtier than that.
Among the most beautiful pickguards some of these boutique guitar manufacturers have, there is an exquisite blue pearloid, and a leopard-patterned transparent tortoise. These guitars also include hardware with really boasty claims made in their websites (titanium saddles, titanium tremolo blocks, etc, supposed to magically change all the acoustic properties of your guitar to better, still retaining the vintage sound), and are built with techniques by supposedly employed by master violin builders, such as "tap tuning", which- the builders claim- magically up their wonderful tone alone.
I will be honest with you, my friends. That all has always smelled baloney to me. I had the suspicions, but not any proof. As a classical music enthusiast (early music, medieval to baroque), I've been learning a lot about instrument building, and I will tell you that there is whole lotta myth surrounding the world of guitar (from tap tuning to the Buzz Feiten temperament, which has many technical inconsistencies as it has wrongly-made historical claims). I would like to share with you some suspicions I have about the supposed "Italian" celluloid of the pickguard of these guitars.
Beautiful abalonesque pearloid pickguard. Italian celluloid, according to the builder. $250.
Awesome leopard-like tortoise pickguard. "Copper-shielded" (that is, there is a foil of copper between the pickguard and the instrument, thus helping to give an even more incredible colour to the transparent material. The reddish hue I am sure it is due to the copper).
Perhaps the nicest Tele I've ever seen. Doesn't seem "copper-shielded". It is from the same manufacturer, and the pattern is the same.
Few places in the word produce celluloid these days. Italy has the tradition of producing world's finest celluloid, used on (mostly italian) high-end fountain pens (we are talking of writing instruments of $800, $1000+)of unique colour and feel. The italian manufacturer of celluloid is MAZZUCCHELLI ( http://www.mazzucchelli1849.it/newsite/default.htm ). As manufacturers of celluloid, expect them only to sell sheets starting from a couple hundred of kilograms of it (what may cost a couple thousand dollars...according to a fountain pen colleague, the kilogram of the celluloid rods used for fountain pens costs 80-90 euros, and it is all completely custom-made, customer-designed stuff. The minumum ammount for ordering is some 700 rods, and each rod weighs 0.3 kilograms). If you manufacture a lot of pickguards, that may be a fine deal...SPECIALLY if you charge $275 for pickguards for your custom made guitars.
Anyway, we have seen these boutique guitar manufacturers including some really beautiful (and expensive) celluloid pickguards in their axes. It is not the Warmoth stuff (which looks great). When questioned about their source, all they say is that is "a trade secret". We would love to have them anyway. But these Italian Celulloid pickguards are beyond the reach of most of us, costing $250. If the supplier of their celluloid is ITALIAN, then there is no secret- the only italian celluloid manufacturer, as stated above, is Mazzucchelli. This is "the secret" about who makes italian celluloid. Nothing really special or hard to figure, specially if you are into fountain pens. But, as I will state below, I am afraid the secret may be a little dirtier than that.
Among the most beautiful pickguards some of these boutique guitar manufacturers have, there is an exquisite blue pearloid, and a leopard-patterned transparent tortoise. These guitars also include hardware with really boasty claims made in their websites (titanium saddles, titanium tremolo blocks, etc, supposed to magically change all the acoustic properties of your guitar to better, still retaining the vintage sound), and are built with techniques by supposedly employed by master violin builders, such as "tap tuning", which- the builders claim- magically up their wonderful tone alone.
I will be honest with you, my friends. That all has always smelled baloney to me. I had the suspicions, but not any proof. As a classical music enthusiast (early music, medieval to baroque), I've been learning a lot about instrument building, and I will tell you that there is whole lotta myth surrounding the world of guitar (from tap tuning to the Buzz Feiten temperament, which has many technical inconsistencies as it has wrongly-made historical claims). I would like to share with you some suspicions I have about the supposed "Italian" celluloid of the pickguard of these guitars.
Beautiful abalonesque pearloid pickguard. Italian celluloid, according to the builder. $250.
Awesome leopard-like tortoise pickguard. "Copper-shielded" (that is, there is a foil of copper between the pickguard and the instrument, thus helping to give an even more incredible colour to the transparent material. The reddish hue I am sure it is due to the copper).
Perhaps the nicest Tele I've ever seen. Doesn't seem "copper-shielded". It is from the same manufacturer, and the pattern is the same.
Last edited:
