Re: cutting pickguard
Heres what I do. I tape a HB mounting ring to the pickguard, centering it over the simgle coil hole. I then use a small drill bit in my Dremel (battery operated - Home Depot - $30) and I drill a hole in each of the four corners of the opening of the mounting ring to use as location markers.
I then remove the HB ring and outline the hole using blue release tape (Scotch/3M - Hpme Depot - paint supplies). I then outline the opening with holes made with the small drill bit. I then change over to a small cutting wheel and I remove the center piece in one big chunk. Using the cutting wheel and then sand paper and stone grinding wheels I clean up the edge of the hole, working up to but not past the blue release tape.
It's primitive, but it gets the job done.