Leather for pickguard?

[ehdwuld]

So if I was to make a strat guard out of leather

I have a short tele style one on the pine body i got from Jerry ages ago

But if I wanted one for my strat

How would I go about it?
How thick would it need to be?
How do I stiffen it ?
Assuming I can tool it and get it to shape
And all the other tannery things

Can I dye it?


Anyone?

 

[Chris Pile]

I bet someone at Tandy Leather would know.

 

[idsnowdog]

Clarence Gatemouth brown.

 

[switchman]

Problem is making it thick enough to be rigid, but not so thick that it prevents the switch from moving into position 1 and 5, or needing extra long pots. It would need a backing layer to make it rigid enough to hold the pickups and controls. El Dorado makes them with a phenolic back. Saw one but not recently. You can get several types of phenolic in 1/16" thick. but its awful to machine.

 

[ehdwuld]

Skin over an existing guard, maybe?

Maybe just a faux version ....

 

[justFred]

Visit a saddle/real cowboy shop and ask.

 

[Chris Pile]

Or a belt shop.

Speaking of Gatemouth, I roadied for him one night at a local club and got to play that Firebird during soundcheck. Tuned in open D, and capoed. Run through an MXR Phase 90 that was always on, and into his Fender amp. My dad was a big Gatemouth fan, and he was impressed.

 

[ehdwuld]

Visit a saddle/real cowboy shop and ask.

Ahhh tack shop as they are known down here

 

[switchman]

Skin over an existing guard, maybe?

Maybe just a faux version ....

I thought that too..but it would have to be a very thin skin to not make it too thick for a switch like I was saying. I know nothing about leather...how thin can it be had? Strat pickguard is usually 3/32" at most 1/8" thick for a 4 ply pearloid.

 

[ehdwuld]

Hmmm I dunno

 

[Mincer]

I've also seen tooled 'faux leather', which is basically a petroleum product that looks convincing and is a lot cheaper.

 

[GuitarStv]

I wonder if there's a coating or sealer or something that you could put over the leather to make it stiffer.

 

[Chistopher]

There is a leather pick guard shop. I required a high quality quality leather surface roughly the size and shape of a pick guard for work, and they did it for me

 

[justFred]

Guitar Pickguards « El Dorado Leather Guitar Straps & Accessories

eldoradostraps.com

 

[ehdwuld]

Guitar Pickguards « El Dorado Leather Guitar Straps & Accessories

eldoradostraps.com

Man, those are awesome, but at $100 -300 per i think those would be more than most of the guitars I have.....

 

[Chistopher]

Guitar Pickguards « El Dorado Leather Guitar Straps & Accessories

eldoradostraps.com

Yeah that's the one I went to.