1970's Martin D-35: Pickguard Replacement


1. Lifting Martin Pickguards commonly occur on Martin guitars built from the 1960's and 1970's. The acetate based cellulose plastic used in this period of Martin's history is notoriously unstable. This guitar is lucky because the pickguard simply let go of the top. We've seen a number of acetate-cellulose and cellulose-nitrate pickguards that have actually cracked the tops of guitars as they shrank.	2. Removing the Pickguard is most easily done with a thin knife.


3. Scraping the Top gets rid of any residual acetate that remains on the top.	4. Building a Finish is necessary to ensure good adhesian between the top and the new "self adhesive" pickguard I'll be installing. Before brushing lacquer onto the top I oxidized the perimeter of unfinished wood to match the surrounding top, then sealed the spruce with shellac and softened the surrounding lacquer with beutyly cellusolve (also called lacquer melt). The lacquer melt will blend the new and old finishes together. This, combined with the oxidized perimeter will hide the repair when, years from now, the new pick- guard shrinks.


5. Scraping the New Lacquer flush with the original finish will ensure a smooth transition from old to new. This razor blade has scotch tape wrapped around the part that is riding on the original finish. When I'm done scraping the old finish will be a few thousandths of an inch (the thickness of the scotch tape) taller than the original finish.	6. Sanding the New Finish with 800 grit sandpaper gets rid of any scraper marks and brings the new finish down flush with the original.


7. Cutting Out the New Pickguard. I'm using a replace- ment Martin pickguard as a template for the majority of my layout.	8. Laying Out the Rosette Perimeter of the Pickguard is a matter of transfering the guitar's rosette diameter to the pvc sheet plastic from which I'm deriving this Martin's new pickguard.


9. Cutting Out the New Pickguard Cont.	10. Beveling the Edges of the new pickguard is done, in part, with a razorblade scraper. I'm carefully matching the new pickguard's bevel to that of the original.


11. Beveling the Edges of the Pickguard Cont. A cork-lined sanding block wrapped in 800 grit sandpaper gets rid of any residual scraper marks. Next I'll polish the bevel with micro-mesh abrasive pads up to 12,000 grit.	12. A "Self-Adhesive" Pickguard. I've attached some extremely thin double sided "tape" to the bottom of the new pickguard.


13. Pickguard Clamping Cauls. The outer caul is lined with rubberized cork to protect the new pickguard while the inside caul has notches cut out of it that correspond to the bracing pattern of a 1970's Martin D-35. Caul's both protect the workpiece (guitar) from the force of the clamps as well as evenly distribute the force of the clamps.	14. Clamping the New Pickguard in place. The clamping force of these c-clamps ensure excellent adhesion between the new pickguard and the top.


15. Spraying the New Pickguard with Lacquer will make the new pickguard less obvious. This guitar's original pickguard was glued to the top before the in- strument was sprayed with lacquer. Spraying lacquer on the new pick- guard helps hide the repair.	16. A New Pickguard. Since this guitar's new pvc plastic pickguard is attached to the top with tape, the new guard will not damage the top or come unattached as the pvc continues to lose its solvents and shrink over the coming years.