Official Luthiers Forum!

I've got a guitar with a french polish shellac finish that I'd like to put a pick guard on. Seems like an easy way to totally screw up at the very last step. How do I not do that? Thanks!

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I use the wet installation method, pretty foolproof
http://www.stewmac.com/How-To/Online_Re ... astic.html

Beat me to it Jeff.
And Patch, best keep your fingerprints off the adhesive........

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I've had luck using "top hinge" type of method that's used for applying vinyl graphics - it keeps your alignment. Figuring out an effective hinge for a pickguard shape will take a few minutes as opposed to a rectangle like in this video.

Here's the general concept of using a "hinge" - pretty simple but easier to see than describe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ncl8VisFMzM

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

I use Frank's method.

http://youtu.be/c9XKuourJs4

Cheers, M

Using the water method on a French polished top is risky. Unless you are working on a very freshly finished guitar, there is a good chance that the water will penetrate the finish and raise the grain of the top. If the top was thicknessed with a thickness sanding machine, and the grain wasn't raised with water before the finish was applied, using the water method to apply the pick guard can be dramatic--and not in a good way.

Using the tape hinge, and working dry, you can do a nice job, but you have to be meticulous about dust, and work carefully across from the taped edge removing the backing sheet a little at a time, and making sure that you aren't trapping any bubbles of air. I've applied dozens of flamenco tap plates this way with excellent results. If things go bad, you can remove the freshly applied tap plate with naptha. It will dissolve the adhesive, and do no harm to the shellac.

Over time, the adhesive becomes insoluble in Naptha. A pick guard that has been on there for several years, can be the devil to remove. For that reason, I prefer to glue on clear plastic tap plates with Elmer's white glue.

Great, thanks all for the advice. I've got a guitar to practice on and I'm going with Eric's advice. It sure would be a bummer to mess up the grain under the pick guard.

_________________
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https://www.instagram.com/wide_sky_guitars/

Eric, have you noticed much difference in tone after gluing on tap plates? Also, would you share your method for using Elmers and what clear plastic do you use.
Thanks, Wendy

Wendy, I like to think I have a pretty good ear for tone. I have never noticed a difference after putting on tap plates--whether with glue, or self-adhesive. Maybe that means that my ear isn't as good as I imagine it to be. Still, I've never had a customer notice a difference either.

Brian Burns has made some measurements of the changes in "Q" when self-adhesive tap plate material is applied to a free plate. He found the reductions alarming.

Flamenco players bang and scratch on the top (some more than others), and they view a tap plate as a given--a guitar looks naked without it.

Classical players vary tremendously in how they abuse their guitars. Some very fine players are very hard on their instruments. Others, equally skilled, rarely leave a mark. Where they're alike, is in their dislike for tap plates. (Tap plates are for flamenco players!)

I mention this in case you're thinking of putting tap plates on a classical guitar you might later want to sell. The white glue method is much more reversible.

To apply a tap plate with white glue, I sand the gluing surface of the tap plate with 400 grit sand paper. I clean the top of the guitar with naptha. I put two layers of blue masking tape on the top in four areas to define the position of the tap plates. I put glue on both surfaces, and wipe it off to a thin uniform film with a plastic squeegee (credit card). I quickly position the tap plate, and begin working the glue out to the edges, first with my finger, and then with a small piece of spruce, bevelled and radiused for the job. Try to squeeze out as much glue as you can. Clean up with a damp paper towel away from the tap plate, but not right at the edge. You can clean that up with white vinegar after the glue dries. The remaining glue under the tap plate will be white for a few days. After a week, it should be optically clear. Try this first on a beater guitar.

This plastic will work: http://www.dickblick.com/items/55506-1100/.