Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi,

After some advice from the experience on here.
I have been asked to repair a Zemaitis, its scratch plate has peeled up.

It's not something I want to do as it's so valuable to the customer (personal reasons)

I will direct him to some people I trust but want to know how you would approach the repair, so he has some knowledge.

Thanks

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It needs to be removed and flattened out ( if possible) then re-attached.

If it can't be flattened out a new matching one needs to be fabricated and installed

DO NOT try to glue it down as is......

What Brad said and it likely can't be flattened. Just make a new one, clean up the wood under it and either glue or use pick guard adhesive. This is common in Martinland too.

The guitar looks like it may need a neck reset. Look at the full frontal view... at the shoulders intersecting the neck. The shoulders are collapsing noticeably.

_________________
Ann Arbor Guitars

replace pickguard period
easy fix

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

That is relatively plain for a Zemaitis. I like!
The guard appears to be black celluloid or acetate. Both are subject to shrinkage with age, particularly when certain glues are used. I would replace with black vinyl, which doesn't shrink. Attach with pressure sensitive adhesive (aka peel and stick).
This is a very common problem on Martins from 1967 until the mid-1980's. Those had black acetate under finish guards.

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John

I'll add that in Martinland they didn't finish under theirs that curl and also cause what we call the B string crack, also very common. For Martin warranty repairs and this curling pick guard and B string cracks are covered by Martin under warranty there is an expectation that the repair person will apply finish under the new pick guard so that's what we do. Different luthiers use different finishes, it's not cosmetic it's simply sealing the wood and it won't show.

Looks like they intentionally scratch up the pick guard patch on this one for get some keying with the glue.

_________________
Ann Arbor Guitars