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I need you to help me decide on which pickguard I should keep on my Jazzmaster.

I received this morning the Fender Japan Gold anodized guard I ordered through Ishibashi, and i tried it on my guitar.    Looks pretty good IMO, but I still like the 1965 tortoise pickguard I got too.......

Which one do you like best ?

Here are some pics to help you judge:

Go for the gold.

Actually, I'm surprised that a '65 guard and a new Japan guard both fit. I didn't think everything would line up on the body.

They both look sweet, but IMO the GOLD is the way to go...

Gold FTW!!!!

But, not on sunburst...

seasick croc wrote:
Actually, I'm surprised that a '65 guard and a new Japan guard both fit. I didn't think everything would line up on the body.

I was quite surprised too, but every hole lined up very well.  I didn't have to do another hole at all. I only did a little filing for the bridge posts.

wait wait wait wait, you can get gold guards by themselves from japan???  holy crap! how much are those guys if you dont mind my asking?

I don't mind at all!! 

The guard (including shipping from Japan to Canada) was 11 500 Yen (97$ US).  I also had to pay 20$ CDN for duties when it arrived.

It was shipped super fast (4 days)!!!

If you want one, just send an email to Ishibashi web shop, they are very friendly and helpful.

I ordered mine last weekend and they told me there were only a few left at Fender Japan and that afterwards, they would be available on special orders only.....

I like gold on sunburst; you don't often see it. So yeah, gold all the way.

One of these days I'm gonna get a blonde jaguar masterbuilt with a gold anodized guard. Mmmmm. 

I like them both.  It's amazing to me how much better the vintage tortoise looks.  The new ones are total crap.  The bevels are never shallow enough and the shell looks like someone swirled a nail around in liquid plastic then let it dry.

Jay wrote: I like them both.  It's amazing to me how much better the vintage tortoise looks.  The new ones are total crap.  The bevels are never shallow enough and the shell looks like someone swirled a nail around in liquid plastic then let it dry.

You're absolutely right!  The vintage ones look like they have depth, almost 3D, whereas the new ones look awfully flat.

It's amazing to me how much better the vintage tortoise looks.

+3... a correct guard just yields the "right" look.

I assume the guitars a CIJ?  I'm also surprised that the holes matched the vintage guard, like croc said. There must have been a change... AFAIK the screw holes were off on the CIJ. That's the way the CIJ $trats are too.

What year is the JM?

Yes, my Jazzmaster is a CIJ with an "O" serial no., so it should be 1997-2000. The pickguard that was on it originally was the reddish one, so I'm guessing more 1997-98, than 2000.

I LOVE the tort on that. Gold is nice, but the tort just looks 'right'. You got a real nice tort though, amazing pattern.

Before seeing the pics I wanted to say gold, but that tortoise shell looks perferct on that guitar.

And don't forget to give it a good sound test as well.  The metal guard should really brighten the sound, which may or may not be desirable.

Beautiful either way.

Tort.
Gold guards just don't float my boat....................s'all bout da bling bling......or something.