I made my own tortoiseshell pickguard... And it took me one year!

[ludobag1]

looks really good on pics ,i am fan of real tort guard since years (i have follow the thread that speak of it since the beguin ) i also have a spitfire one that have buy used cause of the ridiculus amount for a brand new one
if you made them correctly priced (not a ball with a kidney) you will sell a lot cause there is not enought choice to have a good product ,2 choices in fact ,real one from 60 or spitfire
after that i know to make quality product you need tool ,time ,research ect .......then price is always expensive but seriously for me(maybe i am alone to think this?) more than 100 € for a sheet of plastic that is only decorative is ,need to eat ect before spend totally idiot amount of money on it
as i do my homemade guard for my homemade guitar i am more interrested by blank (normal size 290 X 440mm)more than finished guard then if you sell this count me in

[BoringPostcards]

Great job. It looks very close to an original. If it was aged more, it would easily pass.

[tribi9]

Looks incredible, add me to the list of potential customers, if available for sale.

Id be honored to own one of these magnificent looking pickguards.

[fritzypatzy]

Thanks for all your comments and compliments, they mean a lot to me!

As promised, here's some pictures of the MIJ jaguar with the new handmade tortoiseshell pickguard!

I know, I could've put strings on it but I wanted to do a fair comparison with the original pickguard (at the bottom).
Now you can compare VS what I would agree to define as a "sheet of plastic"
Without intending to sound presumptuous, I think you'll agree the new one plays in a whole different league!

I'm keeping this one, but I have another one in the making that might interest you.... A Jazzmaster that I think is going to look pretty awesome... More on that soon!

Cheers, François

[jasonpetzold]

Wow, that is incredible!

[Unicorn Warrior]

Now that you have it posted I recant my initial statement regarding the pale section between the rhythm circuit and neck. It looks great and very convincing. Impressive from your first guard.

[Jaguar018]

Very very cool. Tres bien!

[Synthsinthesky]

amazing! I feel a new wave of vintage tortoiseshell on its way. Not that spitfire's work isn't amazing, but maybe a little competition would be healthy for him...

[mackerelmint]

That's really nice. With all the time it took, as well as money and effort, that's clearly a labor of love. And really good looking tort, too.

[invisible man]

Gorgeous, GAS inducing tort! You could easily make a small business of this if you wanted.

[HarlowTheFish]

Okay I'm not even a tort guy but man this looks sweet

I've done some reading up on making tort-pattern celluloid before and I'm gonna be honest, if this is what you're getting after a year, you're gonna be giving the beloved vintage originals a run for their money in no time.

[andy_tchp]

Yeah, wow! Only giveaway it's not a real vintage piece is it not being all warped and shrunken.

[HarlowTheFish]

Yeah, wow! Only giveaway it's not a real vintage piece is it not being all warped and shrunken.

OP: *spends a year making the best tort guard I've ever seen*
TGP vintage snobs: "yeah no it actually fits and doesn't release toxic gases that kill hardware and won't crumble if you breathe on it"
OSG: *collectively withdraw all their savings for OP's 'guards*

[pad]

Please do a small business with those tort guards!
Looks perfect to me and i think that a mid range (65 bucks?) could be a real cool alternative to spitfire.

Just thinking...

[bodhi]

Please do a small business with those tort guards!
Looks perfect to me and i think that a mid range (65 bucks?) could be a real cool alternative to spitfire.

Just thinking...

I'll have one, need a custom thingie for my bass...