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I need help with an OCD issue I have been having that is which pickguard works best with my lake placid blue strat. I have made a bad habit of buying cheap pickguards on ebay well because they're cheap and over the years I have accumulated a stupid number of unused pickguards.

I can't really figure out which one I should stick with. To my eyes, they all look OK, but I need outside help.

Currently it has white:


the other options I am debating are brown tort and anodized gold.

here are some comparison photos:






for the record I have used mint, but i'm feeling that option the least.

Is that LPB? It kind of looks like OTM in pics.

Pepe Silvia wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 16, 2020 7:13 am

Is that LPB? It kind of looks like OTM in pics.

yeah it has yellowed a little bit over time. different lights pick up the colour differently.

I voted white. Some people will think that is boring. I say that that it is a neutral pairing that lets the LPB shine, where the other choices overpower the blue. The white also creates the classic strat look and will always look cool. If you'll entertain other options though, I would go with parchment or eggshell.

Really, they all look good, a lighter tort would possibly look better but none are horrible.

There is only one correct answer … white

I would usually say White, but I like the Gold a lot more than I thought I would.

If you go with White, it’s going to look better if you match the knobs and pickup covers too. At least to me there’s a bit of “soiled nappy” look when they’ve aged differently enough to stand out like that.

Of the options presented, definitely white. In an ideal world, parchment.

White is definitely the safe choice. It will always look classic, but the gold looks really good to me, so that's my vote.

Pearl, 3-ply white (or some kind of off-white like mint or parchment), gold, or single-ply black are the best with LPB IMO. Pearl really pops with the blue (tort looks pretty congested to me though), the various tones of white look clean and crisp, and both gold and black give me early Fender/G&L proto vibes which I really dig.

White is classic, gold looks cool, modern tort is imo already kinda meh on the colors it's supposed to go well with (white, black, sunburst, natural, even red) but with blue it's a huge no for me.

Wildcard: Pearloid is often tacky but I like it on blue.

I like the gold the most. But have you considered (silver) aluminium, or 1-ply black?

4 pics isnt pic heavy? Have a look at any of the cool Sookwinder threads if you want to see what pic heavy means.

White and gold look great btw.

That specific tort, not so much. Some others might work but not that one.

White in this case. But I like an authentic mint green best with LPB. Interesting given the number of recent blue/tortoise guitars from Fender that that mix doesn't seem to be a very popular combination here.

alright. thanks for the feedback for reaffirming some of my suspicions. I think I will keep the white one on.

I'm a little tempted to get a pearl pickguard, but i think i'll hold off LOL.