Pick Guards

  • Thread starter Thread starter dachay2tnr
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dachay2tnr

dachay2tnr

One Hit Wonder
What's up with the lack of pick guards on guitars these days? When did this become a trend?

I can go either way with the aesthetics, and understand how some people could prefer exposing more grain. But isn't this going to be an issue over time. It may look great out of the box, but how's all that extra grain gonna look when it's all scratched up?

Comment as you see fit.
 
Anyone that scratches the face of their guitar with a pick needs a serious revision of their playing technique.
 
ocnor said:
Anyone that scratches the face of their guitar with a pick needs a serious revision of their playing technique.
Click to expand...
Actually I was thinking fingernail scratches, since I tend to rest my fingers there while playing.

However, if scratches are a non-issue as you suggest, why were pickguards invented in the first place? Did someone just think putting a piece of plastic on a guitar would make it look better? :confused:
 
Who needs a pickguard?! willie.webp
 
Seriously though, I'm wondering whether maybe today's finishes are harder, mitigating the need for a pickguard. ???
 
I would remove the pickguards on some of mine...but then you have holes left over from the screws.

Maybe they should include the pickguard unmounted, as an option.
 
I removed the pickgaurds on my 2 Les Pauls and ES-335. They get in the way of picking. I dont get any scratches at the bottom anyway, it is the top that gets scratched. On my Martin Acoustics the pickgaurds definitely do their jobs, if they werent there they would look like Willie's Martin "Trigger".

VP
 
Pickguards are ugly things on most guitars. Strats seem to pull it off fairly well, but I'd never wanna see one on a Hufschmid. They are fairly useless for anyone who can actually use a pick properly.The most you're usually gonna get is some pick dust buildup. Easily wiped away. Another reason strats use them are for the routing. Some of them are routed for HSS, yet use SSS. So to hide the extra routing, they put a pickguard over it. I can see that being more handy really. The elevated pickguards you see on Les Pauls are use more for the elevation. Their bodies are faily rounded, but the guard gives you somewhere to rest your hand comfortably. I even prefer the Les Pauls without guards too though.
 
The question wasn't really whether you like pickguards or don't like them. I was trying to ask when did things change. Maybe my memory is just bad, but it seems to me that years ago there were no guitars built without pickguards. And nowadays at least half the guitars you see don't have them - including several les paul models. So when did things change? And why?
 
dachay2tnr said:
The question wasn't really whether you like pickguards or don't like them. I was trying to ask when did things change. Maybe my memory is just bad, but it seems to me that years ago there were no guitars built without pickguards. And nowadays at least half the guitars you see don't have them - including several les paul models. So when did things change? And why?
Click to expand...

When - Some time in the late 80s/early 90s from what it seems to me. I'm sure there are some even earlier, but it's with bands around then, that I really start to see them.

Why - Because, as already stated, they are pointless... and a lot of people just like the look of a guitar without a pickguard.
 
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