Is There a Trick to Make this Pickguard Work?

[aldaa]

All I know is that GFS stuff SAYS it fits, but in my experience, none of their crap has ever fit my guitars. I bought their brass TOM tailpiece/bridge for a Gibson SG I used to have... says it fits all USA Gibsons. It was off by maybe 2-3mm and I wasn't about to drill the hole out to be larger on a Gibson. (they actually suggested this in customer service emails) I also bought some telecaster pickups from and the baseplate screw holes that mount it to the bridge were cross threaded. Let's just say I haven't had any good experiences with anything I've bought from them.

In my experience, their quality control is not very good, but you get what you pay for. In other words, save the money and buy something better. Their product descriptions read like a used car salesman.

 

[pcake]

GF doesn't actually say it will fit.

 

[fhm555]

I’ve rarely had a replacement guard where all the holes lined up perfectly. It takes about ten munutes to fiil the holes with toothpicks and CA glue, fill to a small dome on the hole. When the CA dries, shave it down until it’s flush with the finish then set the guard and drill new holes as required.

 

[Ross W. Lovell]

I haven't seen undrilled ones, but yeah that would be a good alternative to having a custom one made. I wonder if anyone sells them like that.

I'm not sure that it won't be a "custom", just because it doesn't have holes.

The big problem, for some reason is manufacturing if the same guitar in different places and at different times somehow doesn't guarantee consistent product. I'm using Epiphone as an example.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I think GF just imports stuff from China, not legendary for their QC or consistency. I ordered a cheap tort guard from Guitarlily (China) for my sons beat up MIM P-Bass, the holes were close, but I had to drill out a few. But not perfect, pup openings a little tight, etc. About what you’d expect for a $12 pickguard. Nice things are expensive!

 

[Turnaround]

Undrilled might solve one problem. But then you might find that the pickup rout is slightly off. So get one that is undrilled and unrouted. But then you might find gaps at the control panel. So best buy one unshaped, undrilled, unrouted blank - i.e. sheet.