Question for Frank (and others) on removal of old pickguard

[Hanzalot]

Hello Frank (and others of course),

I was told to seek your advice on the pickguard issue described below:

I’ve recently gotten this lovely old Gibson FJN from 1964 and since one of the pickguards isn’t in too good a shape I’m considering getting it removed – there is one corner and a small area, about 1/2 x 1-1/2” that has lifted as well as some black freckles on there -  you can see it pretty well in the close-up pics attached (here is a pic of the entire guitar: http://www.hhrasmussen.dk/Guitar/FJN1.JPG if you would like to see it).

My question is, whether this is such a difficult job that I should find the best luthier/repairman possible (I know of one but he is in another city) or if on the contrary, it is something that’s not too hard to do, and which I can leave in the hands of a local (who might be just as good, but whom I have no experience with or recommendations for and thus will be taking a little bit of a chance with)?

Also, I’ve been told that the two good ways of doing this is to either use a knife or gas – while using a hairdryer is a bad choice since it may affect the glue on the braces inside the guitar. Any opinions on that?

And would there be an alternative to removing it? As in some way do repair the "wrinkle" and the lifting corner and remove the black freckles (they appear to have perhaps been burned in, perhaps marks from cigarette ash or something)?

Finally, the other pickguard looks to be in near flawless condition. Can I expect it to stay that way for the foreseeable future or would it be wise to have it removed as well to save me the trouble later on? I would really like to leave it on there since it’s kind of the guitar’s signature, I think.

Thank you very much for your help,
Hans

[griff]

Unless it obstructs the playability of the instrument, I would leave it. It's a 40+ year old instrument with a lot of character.

That said, I would suggest trying the local repair guy. It's very difficult to get started in this business, and even more so without anyone taking a chance on you. Start small and test him out, maybe bring him a set up or small job and look for things like attention to detail, easy to work with, other projects he's done, and first time price breaks. If he's just starting out, and serious about building his reputation, he'll be happy to accommodate.

[Ned Knepp]

That looks like a nice Gibson Folk guitar. I agree with Griff, on this. If it were mine, I probably wouldn't do anything about it. I've got a steel string with a pick guard that has been coming up on the edge for 20 years. It's not causing any structural issues so I don't worry about it. Someday I'll fix it but it's a non issue now.

I also like Griff's advice about the local repairman. If you don't try him, how will you ever know about him?

Ned

[Hanzalot]

Thanks for the help guys. Do you have any idea whether it might be possible to repair the "wrinkle" and the dark "freckles"?

Best,
Hans

[Pierre-Antoine Roiron]

You can try to remove the dark stains with naphtha or using a wet microfiber cloth (you can even add some soap). For the wrinkle, I'm not sure there's a solution.

[Hanzalot]

UNfortunately I think they're scratched or even burned in there so I don't think a cloth will do much good. I was thinking if there was some white material (paint-like) that could be applied on top or something (just guessing...).

Hans

[Tim Mace]

That dimple would be a good place to start if you were to remove p/g.A cpl of things I've used are WD40 or Goofoff to attack the adhesive but not sure what final appearance to expect.Goofoff doesn't seem to disturb
a well cured finish.Sound too wierd???

[Joshua Levin-Epstein]

I would not do anything except play the guitar. I'll bet that guitar left the factory with that wrinkle in the pick guard. These "flaws" are really quite minor and addressing them may decrease the instruments value, especially if the work shows.

Just play it and try to avoid going up the neck. That guitar was supposed to be strung with either steel or nylon strings so the saddle isn't compensated.

Joshua

[Ned Knepp]

Hanzalot,
Is it possible to repair the guard? Yes, but every repair I've ever seen leave traces however small and the issues you have with this guard, in my opinion, don't warrant the inherent risk involved in exacting an "invisible" repair. Looking at the picture you posted of your guitar in the case, it really looks like a very clean example of the model to me. If your intent is to collect perfect examples of guitars, I suppose repairing these thing might be worthwhile but this looks very nice as it is now and I doubt that fixing these things would do much for the value. If it were mine, I'd just enjoy playing it.

Let me ask you, do you ever use a flat pick?

Ned

[Hanzalot]

Hi Ned, No flatpick as the guitar is set up for lap slide (and no flatpick on my regulars for that matter). I'm really not concerned about the value, as this is not a guitar that will ever leave my hands again - I just want it to look as good to my eyes as possible. And while this is indeed a very clean example of this lovely old model, the few issues on the pickguard are bothering me a little and so I wanted to check my options out. And it is nice to hear, that it might be possible to repair it.

Thanks,
Hans