cleaning fibers stuck to the underside of a pickguard

[Mark Pollock]

The topic about says it all. The 1982 Guild that I'm working on had a crack developing next to the pickguard, which has shrunk just enough to start causing problems (and checking the finish as well.)

I've got it off without much trouble, just a few loose fibers of wood to glue back in place on the top, not a problem.

The pickguard itself is in fine shape and will flatten out nicely, but there are lots of bits of fibers adhered to the back. How do I clean those off without melting the guard itself? Is naptha going to do the trick, or something stronger (and yet still safe)?

I assume that I should put a nice layer of lacquer on the newly exposed area of the soundboard before clamping the whole thing back together. And then it is touchup time - yippee.

[FRANK]

maybe scrape with a straight razor

[William F.Eden]

 Well Mark I will do my best to answer your question. Naptha should not do it any harm but I would try turpentine on it to be safe and scrape it with a razer blade . And yes put some finish on the spot befor putting it back on. Mark I would guess you know about the new peel and stick stuff you can get from Stu.Mack to put the guard back on with? GOOD luck .Bill..........

[Mark Pollock]

Thanks Bill and Frank -

Yes Bill, I know about the peel and stick stuff, but the guard is actually in fine shape, I just need to reglue it. It was kind of wierd - it came off pretty easily, and had no bond whatsoever with the soundhole ring. I'm not sure what it was glued on with, I'm just glad it wasn't too solid - if it had been glued on better, it could have really ripped up the soundboard! (I know there is heat damage here, and I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that the pickguard shrank more thanks to some heat.)

[Frank Ford]

You can reglue the pick guard safely and securely with TItebond if you DON'T clean up the fibers!

Read this:

http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Luthier/Technique/Guitar/Pickguards...

[Mark Pollock]

I was actually reading that quite a bit before posting, and was very pleased to not have the problem of the guard sticking to the soundhole ring.

But - should I do anything to the bare wood before I go for this? Part of my concern is that this thing will continue shrinking, and I don't want to make an impossible job for myself or someone else in the next 50 years. Or maybe I should stop worrying....

Thanks for the reply.

[Christian Johnson]

Mr. Ford is correct.  I've reglued plenty of them with Tightbond.  You'll get better adhesion if you leave the wood bare.  Don't worry about shrinkage.  You've got years!  Use a good flat stiff caul. I use a thick (1/2") piece of plexiglass I cut to pick guard shape.

[Frank Ford]

It's not a "problem," but a distinct advantage to have the pickguard sticking to the sound hole ring.  When regluing the guard with Titebond, it wants to slide around, so I personally wouldn't try gluing and clamping it without first tacking down a tiny bit with a dab of superglue in a couple of spots.

As to the future, it's no more difficult to do a reglue once it shrinks more.  I've reglued quite a few some 20+ years after doing it the first time.  And, like any wood gluing operation, you don't want to add anything to the bare wood ahead of the glue.

[Mark Pollock]

Would there be any advantage to lacquering the bare wood and then just getting a new self-stick guard instead? Or am I just chasing a different kind of trouble?

[Mark Pollock]

One other factor that I've realized - the grain runout seems to go up and then down several times in the run under the pickguard. Slivers have pulled up (but stayed very orderly) in both directions. Would this make removal even uglier in the future, or would it end up about the same? Or am I just worrying way too damn much about this?

[Mark Pollock]

After a night to stop worrying about this, I just wicked