Vintage Pickguard Traces

Vintage Pickguard Traces and Templates

This is my collection of traced pickguards from the vintage instruments that I have worked on. I've traced them to provide documentation and reference material for individuals looking to make replicas and am providing them for free on my website. These tracings are done on standard 7.5"x11" printer paper with a #2 pencil and are scanned onto my computer. You should be able to print them out and use the 1 inch size reference to verify the accuracy of your sizes.

If you are interested in using these tracings to produce and sell replica pickguards, please be courteous and contact me first. Otherwise these are only for personal and not commercial use.

1965 Burns Vibraslim Bass

This pickguard is from a British-made Burns/Baldwin Vibraslim Bass guitar. It is 3/32" thick in total but the pickguard is mostly white with a 1/64th" thick black veneer on top. The words "Baldwin" are engraved in the pickguard

1940s Custom Kraft (Kay-built) Blonde Archtop

This pickguard is made out of a celluloid material that is red and orange and resembles lava from a volcano. It has two counter-sunk screw holes to mount into the body and it rests on two orange rubber washers and a white, paper backing to make the pickguard opaque. It is 5/64ths of an inch thick and does not have any taper or smoothing on the edges. It is mounted with two screws and placed on top of two, "pencil eraser"-color, rubber washers

1940s Custom Kraft (Kay-built) Natural Archtop

The pickguard is a translucent orange celluloid with green-black splotches added for a tortoise appearance. It has an 8th note engraving with white paint and faux gemstones inlaid into it. The pickguard is 1/16" thick and has a soft bevel all the way around.

1940s Kamico (Kay Musical Instrument Company) Parlor Flattop

This pickguard is a parchment color (possibly white but faded) with sharp, 90 degree edges all around. It is 1/16th" thick and mounted with two screws directly to the body

Late 1960s Kay Country Flat Top

The pickguard is 1/16" thick tortoise celluloid that is not bevelled around the edges. It also has an embossed Kay logo in a circle. 

1950s Kay K150 Archtop

The pickguard is 1/16" thick cream celluloid with a 1/16" thick tortoise celluloid control plate with a paper backing. The pickup ring is made from Brazilian Rosewood.

1960s Kay K5160 Auditorium Flat Top

Note the strange logo on the pickguard, that is because this guitar was branded TrueTone for Western Auto.

It is 1/16" thick cream celluloid without a bevel on the edges. 

1960 Kay K60 Jumbo Archtop

1960 Kay K6970 Swingmaster Semi Hollow

The pickguard is made from a plastic that has yellowed with age and is mounted with two screws directly to the guitar. The guard is 3/32nd of an inch thick with a bevel on all edges except the left side (facing the pickups) which is sharp 90 degrees. 

1945 Harmony 'War Time' Archtop

The pickguard is tortoise celluloid over a thin, white backing plastic. It was terribly corroded when I found it due to the pickguard gassing off but I was able to trace it and get dimensions. Also documented is the Brazilian Rosewood bridge which is bolted to the top of the guitar. These were only used during the early 40s due to metal rationing

1954 Silvertone Flattop Acoustic

This pickguard is also make of a "lava celluloid" and is translucent without a backing. It also has no taper but the edges are rounded about a 1/3rd of the way down the height of the pickguard. This pickguard is also 5/64ths of an inch thick and has three counter-sunk screw holes that mount directly into the body.