SCAM ALERT: fake celluloid nitrate pickguards on ebay & reverb by portlandmusic aka fender parts & pickguards

Discussion of newer designs, copies and reissue offset-waist instruments.
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andy_tchp
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Re: SCAM ALERT: fake celluloid nitrate pickguards on ebay & reverb by portlandmusic aka fender parts & pickguards

Post by andy_tchp » Tue Jun 28, 2022 5:00 pm

Yeah, I'm sure we've covered this before.

Given there are now alternatives (Lavaguard/Avantguard/Spitfire) not sure why you'd bother.
"I don't know why we asked him to join the band 'cause the rest of us don't like country music all that much; we just like Graham Lee."
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Re: SCAM ALERT: fake celluloid nitrate pickguards on ebay & reverb by portlandmusic aka fender parts & pickguards

Post by theninthwave » Tue Jun 28, 2022 10:55 pm

andy_tchp wrote:
Tue Jun 28, 2022 5:00 pm
Yeah, I'm sure we've covered this before.

Given there are now alternatives (Lavaguard/Avantguard/Spitfire) not sure why you'd bother.

um...it was inexpensive and i liked the way the material looked before i found out it was a print?

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Re: SCAM ALERT: fake celluloid nitrate pickguards on ebay & reverb by portlandmusic aka fender parts & pickguards

Post by theninthwave » Tue Jun 28, 2022 11:03 pm

while we're on the subject of the portland music guards, i just looked at the surface of the guard under bright light. it has hundreds of circular hairline scratches on it. meaning that it looks like he used some sort of buffing device to create artificial play wear, which looks totally unnatural and doesn't follow any natural picking or plucking pattern. sooo bad! ridiculous.

i will check out avantguards.

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Re: SCAM ALERT: fake celluloid nitrate pickguards on ebay & reverb by portlandmusic aka fender parts & pickguards

Post by Sauerkraut » Wed Jun 29, 2022 1:47 am

theninthwave wrote:
Tue Jun 28, 2022 10:55 pm
andy_tchp wrote:
Tue Jun 28, 2022 5:00 pm
Yeah, I'm sure we've covered this before.

Given there are now alternatives (Lavaguard/Avantguard/Spitfire) not sure why you'd bother.

um...it was inexpensive and i liked the way the material looked before i found out it was a print?
Fair enough, I guess, Spitfire for one is maddeningly expensive. But that scammer charges roughly the same Lavaguard does (at least in this case), and Lavaguard pickguards look great even on a shitty phone pic:

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Re: SCAM ALERT: fake celluloid nitrate pickguards on ebay & reverb by portlandmusic aka fender parts & pickguards

Post by theninthwave » Wed Jun 29, 2022 1:54 am

Sauerkraut wrote:
Wed Jun 29, 2022 1:47 am
theninthwave wrote:
Tue Jun 28, 2022 10:55 pm
andy_tchp wrote:
Tue Jun 28, 2022 5:00 pm
Yeah, I'm sure we've covered this before.

Given there are now alternatives (Lavaguard/Avantguard/Spitfire) not sure why you'd bother.

um...it was inexpensive and i liked the way the material looked before i found out it was a print?
Fair enough, I guess, Spitfire for one is maddeningly expensive. But that scammer charges roughly the same Lavaguard does (at least in this case), and Lavaguard pickguards look great even on a shitty phone pic:

Image
agreed, for the same money...the lavaguard actually looks great. i can't see spending spitfire money. at that point, i'd rather just buy an original vintage guard...but i think at the point that we're buying 300-400 dollar pickguards for looks, we've lost sight of what's really important.

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Re: SCAM ALERT: fake celluloid nitrate pickguards on ebay & reverb by portlandmusic aka fender parts & pickguards

Post by theninthwave » Wed Jun 29, 2022 1:55 am

ps...imo, lavaguards look more natural than spitfire...more like the real deal.

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Re: SCAM ALERT: fake celluloid nitrate pickguards on ebay & reverb by portlandmusic aka fender parts & pickguards

Post by Sauerkraut » Wed Jun 29, 2022 2:00 am

theninthwave wrote:
Wed Jun 29, 2022 1:54 am
agreed, for the same money...the lavaguard actually looks great. i can't see spending spitfire money. at that point, i'd rather just buy an original vintage guard...but i think at the point that we're buying 300-400 dollar pickguards for looks, we've lost sight of what's really important.
Definitely. I think 300-400 dollars are better spent on something like a Squier Bass VI. That said, I'm shallow enough to enjoy looking at nice tort to an absurd degree.

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Re: SCAM ALERT: fake celluloid nitrate pickguards on ebay & reverb by portlandmusic aka fender parts & pickguards

Post by Francer » Wed Jun 29, 2022 9:43 am

theninthwave wrote:
Mon Jun 27, 2022 2:08 pm
Francer wrote:
Mon Jun 27, 2022 7:38 am
I can see a repeated pattern in the JM and strat guards so there is something fishy going on. I wonder if the identical Strat guards are literally just the Reverb and Ebay listings for the same actual pickguard?

<edit> no, they are different guards with the same pattern - busted!

I have actually bought a couple of these in the past, they seemed OK to me, but not even close to the quality of real boutique stuff.
the two strat guards are the same pickguard on ebay and reverb simultaneously. the noteworthy part is that if you look at the link to the jazzmaster guard i purchased and compare the area immediately above and to the right of the bridge pickup to the area in the lower fin of the strat pickguard, you will notice the IDENTICAL pattern. that would ONLY occur if this was a printed material, which it is. the pixels are clearly seen under magnification. he knows it is a print, and yet he has chosen to advertise it as real "celluloid nitrate".
I know the conversation has moved on, but they are different guards, look at the position of the most distinctive swirl with respect to the nearest screwhole on the lower horn, so I agree with, definitely printed.

Also, those guards are not his usual material, the earlier ones with the thicker black line I’m pretty sure they are all unique, I’ve actually owned three and in pre- lavaguards era I found them decent enough given I couldn’t afford Spitfire or genuine vintage. I’ve replaced them all with lavaguards now which is in a different league.

Also, I can’t see any pixillation on the portland guard I still have remaining in my spares drawer.

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Re: SCAM ALERT: fake celluloid nitrate pickguards on ebay & reverb by portlandmusic aka fender parts & pickguards

Post by PixMix » Wed Jun 29, 2022 2:11 pm

Here's a WD guard cut for an atypical tele (three bridge pickups). It fit absolutely perfect and it's cut very clean. It's not a printed pickguard, but it's not the most beautiful tort you can find either.

Image

Image

Image

Image

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Re: SCAM ALERT: fake celluloid nitrate pickguards on ebay & reverb by portlandmusic aka fender parts & pickguards

Post by marqueemoon » Wed Jun 29, 2022 2:55 pm

PixMix wrote:
Wed Jun 29, 2022 2:11 pm
Here's a WD guard cut for an atypical tele (three bridge pickups). It fit absolutely perfect and it's cut very clean. It's not a printed pickguard, but it's not the most beautiful tort you can find either.

Image

Image

Image

Image
It looks good to me.

Not every guitar needs special snowflake pickguard material.

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Re: SCAM ALERT: fake celluloid nitrate pickguards on ebay & reverb by portlandmusic aka fender parts & pickguards

Post by MattK » Wed Jun 29, 2022 5:58 pm

Looks perfect! Heck, I even like the crazy red MIJ stuff from the 90s. Wish I hadn't sold this one:
Image

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Re: SCAM ALERT: fake celluloid nitrate pickguards on ebay & reverb by portlandmusic aka fender parts & pickguards

Post by alexpigment » Thu Jun 30, 2022 5:04 pm

If they're printed guards, then I agree that the price is a bit steep, even with the manual relic work done afterward. With that being said, getting a picture of the actual guard you're receiving is a huge plus. I've got a handful of tort AVRI guards in a box that were around $50 or so, and they all looked dark and boring (stock pictures used on the listings of course). In other words, I would have been better off spending money on one of the guards in question, as you get to choose the visual pattern you like.

Obviously I'm not defending misleading descriptions on the listings, but I do feel like the service offered has a place in the market.

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Re: SCAM ALERT: fake celluloid nitrate pickguards on ebay & reverb by portlandmusic aka fender parts & pickguards

Post by efiug » Thu Jun 30, 2022 10:45 pm

MatthewK wrote:
Wed Jun 29, 2022 5:58 pm
Looks perfect! Heck, I even like the crazy red MIJ stuff from the 90s. Wish I hadn't sold this one:
Image
Honestly I think this is my favourite kind of tort, I gotta look into places I can get something similar for any future builds.

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Re: SCAM ALERT: fake celluloid nitrate pickguards on ebay & reverb by portlandmusic aka fender parts & pickguards

Post by theninthwave » Thu Jun 30, 2022 10:52 pm

PixMix wrote:
Wed Jun 29, 2022 2:11 pm
Here's a WD guard cut for an atypical tele (three bridge pickups). It fit absolutely perfect and it's cut very clean. It's not a printed pickguard, but it's not the most beautiful tort you can find either.

Image

Image

Image

Image

wow, you got lucky. i ordered a couple jazz bass pickguards from them and they were a mess. this portlandmusic guard, assuming they made it, is an abomination.

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Re: SCAM ALERT: fake celluloid nitrate pickguards on ebay & reverb by portlandmusic aka fender parts & pickguards

Post by theninthwave » Thu Jun 30, 2022 10:55 pm

efiug wrote:
Thu Jun 30, 2022 10:45 pm
MatthewK wrote:
Wed Jun 29, 2022 5:58 pm
Looks perfect! Heck, I even like the crazy red MIJ stuff from the 90s. Wish I hadn't sold this one:
Image
Honestly I think this is my favourite kind of tort, I gotta look into places I can get something similar for any future builds.
same here. even though it's a print, the japanese red stuff on the MIJ guitars looks awesome to me. i don't necessarily have a problem with prints. i just want to be told i'm buying one, not misled, deceived, and conned into spending a lot of money on something that is not what the seller claims it is.

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