Cut A Pickguard for New Pickups?

For help with setups and other technical issues.
Post Reply
User avatar
inkeye
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1412
Joined: Thu May 14, 2009 11:17 am

Cut A Pickguard for New Pickups?

Post by inkeye » Thu Sep 01, 2022 3:09 pm

Hello friends,
I'm considering putting some new pickups in my Jazzmaster. I want to place some Hallmark 67 humbuckers in it. However, this is not a common pickup size. I will need a new guard.

How do I create a template for the new pickups for the pickguard?

Image

I'm pretty sure the pickups will fit in the cavity without any additional mods.

User avatar
Sweetfinger
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 460
Joined: Sun Nov 03, 2019 3:23 pm

Re: Cut A Pickguard for New Pickups?

Post by Sweetfinger » Sat Sep 03, 2022 11:03 pm

I'm assuming you're using a table router with a bearing guided 1/4" trim bit.
Cut four small pieces of acrylic or mdf, whatever you are using for template material with two right angled sides from the straight factory corners.
Cut four small pieces of card stock, like from the back of a pack of batteries or a cereal box. Each piece should be slightly shorter than one side of the pickup cover.
Plop your pickup face down on your template blank. Double stick tape the four pieces down to the template using the pickup cover as a guide edge. I stick the cereal box cardstock in between the pickup cover and acrylic/mdf to give a little wiggle room. Many covers are slightly wider towards the baseplate and by the time you've made your template and used it to cut your pickguard, you lose a little width.
Now that you have the four lengths stuck to a base sheet in a "box" shape, pop a hole in the base and cut it out using the "box" as a guide.
Check your pickup fit, and now the pickup will slide further down into the assembly. Leave it in the assembly face down and using a drill bit small enough to go through the mounting holes in the feet, mark the screw hole locations. Remove the pickup and with a larger bit, drill the screwholes.
Pop the temporary guides off and you now have a routing template for your Hallmark pickup.
Keep those straight chunks you used to surround the pickup. You'll definitely use 'em again.

User avatar
timtam
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 2729
Joined: Sun Oct 22, 2017 2:42 am
Location: Melbourne

Re: Cut A Pickguard for New Pickups?

Post by timtam » Sun Sep 04, 2022 3:46 am

Pickguards look like they ought to be straightforward to make but are surprisingly hard. Most approaches require pro tools like a table router, and experience. That's mostly what you'll see on youtube, plus some hack jobs. So first consider paying one of the custom makers to do it for you. This maker reportedly does good custom work with a wide range of JM variants (although there are other options) ...
https://www.ebay.com.au/str/earlpilanz/ ... 9748256010

Or this is about the closest I've seen an amateur get to a good result when making a guard from scratch with regular power tools.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OJ38XlQ0bs

At the other extreme is modifying an existing blank JM guard or one with pickup holes smaller than the holes you need; for example there are some inexpensive JM pickguards cut for strat pickups (ebay link below). You'd have to check carefully that your pickup is larger than any existing pickup hole (including the screw holes). Then you use a coping saw or dremel cutting disk to cut the hole to a size a little smaller than the size of your pickup, and finish the sizing with a big flat file (nice straight lines are best achieved with the wider tools).
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=ja ... uard+blank
"I just knew I wanted to make a sound that was the complete opposite of a Les Paul, and that’s pretty much a Jaguar." Rowland S. Howard.

User avatar
inkeye
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1412
Joined: Thu May 14, 2009 11:17 am

Re: Cut A Pickguard for New Pickups?

Post by inkeye » Mon Sep 05, 2022 3:44 am

Thanks for the info, friends. I think I may look into hiring someone to do this for me.

Post Reply