I performed some "plastic surgery" on 3 of my guitars.

Removal of the "Celluoid" Faux Tortoise Shell pickguards.

The only plastic part on the guitars. I never liked the look of these things on guitars. Especially acoustics with gorgeous wood grain.

I never liked how the pickguard was installed on my OO-40. It covered the beautiful abalone in the rosette. I have been threatening to remove it for over 2 years but never had the courage to do it until today.

After discussing the safest way to remove a pickguard with my good friend, and luthier, Bill Hatfield, he assured me it would work and told me to just take my time and be patient.

Naptha to dissolve the adhesive.

Dental floss and a disposable brush to apply the naptha to the adhesive to soften it as I gently pulled up working my way 1mm or less at a time. It took about 15 minutes to remove it and clean up the remaining adhesive residue. Zero damage done to either the top or the pickguard.

I liked the result so much I decided to take on the other two guitars. The Forum VI is so new it had no tan line.

Expected tan lines on the 2015 OO-40 and the 2017 LV-10 50th Anniversary model. I can even out the top and with the old photographic techniques of dodge and burn. Making a mask to shield the darkened areas and expose the lighter areas. Leave it sitting in a window with indirect sunlight for an hour a day until it blends in. The "tan lines" will completely disappear.

Happy with the results on all three of my babies.

The OO-40 was my first ever attempt of doing anything more than changing strings and adjusting the truss rod. The OO-40 was the least expensive of the three guitars. It has a couple of dings on it so, I felt a little braver using it as the first attempt.

Before: Notice how the pickguard covers the abalone ring of the rosette. It should not do that.


After:


The Forum VI

Before: The pickguard was not supposed to be installed from the factory but the first few that shipped had them installed. I have been wanting to remove it since the day I got it.


After: No tan line due to the guitar being only 6 months old and has never seen a window.


The LV-10 50th Anniversary Edition.

Before:


After:

Nicely done! I agree, the guitars look much better without...

Thanks wtg!

I am tanning them for a couple of hours. Facing out a window using indirect sunlight.

My crudely made tanning masks.

Good work
Most pick guards look worse than the damage they are supposed to prevent.

Excellent! Patience is often the most important part of taking tricky things apart...

That’s slow meticulous work, with a beautiful outcome. Nicely done.

Oh wow, 1) you are brave! But 2) they all look sooooo much better now!!!! How cool!

although, with or without, those are seriously beautiful guitars!!!

Good work! I like your aesthetic.