What IS the deal with LP pick guards?

WiresDreamDisasters

I like them.

Keefy

It’s not just Les Pauls. My CS336 (a Gibson Custom Shop instrument) came with a blazing white pick guard that could have been part of an 80s kitchen appliance. It’s in the loft along with the one off my Les Paul.

idiotwindow

ICBM said:

idiotwindow said:

It's amazing that anyone ever managed to play one professionally. I've no idea how the likes of Page and Clapton coped with all those creaks and clicks.

Taking them off didn't seem to do Green and Kossoff any harm. And making them play better than Page and Clapton, of course...

You'll be telling me that Slash is a better player too! 

wellsyboy

Never thought about it until now - won’t sleep tonight now!

JayGee

The trouble is that every time I’ve seen somebody try to do something “better” (tortoiseshell, fancy wood, metal, mucking about with the shape, adding bits of engraving...) it’s ended up looking worse so the choice comes down to yes or no, and for both my Gold-Top Tribute and my old black CSL Custom-a-like I come down marginally on the side of yes (and with the poker chip in place)...

Philly_Q

dazzajl said:

Take a look at Gretsch Jet, that uses much the same set up. It's thick piece of perspex with a glistening peal backing that catches the light and has a three dimensional look in the light. With a nice little Gretsch logo that adds to the aesthetic.

It's a different aesthetic though.  Gretsches tend to be solid colours, maybe quite fancy sparkly ones, but very few sunbursts or figured wood tops.  So you get a large, uniformly coloured top which is set off nicely by ornate hardware, binding and scratchplates.

With Les Pauls - concentrating on sunbursts - you have a top which is several different translucent colours over a lot of flame, or quilt, or just wood grain.  It's visually complex.  The "trimmings" need to be plain so they don't clash.  Even a 3-ply scratchplate might look a bit odd.

Personally, it's one thing I don't have a strong opinion about.  I think LPs look fine with scratchplates and fine without.  I don't think I'd go out of my way to either remove or add one.

ICBM

idiotwindow said:

You'll be telling me that Slash is a better player too! 

Hmmmm.

Exception that proves the rule?

dazzajl

Philly_Q said:

dazzajl said:

Take a look at Gretsch Jet, that uses much the same set up. It's thick piece of perspex with a glistening peal backing that catches the light and has a three dimensional look in the light. With a nice little Gretsch logo that adds to the aesthetic.

It's a different aesthetic though.  Gretsches tend to be solid colours, maybe quite fancy sparkly ones, but very few sunbursts or figured wood tops.  So you get a large, uniformly coloured top which is set off nicely by ornate hardware, binding and scratchplates.

With Les Pauls - concentrating on sunbursts - you have a top which is several different translucent colours over a lot of flame, or quilt, or just wood grain.  It's visually complex.  The "trimmings" need to be plain so they don't clash.  Even a 3-ply scratchplate might look a bit odd.

Personally, it's one thing I don't have a strong opinion about.  I think LPs look fine with scratchplates and fine without.  I don't think I'd go out of my way to either remove or add one.

I agree a Gretsch plate would be all wrong. The comparison is that Gretsch have evolved and considered the aesthetic while Gibson have just stuck with the very poorest quality plastic available. My personal opinion on that, as always worth exactly what you’re paying for it, is that when buying such a premium product, one deserves more 

Pabcrane

I always found it odd that they used the bent bit of steel instead of the screw & nut frame (used on the other ES models) for the scratch plate. 

Boromedic

dazzajl said:

Funkfingers said:

The pickguard is a throwback to the Jazz boxes for which Gibson was known at the time. (So are the body outline and carved arched top.) Remember, Les himself was playing a mixture of Jazz, Country and Pop. That was the target market for Les & Ted's broomstick guitar.

I totally get where it came from and what it's supposed to do. What I don't get is why they are still like that? Prosthetic limbs and hearing aids have moved on from the beigeist greige, so why is the most visible bit in the middle of a £4K gibson still a 2p bit of plastic in the most unattractive of colours that doesn't even match the other plastics? See exhibit three posts up

I have to deal with hearing aids and prosthetics a lot at work and they're more brown in colour than the cream of my pick guard. There's a Fiat 500 shade that matches them perfectly. Plus the pickguard matches the binding, it's the pickup surrounds that are the wrong shade. They're a different plastic that's why they've aged to a different shade. Mine is nearly 22 years old.

TTBZ

All pickguards can look like a cheap bit of plastic! I mostly prefer guitars without, although both my current guitars do have one as I can't remove it (SG batwing and a strat)! Les Pauls look so much better without and I don't see the point, the strings are raised quite a way off the main body with the carved top + TOM bridge. I anchor my pinky on the bridge or pickup surround (side of the pickup cover on an SG) so it's not even any use as a rest. Makes more sense on a flat topped guitar to me. 

ICBM

Pabcrane said:

I always found it odd that they used the bent bit of steel instead of the screw & nut frame (used on the other ES models) for the scratch plate. 

If you *must* have a pickguard, I prefer the 'bent bit of steel' - it's a neater and cleaner design, less unnecessarily complicated, and doesn't snag on your trousers as much when you're sitting down.

ThePrettyDamned

not_the_dj said:

It’s it a finger rest as opposed to a scratch plate?

Actually another reason to lose them - bad practice! I get wrist ache if I anchor my finger.

That said, you may well be right... 

viz

idiotwindow said:

 It's amazing that anyone ever managed to play one professionally. I've no idea how the likes of Page and Clapton coped with all those creaks and clicks.

Sounds even worse now they're older

TINMAN82

“Pickguard”? You mean Pinky Rest?

Slash'N'burn

My Custom came with a black 3 ply pickguard (I think so anyway, but I don’t know where it is) that didn’t look too bad.  I like to see more of the top carve with it removed. 

Fuengi

Just go naked. 

DrBob

Wasn’t there a period relatively recently where the LP Standard didn’t come with it fitted, Gibson supplied it in the case for the buyer to fit if they wanted to

Sassafras

It's always puzzled me they use fancy figured tops and then plonk a lump of cheap plastic over them.
Still, not as annoying as the stupid strap button placement.

SlopeSoarer

Personally I think they look right.

They still keep selling plenty of Les Paul's so it seems to me like they have a winning formula... why change it if it is what people want!?