Custom pick guard

[ben howes]

I have a Korean made Sigma GCS2 flat top acoustic which isn't half bad. But I hate the pick guard which is trying to look like tortoise shell but instead looks like cat sick.
I'd peel it off but the wood underneath is now a different colour to the rest of the top.
How do I buy a new one that will fit appropriately? Can I cut one out myself? Can I scan it in and get one custom created?
Thanks
Ben

[Wonks]

They tend to be a fairly standard size for the make of guitar, and it's a Martin so you can certainly buy replacements for Martins. Looks like a 000 sized guitar., so I'd search for "000 size scratch plate".

[ben howes]

Thanks Wonks, I had not appreciated how closely mirrored they were to Martin models. That's helpful.

[Wonks]

The original Sigma brand was a Martin project to build cheaper versions of most of their guitars in Japan. Rather like Fender and Squier, but this started in 1970, well before Squier started. About the time Squier started, production moved to Korea. Martin then introduced cheaper Mexican made ranges under the Martin name, and finally closed the Sigma project in 2007.

The Sigma brand name was then bought by a German company who after a short pause to set things up, produced Chinese-made versions of Martin styles, though they didn’t have the right to duplicate the model names. They expanded the range of guitars to include smaller Martin styles that the original Sigma didn’t cover. They then started to also produce guitars based on Gibson and Taylor models.

So there’s a definite reason why a lot of the Sigma guitar range ape the Martin guitar styles.

A warm iron to soften the glue, and a wallpaper scraper to get under the edges of the scratch plate, is the normal way to remove an acoustic scratch plate.

The new one is almost certain to come with double sided tape on the back, so it’s just a matter of and cleaning old adhesive off the guitar, removing the backing, carefully
aligning it, and pressing it into place.

[ben howes]

Interesting, thanks. I find very few vendors of these items tell you the radius of the concave side!

[ben howes]

In the end I bought a cheap piece of pick guard material from China. It was flimsy and easy to cut with sharp scissors. I made a 'brass rubbing " of the existing guard to use as a template.
Rather than remove the old one, I just laid the new one on top. Looks better than before and took 15 minutes, so I'm happy.

[Sam Spoons]

People pay extra for old 'laminated pickguards'

[ben howes]

I've got enough material left to make it "3 ply" !

[Sam Spoons]

Woo-hoo (happy days...)

[Wonks]

Though on an acoustic you really want it as thin as possible whilst still affording protection, to let the top vibrate as much as possible.