Uke pickguard

cb56

cb56

Well-known member
Joined
May 15, 2010
Messages
1,146
Reaction score
0
Location
Central Illinois
Anyone put a pickguard on their ukes? Anyplace to buy one?
My sweaty fingers are already eating through the finish on my new DS Gill uke so I think I'll add a pickguard. I don't want it looking like willie nelson's guitar by next month.
I was thinking something like a mini version of a martin acoustic guitar pickguard or a Taylor.
 
May have to make your own due to different uke sizes, sound holes, etc. Lots of folks using clear pick guard, but a great source for pickguard material is guitarfetish.com
Have to be careful, some guitar pickgards materials too thick.
 
Hey Chris!!
If you buy they StewMac stuff I will split the cost with you. I would take 2 of the 4 in the pack. If you want I will order it and you you pay me. your choice
 
my ideas on pickguard

I didn't want to stick something on my uke because of the finish and changing the vibration of the uke so I got the idea of using a clamp on viola chin rest which clamps on to the edge of the uke and extends a 1/16th of an inch above the surface of the uke to the fingerboard and can be taken off easily without marring the uke soarcj
 
at 0.13mm thick. it will not do anything to the sound. a thick plastic one might. Nice idea with the viola chin rest.
 
All my ukes have some clear protective film on them. I use the same that are used on flamenco guitar for the golpe. It's thin and damn durable and will protect your uke even for very hard and fast strumming a la Jake.

It won't change anything to the sound of your uke since it's very thin. I always put one for the upper and one for the lower part...the upper is usefull if you're doing some tapping on your uke. It's also useful if you're doing some triplets and you come up with your thumb...when going fast, you can touch your soundboard.

It's very cheap also! You should look for a luthier near where you live. Most of the time, they do have some in stock since it's quite an usefull accesories in the classical and flamenco guitar world.
 
Last edited:
I never care about my ukes getting chewed up. That said, I've an old Regal on which the gouging was so bad I was about to put a hole in the thing, so I cut a custom guard from some material I got from Luthiers Mercantile. The sight of a pickguard on a uke ain't pretty, but it works fine.
 
Please keep in mind that clear plastic Kling-On type pickguard material specifically says that the finish should be cured for a MINIMUM of 6 months and the material should be removed immediately each time after you play...especially if the finish on your instrument is nitro-cellulose lacquer. I learned the hardway after a week-long guitar festival, 4 of the guitars we were showing had a bad chemical reaction with the Kling-On material and they had bubbles and ripples in the finish once we removed the Kling-On material. The tops on all four guitars had to have the finish repaired. It was very time consuming and labor intensive to repair the guitars, not to mention that it took them off of the active market!!! Understand, it was our fault because we ripped the packaging open and stuck them on the guitars to protect them during the festival without reading the packaging. That was a hard lesson learned!!!!

Jon
 
ukeeku said:
Hey Chris!!
If you buy they StewMac stuff I will split the cost with you. I would take 2 of the 4 in the pack. If you want I will order it and you you pay me. your choice
Click to expand...

Sounds like a plan. If you don't mind getting it that would be cool. We'll get together soon and I can show you what's going on with my GS Gill.
I think I have acidic sweat that is causing this. When I was young trombone player my hands ate the laquer of my trombone where I held it.

btw my uke was made in oct. 2010 so we should be good on the finish being over 6 months.
Also I sent an email to WD who does alot of custom pickguards for guitars. They wanted $35 to do one but I could design it however I wanted. Maybe later.
 
Last edited:
soarcj said:
I didn't want to stick something on my uke because of the finish and changing the vibration of the uke so I got the idea of using a clamp on viola chin rest which clamps on to the edge of the uke and extends a 1/16th of an inch above the surface of the uke to the fingerboard and can be taken off easily without marring the uke soarcj
Click to expand...

Interesting idea! Is there any way that you could post a photo fo what you did using the viola chin guard? That would be great!
 
Well, over two years later I finally get around to doing something about it.
DSGpickguard.jpg
I was worried about the pickguard effecting the sound but I hear no difference before and after.
Did this freehand with a pair of scissors so not the greatest job, but at least I know my uke will be around in playable shape for years to come.
 
I prefer to just keep the magohany look in my uke and I don't care about nails' scratches on the ukulele surface. In fact I feel that is more interesting to see that my instruments are being played a lot.
 
If it was just nail scratches I'd agree with you. mine was heading in this direction.
willie-nelson-456-042012-1334929372.jpg
 
cb56 said:
Well, over two years later I finally get around to doing something about it.
View attachment 61728
I was worried about the pickguard effecting the sound but I hear no difference before and after.
Did this freehand with a pair of scissors so not the greatest job, but at least I know my uke will be around in playable shape for years to come.
Click to expand...

That's pretty cool. I've been thinking about doing something like that with one of my Fleas, but mainly just because I love tortoise-shell.
 
My first uke 5 months ago was a Maholo UT-30 Fender Telecaster style. It didn't have the iconic pick guard, so I made one myself, cutting out a plastic For Lease sign, pure white on the back. Came out really well, but it only took a couple of weeks to find that soprano was too small for me, so I sold it and went tenor only.

I just ordered an East-Start arch-top steel string that also does not have the classic pick guard, it looks a lot like my Ibanez arch-top, so I may just make a pick guard for the East-Start too.

u1aMahalo.jpg
Mahalo tele pick guard.jpg


archtop style.jpg
arctop pickguard.jpg
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Regster
pickguard for satin uke
Replies
1
Views
440
Ukulele JJ
Ukulele JJ
Kahai
  • Article
UU Podcast What to Bring to a Uke Festival | The Ukulele Underground Podcast #113
Replies
0
Views
14
Kahai
Kahai
JDP
Strings Living Water on my Kepasa concert uke
Replies
2
Views
86
Jim Hanks
Jim Hanks
W
Baritone Uke Sizes - HELP!
Replies
7
Views
218
Kei
Kei
Wildjoy
uke vs. low humidity
Replies
9
Views
244
Jerryc41
Jerryc41
Top Bottom