Making a Pick Guard.

I would think that you might need to use a dense wood, such as rose wood, or ebony so that it won't scratch easy.


I haven't personally done it, but you might talk to NukeDoc.
He could point u in tha right direction.

Aloha
Bob
 
I've never made one, but if I were to try I believe I'd look at vertical grade (thin) plastic laminate ("formica"). Tons of different colors, strong stuff.

thanks for your imput! I'll look that up right now!

Thanks again! I just looked it up, and we have that at our local Home Depot! I'm going to drive on over there once I finish up with what I am doing!
 
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hahaha you dont wanna talk to me about it. everything i do is ghetto stylee mickey mousing to the nth degree fa'sho!

i just used some floor tiling that i found at home depot. cut it into shape, and superglued it onto the ukes that i put them on.

but i dont condone this action. this can affect the tone. and if youre not very handy and crafty, you can easily make your uke look like dung.

do it the right way and use a thin, dense wood... or the clear mylar stuff thta dom pointed you towards. good luck.
 
hahaha you dont wanna talk to me about it. everything i do is ghetto stylee mickey mousing to the nth degree fa'sho!

i just used some floor tiling that i found at home depot. cut it into shape, and superglued it onto the ukes that i put them on.

but i dont condone this action. this can affect the tone. and if youre not very handy and crafty, you can easily make your uke look like dung.

do it the right way and use a thin, dense wood... or the clear mylar stuff thta dom pointed you towards. good luck.

haha thanks man! so Dense wood huh? how does that contrast the wood of the Uke though? or they have them in many colors?
 
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Stewmac have all the stuff you need but don't do it! If you must, use the clear plastic stuff over a stencil of your logo.:uhoh:
 
I have two Ukuleles by Kawika with Western Red Cedar tops. David Hurd uses clear contact paper as a pick guard. I have had one of my instruments for 10 years and have not taken off the pick guard which has done really well at protecting the surface from fingernail scratches and no noticeable negative effects on sound. I personally do not care for the look of a pic guard, whether it's wood or tile flooring, ha!
 
Check out LMI (Luthiers Mercantile International). They probably sell what you need. I think attaching the pickguard might be tricky. Make sure you get the right adhesive. If you're thining about a clear guard, you might have serious problems with bubbles. Some people have told me that their local luthiers would not install a clear guard because of bubbles. If you want it clear, try cling-on material (LMI sells that too). You can stick it on to play and pull it off when you're finished. That gives you a lot of flexibility in case you change your mind.
 
Hi everybody,

Is there a risk to use a "Kling-on" removable pickguard with the laquer finish of Kamaka's recent ukuleles???
I would like to protect mine with it but I don't want to make a mistake...
 
Hi everybody,

Is there a risk to use a "Kling-on" removable pickguard with the laquer finish of Kamaka's recent ukuleles???
I would like to protect mine with it but I don't want to make a mistake...

That's a good question actually. I asked Dominator about using a similar sticky product for a pick guard and he has added it to his tenor and didn't mention any damage. I'm not sure how it'd react with the Kamaka finish.
 
That's a good question actually. I asked Dominator about using a similar sticky product for a pick guard and he has added it to his tenor and didn't mention any damage. I'm not sure how it'd react with the Kamaka finish.

Aldrine has the clear mylar material on his Kamaka and hasn't caused his finish any harm that I know of. Might check with him directly though.
 
I am just curious as to why you want to add pickguards to ukes? I've played pretty agressively, a couple hours each day on my favorite uke for the last 3 years and all that has happened is it has made the dull finish look polished where I strum.

I always thought it was weird that on a guitar you spent all this money on fine tone wood and then a slab of plastic is slapped on the top.

I'm not trying to be contrary, just curious. :rolleyes:
 
I am not a proponent of wooden pick guards, either. Just a matter of preference, though. Not like I consider them a sin, but I usually talk my clients out of one, and gently guide them to the plastic film. One thing about the plastic is that it's darn near impossible to remove, once it's on there. You probably won't be changing it often, but it's a big hassle when you do. It's like removing the bumper sticker from hell, but it's not on your $30,000 car. It's on your $?.?? uke.
 
Thanks all for your answers,

I know the Mylar protection or other plastics films but they are both permanent.
That's why my question is about "Kling-On" material which is removable and with no glue based adhesion (http://www.kling-on.com/ss-2p-c.htm).
I wrote directly to Kamaka's team and they told me that it should not be a problem to place it, but they wants some picture before I do it. They want to make sure.

And for answer to Ukuleleblues or Moor Bettah Ukuleles, I want to add a non permanent pickuard because I want to keep my ukulele as long as possible and in good conditions.
I don't have it since a long time and there is already scraches where I strum.
At this speed I don't know how it will be in few years. Perhaps not 3 years but 6 or 10.
I don't think that thin films like that considerably change sound or tone of ukuleles.
Just look at Jake Shimabukuro (http://www.jakeshimabukuro.com/?t=pressgallery) with his beautifull (and expensive) custom Kamaka with
Koa master grade or Aldrine with his Tenor. I am not sure that they would have made this if it was not useful.
I do not compare myself with them but I simply understand that they want to protect their favorite instruments...
 
I am just curious as to why you want to add pickguards to ukes? I've played pretty agressively, a couple hours each day on my favorite uke for the last 3 years and all that has happened is it has made the dull finish look polished where I strum.

I always thought it was weird that on a guitar you spent all this money on fine tone wood and then a slab of plastic is slapped on the top.

I'm not trying to be contrary, just curious. :rolleyes:
I second this experience.. no scratches on my uke and I play pretty hard at times..e.lo
 
I've played pretty agressively, a couple hours each day on my favorite uke for the last 3 years and all that has happened is it has made the dull finish look polished where I strum.

I believe this comes down to an individuals technique and playing style. My Glyph tenor has a French Polish finish. When I first got the uke I didn't realize how easy it was to scratch. Within the first couple of weeks I had the instrument I decided to record my mp3 of Gently Weeps. I think it took me about 15 minutes to complete the recording and I just about fainted when I looked at the instrument afterwards. It was trashed. Lucky for me Dave Means contacted me and offered to redo the finish before it got any worse and installed the mylar guard at the same time. A harder poly finish may not have been affected the same way but aggressive strumming on a song such as Weeps will result in fingers touching the upper bout on both sides of the fretboard. Especially if the thumb comes into play during the strumming.

My technique may not be great but I don't think it's bad either. For my style of aggressive strumming I need the clear guard to protect the soundboard. If Jake or Aldrine didn't use the clear material, their ukes would look like Willie Nelson's guitar before they knew it.

I looked at the Klin-On site. I wonder if you can just get sheets of it as opposed to the individual sets they sell?
 
I looked at the Klin-On site. I wonder if you can just get sheets of it as opposed to the individual sets they sell?

Until now, I saw only their 1, 2 or 3 pieces sets on sales. Perhaps by contacting them directly and with a custom order it would be possible...
 
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