Tortoloid Acoustic Dreadnought Pickguard

I bought the pick guard for a 1979 Alvarez 5063. I followed the advice on the various StewMac videos on removing the old pickguard (using a lamp) and removing the old glue (Naphtha) and 0000 steel wool. When the pick guard arrived, I was initially disappointed that it was lighter than I was anticipating. Another reviewer said that he bought three and liked one of the three better. So if you are picky about your pickguard, you might want to order a few and return the others. However, I went forward with the advice from a StewMac video using two pieces of tape to act as hinges to ensure that the pick guard gets placed exactly as I wanted it the FIRST time around. I did this and practiced about 5 times with the hinge to ensure that the hinge was properly placed. Then I removed the protective paper and simply laid down the new pick guard with the tape hinge. PERFECT! Also, after you remove the white protective paper, I found out that the pick guard is translucent and that it looks darker than when you look at it with the protective paper. It looks beautiful on the guitar (see photo). It is still a bit lighter than I thought and lighter than what was on there in the past. However, you can see that, being translucent, it shows the beauty underneath and makes for a beautiful looking pickguard that complements the guitar.

I purchased three of these. I love how two of them turned out. The third I didn't really like the pattern; I didn't realize how much till i installed it. That guitar alao has lots of abalone so maybe that's why I didn't like the look too. I'm replacing it with a black one.

An elegant addition to a humble guitar.

Good looking pickguard. It makes my D35 stand out from the crowd. I had to do a little trimming on it to get it to match up to the rossette, but it was no big deal at all. I just shaved it with a razor blade untill it fit.

I thought this pricey, too, but it makes my Recording King RD-10 look great. Many others "notice" it and have to comment. I would definitely buy this again.

Good quality and it looks great on my guitar but I don't think its worth $29. Next time, I'll buy some raw stock and make my own.

I've been looking for a pickguard for my new Eastman E10D since they don't come with one. I looked at several guitars, browsed the internet stores, and read blogs before I decided what to go with. So many pickguards have the pattern printed on the surface. With this material, you can still see the grain of the wood through the pickguard. I was worried that a pickguard might dampen the sound, so I wanted to go with a thin material. The Tortoloid didn't affect it.

I ordered this to replace a really wierd pickguard on my Recording King RD 327 adi top guitar. Fit perfectly and looks great. My luthier here in Nashville said it was a simple task. Top shows thru well and it looks great PLUS the guitar sounds much better. Yippee!!!

Absolutely gorgeous, the perfect pickguard for my custom Scott McNeill OM. Love the warm look and natural feel.

Wow. Really cool. Just the thing for my Gibson L4A. It looked bare without the pickguard. Very easy to work with, I had to trim the sound hole diameter but it was not hard to have it look like a bought one.