Swapped Legacy Special Pickguard

Mon Jun 23, 2014 1:25 am

I have a late 1990s Legacy Special that came with a white pick guard. I love the Blueburst finish, but always hated the white pick guard. I swapped it out for a black pearloid pick guard, and swapped the knobs and jack plate at the same time. I think it looks much better. I don't have a "before" picture, but here's after:
Image

Re: Swapped Legacy Special Pickguard

Mon Jun 23, 2014 5:03 am

Nice swap! That pick guard looks at home on that guitar.

y2kc

Re: Swapped Legacy Special Pickguard

Mon Jun 23, 2014 1:01 pm

As long as you like it.

So far I have acquired guitars and ordered different pickguards for all but one yet I have not followed through on swapping any. They all look good to me sometimes. I wish they were as easy to swap as changing a shirt. I'd probably have as many as three pickguards for at least a couple. In fact I have considered buying a duplicate model of guitar just to have it in a different color so this would be cheaper. :)

Re: Swapped Legacy Special Pickguard

Mon Jun 23, 2014 1:54 pm

y2kc wrote:Nice swap! That pick guard looks at home on that guitar.

Thanks. It was between the pearloid and a solid black one. I think I made the right choice.

Salmon wrote:So far I have acquired guitars and ordered different pickguards for all but one yet I have not followed through on swapping any. They all look good to me sometimes. I wish they were as easy to swap as changing a shirt.

I was surprised how easy it all was, actually. I took "before" pictures of the back of the old pick guard, which helped get things right on the new one. The one drawback and/or advantage was that I had to redo my pickup heights. I think I got a better tonal balance with my new heights.

If I were going with multiple pick guards for a more whim-based pick guard experience, I think I would invest in complete pickup and harness sets for each pick guard, and some sort of internal connector for the output jack, so that swapping the look was as simple as removing strings, unscrewing the old, screwing on the new, and restringing. Cheaper than different guitars, at any rate. (although probably not as much fun as different guitars)

Re: Swapped Legacy Special Pickguard

Mon Jun 23, 2014 1:59 pm

Lookin' good! It is amazing how is simple pg swap can change the personality of a guitar. ~P

Re: Swapped Legacy Special Pickguard

Mon Jun 23, 2014 7:38 pm

cbm wrote:
Salmon wrote:So far I have acquired guitars and ordered different pickguards for all but one yet I have not followed through on swapping any. They all look good to me sometimes. I wish they were as easy to swap as changing a shirt.

I was surprised how easy it all was, actually. I took "before" pictures of the back of the old pick guard, which helped get things right on the new one. The one drawback and/or advantage was that I had to redo my pickup heights. I think I got a better tonal balance with my new heights.

If I were going with multiple pick guards for a more whim-based pick guard experience, I think I would invest in complete pickup and harness sets for each pick guard, and some sort of internal connector for the output jack, so that swapping the look was as simple as removing strings, unscrewing the old, screwing on the new, and restringing. Cheaper than different guitars, at any rate. (although probably not as much fun as different guitars)

I take pictures of everything step by step including the box before I even cut the tape to open it.

The complete harness would make things simple but it isn't that important to me and it would not be worth it just for an occasional different color of pickguard.

Did you just dig in or did you have some form of reference before you started the swap?

Re: Swapped Legacy Special Pickguard

Tue Jun 24, 2014 9:12 am

Salmon wrote:Did you just dig in or did you have some form of reference before you started the swap?

I just did it. Ordered the pick guard (and vibrato cover) from Chandler, and the knobs, jack plate, and black screws from StewMac.

Re: Swapped Legacy Special Pickguard

Tue Jun 24, 2014 10:40 am

sweet up grade !!