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Post by Ripper on May 21, 2006 10:27:38 GMT -5
Hey gang! I spent a pretty penny getting a[glow=red,2,300] celluloid pickguard [/glow]for my Strat. I think it looks great.  Now I hear that celluloid shrinks with age!  Is there any truth to this?...or does anyone have any first hand experience? |
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Post by quarry on May 21, 2006 11:33:53 GMT -5
This from the "Fret Not Guitar Repair" site: "A common plastic used on instrument pickguards, tuning buttons and binding. Celluloid is known to shrink and deteriorate with time and may require replacement on some vintage instruments. It has a minty, spearmint smell when scraped or sanded, just so you know. That fact helps me pick it out amongst a hundred other strips of binding when sorting thru my lot of celluloid, ABS and other plastics." I'm gonna guess you have a little bit of time before this becomes an issue for you...  |
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Post by sumgai on May 21, 2006 15:41:58 GMT -5
deep, Depends on a lot of conditions, but quarry is right, it's only a matter of time. I have a buddy with an all-original 1959 Jazzmaster (who will die in a tragic accident one day, right after he "forgets" to take his ax home with him ;D). His pickguard is so shriveled up that he literally had to drill new screw holes, and cut relief in it for the two thimbles where the bridge posts sink down into the body. It's actually not a very pretty sight, but it is all original, and worth mucho buckos. Don't talk to me about the tone, I don't wanna hear it!  Conversely, I've seen several pre-CBS Strats that have pickguards that are almost completely intact, only minimal shrinkage. Yet just from the coloring, you know they are celluoid, not PVC or some other replacement material. Amazing stuff. I'm sorry to report that unlike wood, I've never learned exactly what conditions make celluoid behave like this. Certainly the common stuff like humidty and temperature, but I'm sure there are other factors involved. I might put a finger on taking care of the guitar in general (clean and polish it, even the pickguard), not sweating like a pig all over it, not exposing it to beer, that kind of thing, but what do I know? Zip. Let's see if we have a 'tone-celluoid' guru among the crowd here. ;D sumgai |
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