Vintage Tele pickguard material?

Re: materials Fender used for '50s black pickguards. Today, one can purchase a reissue pickguard from Fender that is made of "bakelite", and callaham.com has black Tele pickguards made of what they descibe as "fiberboard". Which is closest to what Fender used in the '50s?

Thanks in advance for your illumination. I am fixing up the remains of a much-abused '56 Tele (which will really be a Parts-caster by the time I'm done) and want to get this guitar as close as I can to original stock Fender parts.

the old tele pickguards were made from bakelite. if you want parts that are close to the original fender parts, then I would assume that fender parts are.

another thing to do is to look for original fender parts on auction sites. they may be expensive, but if you want the guitar to look and be as original as you can get it, then this is the best way.

Callaham's pickguards are listed as "fiberboard bakelite," which is a redundant name. Bakelite is fiberboard impregnated with phenolic resin.

I have one from Fender and one from Callaham. The quality of the Callaham guard is most impressive!

Ciao,
Rick

Callaham's pickguards are listed as "fiberboard bakelite," which is a redundant name. Bakelite is fiberboard impregnated with phenolic resin.

Absolutely right. Have a study of The Blackguard Book and you'll see that the early pickguards were a fibreboard impregnated with phenolic resin which starts to break down and show obvious signs of the fibre.

The 52RI pickguards seem to be much denser and more "plastic" which suggests to me that these reissue ones aren't made of the same material as the fiberboard bakelite.

:cool: Peter

The modern equivalent to bakelite is commercially known as GAROLITE SHEET , BLACK, 1/16" THICK.

I've been cutting a few bakelite guards over the past year and have found that modern lacquers build quickly on it...you can easily put on .030" of finish in 6 or 7 coat passes. That's why it feels like "plastic".


***Editted to the correct decimal place....:rolleyes:

Thanks, guys. I think I'll check out a Callaham pickguard. Of course, a real '56 Tele pickguard would be best, but that would break the bank. I'd love to be able to compare such a thing to the reissues, though.

edit: there is an original '52 Tele bakelite pickguard on eBay right now; the minimum price is $3700! I'd love to be able to see/feel it, but buying it is impossible for me, sadly.

Thanks, guys. I think I'll check out a Callaham pickguard. Of course, a real '56 Tele pickguard would be best, but that would break the bank. I'd love to be able to compare such a thing to the reissues, though.

edit: there is an original '52 Tele bakelite pickguard on eBay right now; the minimum price is $3700! I'd love to be able to see/feel it, but buying it is impossible for me, sadly.

I thought '56 Teles came with a WHITE pickguard??

And that Black pickguards were on the first 1950-1954 'Blackguard' Teles?? If you want it to be close to original stock parts, shouldn't the pickguard be white?

Thanks,

Ed Hawley gave me a source for Garolite.

www.mcmaster.com

Sorry can't link directly to the page. Use their search function. A 12 in. x 12 in. x 1/16 in. sheet of Black Grade XX Garolite is $4.28.

The Garolite from McMaster works perfectly for making early 50's Bakelite guards. Shot mine with Deft rattle can gloss on top of a quart paint can for the underside halo effect. After a few years it should be indistinguishable from an original.