1950 Pickguard Material

1950-1954

Wondering what material they used for WHITE pickguards back then on early Esquires and Strats.

THANKS!!!

Celluloid:
Celluloid is the name of a class of compounds created from nitrocellulose and camphor, plus dyes and other agents. Generally regarded to be the first thermoplastic, it was first created as Parkesine in 1856 and as Xylonite in 1869 before being registered as Celluloid in 1870. Celluloid is easily molded and shaped, and it was first widely used as an ivory replacement. Celluloid is highly flammable and also easily decomposes, and is no longer widely used. Its most common uses today are the table tennis ball and guitar picks.

(Copied from Wikipedia)

There is a guy on the Canadian Guitar Forum that makes them
His first batch sold out real fast but I believe he is making more
Here is a link to his thread
nitrate pickguards (http://www.guitarscanada.com/Board/showthread.php?t=14786)

Here (http://www.oregonknifeclub.org/celluloid_02.html) is a neat site. Check it out. It says that "celluloid" is a trade name for cellulose dinitrate blended with a bunch of other stuff. For what it's worth, Mcmaster sells colored cellulose...I must get some and check it out, bond it to some black cellulose and make those "mint" guards!!:wink: :lol:

Hmmm...nitrate pickguards turned green. The ones before that stayed white. What's that made of?

FWIW, celluloid is no longer available as a pickguard material, but cellulose nitrate and acetate is, in addition to the more ubiquitous acrylic and PVC. It just depends on who wants to order the minimums. The company that imports and laminates these plastics for the guitar industry, Delmar Products in CT, also supplies the pearl, sparkle and glitter wraps you see on drums. You can check them out here:

Delmar Products (http://www.delmarproducts.com/OurProducts.htm)

Posted on TGP by Bhodie:

According to Fender, they acurately reproduced the exact same plastic (the styrene blend used for the pickup covers, knobs and switch cap, and the PVA pickguard material) when they made my '54 Fifthtieth Anniversary Masterbuilt strat. They used bits of plastic they had around from back in "the day" and took them to be analysed.

To get really deep:

Vinyl is commonly used as a shorthand name for polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic as used in a range of products from flooring to siding to wall covering. Most commonly, when a product is referred to as “vinyl,” it is comprised primarily of PVC. Occasionally it also may refer to polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) a closely related compound, used in food wraps (‘Saran’) and other films, that shares most of the same environmental health problems.

In chemistry, however, the term “vinyl’ actually has a broader meaning, encompassing a range of different thermoplastic chemical compounds derived from ethylene. In addition to PVC, “vinyls” in building materials also include:
-ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), used in films, wire coating and adhesives
-polyethylene vinyl acetate (PEVA) a copolymer of polyethylene and EVA used in shower curtains, body bags
-polyvinyl acetate (PVA), used in paints and adhesives, such as white glue, and
-polyvinyl butyral (PVB), used in safety glass films.

What differentiates PVC from the other vinyls is the addition of a chlorine molecule (the chloride “C” in PVC and PVDC). Chlorine is the source of many of the environmental health concerns with PVC, such as the generation of dioxin, a highly carcinogenic chemical produced in both the manufacture and disposal of PVC. Due to its persistent and bioaccumulative nature (it travels long distances without breaking down and concentrates as it moves up the food chain to humans) dioxin has become a global problem and an international treaty – the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) - now prioritizes the elimination of processes that produce dioxin.

Some of the non chlorinated vinyls (EVA, PEVA, PVA and PVB) are now beginning to be used as direct substitutes for PVC. EVA has been in use for several years as a chlorine free substitute for PVC – primarily in non building materials like toys and athletic shoes, but occasionally as a protective film or binder. In the building industry, post-consumer recycled PVB is now beginning to be used to replace PVC in carpet backing. Absence of chlorine alone does not make these other vinyls the final answer in the search for green polymers. There are still plenty of toxic challenges and untested chemicals in the life cycle of any petrochemical product. As is the case with most other polymers competing with PVC, however, the weight of available evidence indicates that the absence of chlorine in the formula will generally render the lifecycle environmental health impacts of PVB and the other vinyls less harmful than PVC and initial study is bearing this out. Like the polyolefin plastics, the use of PVB and the other non chlorinated vinyls represents a step forward in the search for alternatives to PVC.

It has the similar look and feel to any of the one ply white plastic pickguards that you can find today on any of the vintage reproductions.

Here is a picture:

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk273/Bhodie1/IMG_0108.jpg