Replacing an American Special pickguard

Hello everyone,

I recently purchased an American Special tele, and i wanted to switch the black pickguard for a white one, so I ordered one off of ebay. After it finally arrived and I went to switch them out, I found that the screw holes were not aligned, and the cut-out for the bridge plate was not deep enough to accommodate the ashtray bridge on my guitar.

I'm fairly new to telecasters, so i (foolishly) assumed a pickguard is a pickguard is a pickguard... as long as number of screw holes and pickup types matched i thought it would work.

Do they have model specific pickguards? or is there a chance that the replacement i ordered was just poorly made?

Does anyone have any good resources to find a white pickguard that would fit an American Special? Thanks everyone!

e-bay.

Aftermarket makers, you take your chances. Some are fine, some not so much.

Hello everyone,

I recently purchased an American Special tele, and i wanted to switch the black pickguard for a white one, so I ordered one off of ebay. After it finally arrived and I went to switch them out, I found that the screw holes were not aligned, and the cut-out for the bridge plate was not deep enough to accommodate the ashtray bridge on my guitar.

I'm fairly new to telecasters, so i (foolishly) assumed a pickguard is a pickguard is a pickguard... as long as number of screw holes and pickup types matched i thought it would work.

Do they have model specific pickguards? or is there a chance that the replacement i ordered was just poorly made?

Does anyone have any good resources to find a white pickguard that would fit an American Special? Thanks everyone!

You can try Angela.com. They supply Fender authorized parts.

http://angela.com/

http://angela.com/fenderteleparts.aspx

Thanks for the response, friends, much appreciated!

I was just checking www.angela.com, and while i was there i noticed a 4 way pickup selector, which i've been wanting to put in, for $16. I figured that was a decent price, so I added it to my basket, when i went to checkout, they wanted $60.47 just for shipping alone! that's insane!

Try this one: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Fender-Custom-Shop-4-Way-Tele-Mod-Switch-NEW-/380386579692?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item5890ce94ec

I was just checking www.angela.com, and while i was there i noticed a 4 way pickup selector, which i've been wanting to put in, for $16. I figured that was a decent price, so I added it to my basket, when i went to checkout, they wanted $60.47 just for shipping alone! that's insane!

Can't be right. Something has got to be malfunctioning somewhere. A pickguard and a 4-way don't even weigh a pound. I'll go to the site and see what I find. There may be cheaper sources to get pickguards from but with the problem you were having I referred you to someone who sells the actual Fender product.

OK, which method of shipping did you choose? I'm in Denver, CO. and via US Priority Mail the shipping for both is $7.90 and that's a 2 day service in transit. That's the least expensive option they can offer that will allow tracking.

The same package shipped Fed Ex Overnight would be $40.55. Is it possible that's the one you selected by mistake? I'm guessing the Fed Ex shipping to you in Canada might be more costly which may explain the $60.47.

There are two different USPS options and three different Fed Ex. Just make certain you select the lowest cost one.

It only gives me one FedEx option, FedEx International Economy, and it really does cost that much.

I get 2 USPS options, Priority Mail International ($28.25), and Express Mail International ($34.25). so even with those options it's still way too much to pay for a switch. But i found a very good, reasonable deal on ebay for an original fender switch from the states. so thankfully i didn't get ripped off.

Also, thanks to you guys for indulging me while i was complaining about shipping rates. i didn't mean to really make a big deal out of it, but every once in a while it feels good to rant i guess :) Thanks again Soulman for helping me find some genuine parts. i think rather than try and save a few bucks on ebay i'll just buy original next time.

Try this one: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Fender-Custom-Shop-4-Way-Tele-Mod-Switch-NEW-/380386579692?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item5890ce94ec

The Ebay pic is an Oak Strat 5 way switch :shock:
It would never work and the no returns policy is bad

It only gives me one FedEx option, FedEx International Economy, and it really does cost that much.

I get 2 USPS options, Priority Mail International ($28.25), and Express Mail International ($34.25). so even with those options it's still way too much to pay for a switch. But i found a very good, reasonable deal on ebay for an original fender switch from the states. so thankfully i didn't get ripped off.

Also, thanks to you guys for indulging me while i was complaining about shipping rates. i didn't mean to really make a big deal out of it, but every once in a while it feels good to rant i guess :) Thanks again Soulman for helping me find some genuine parts. i think rather than try and save a few bucks on ebay i'll just buy original next time.

No problem doof. Must be your location and you're right that's way too much money. I could have it sent to me and then probably mail it to you by ordinary mail for a lot less than that. I ordered my last 4-way from AcmeGuitarWorks and it ran just under $20 shipped. I'm sure I could get one safely to you for much less than $28.25

It's good to know how much more expensive it is to have these outfits ship out of the country. There must be some places in Canada to get that switch too but if I can help you get it from here any more efficiently let me know.

I also have another source for pickguards you may want to check out but it's not a US source. I hesitated to suggest them until I'd had a personal experience with them but today I received one for my MIM Standard and the other for my CV Jazz. The CV Jazz fit like it was factory installed and the MIM needed just a little bit of filing around the neck cut so that it would fit perfectly around the control plate. The holes all matched perfectly and quality of the material was first rate.

Here's the outfit; https://www.eyguitarmusic.com/

I can't vouch for their other products but the pickguards were first rate and both cost me under $20 shipped. Very inexpensive.

The Ebay pic is an Oak Strat 5 way switch :shock:
It would never work and the no returns policy is bad

Nope! The pic shows a 3 way switch. However, you receive a 4 way switch. I have ordered some from that seller and they are 4 way switches.

It only gives me one FedEx option, FedEx International Economy, and it really does cost that much.

I get 2 USPS options, Priority Mail International ($28.25), and Express Mail International ($34.25). so even with those options it's still way too much to pay for a switch. But i found a very good, reasonable deal on ebay for an original fender switch from the states. so thankfully i didn't get ripped off.

Also, thanks to you guys for indulging me while i was complaining about shipping rates. i didn't mean to really make a big deal out of it, but every once in a while it feels good to rant i guess :) Thanks again Soulman for helping me find some genuine parts. i think rather than try and save a few bucks on ebay i'll just buy original next time.

Who did you end up ordering from? My peeve about some US ebay sellers is that they provide free shipping to US destinations but us Canucks have to pay for shipping and sometimes we have to pay a lot.

Soulman: Thank you very much for the offer, that's very kind of you! I may take you up on that some day. I live in a smaller city, with only 2 guitar shops, and neither carry that switch, and the closest big city is a 2 1/2 hour drive. Back to pickguards... do they usually need to have the neck cutout filed some more in order to fit the ashtray bridge? or should there be one cut to fit already?

Glen: the seller i bought from is named bigsurf1958. in fact you can see exactly what i bought here... http://www.ebay.ca/itm/400286640565?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

i only paid about $5 shipping, and i believe that's reasonable, at least compared to a lot of other shipping rates to canada i've encountered online, so i'm happy.

Alright, thanks.

Soulman: Thank you very much for the offer, that's very kind of you! I may take you up on that some day. I live in a smaller city, with only 2 guitar shops, and neither carry that switch, and the closest big city is a 2 1/2 hour drive. Back to pickguards... do they usually need to have the neck cutout filed some more in order to fit the ashtray bridge? or should there be one cut to fit already?

Glen: the seller i bought from is named bigsurf1958. in fact you can see exactly what i bought here... http://www.ebay.ca/itm/400286640565?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

i only paid about $5 shipping, and i believe that's reasonable, at least compared to a lot of other shipping rates to canada i've encountered online, so i'm happy.

Maybe those guitar shops can find a Canadian source to buy the 4-way doof. It's criminal that US firms charge so much to ship into Canada. Unfortunately EY Guitar Parts doesn't sell a 4-way or you could try theirs though I'm not sure I'd trust the quality compared to an Oak-Grigsby.

The cut out for the bridge fit my MIM fine but that's not an ashtray bridge. I had to do a little filing in the neck cut out to get a better fit around the control plate but that was it. The one for my CV Jazz fit perfectly with no filing.

EY offers specific ones for different Teles; https://www.eyguitarmusic.com/Aftermarket-Tele_c_11.html. Log on here and find the one that best fits your model. Quality is excellent as well as the price.