Guitar Reviews 4U Quickguards Brian Setzer Gretsch 6120 Hot Rod Flames Truss Rod Plates

 

Guitar Reviews 4U adding Quickguards Flames Truss Rod Plates 

to the Gretsch 6120 Brian Setzer Hot Rod guitars 

Quickguards Truss Rod Cover Plates in Silver Sparkle

The new Brian Setzer Gretsch 6120 Hot Rod guitars look pretty amazing and I've upgraded mine with Pickguards as this make them easier to play I have found - recently I found a site called Quickguards in the USA offering a great variety of pickguards and truss rod plate covers. 

I could see the truss rod plates listed on the website would look great upgrades over the stock black and white sandwich type fitted as stock to the Hot Rod guitars. So I purchased some silver sparkle ones for my Hot Rod 6120s. The beauty of these guitars is that they can be easily upgraded to your own taste.

Back in 2015 the Brian Setzer Hot Rod models changed specification and lost the square Brian Setzer Hot Rod model label, replacing it with the engraved truss rood cover. 

I liked the 2015 truss rod cover idea, but I felt they should have also kept the square plate on the headstock too, the Hot Rod pickguard was also dropped around that time. I prefer a pickguard as I find you can use to brace the fingers for precise playing.

See my other article on adding a Gretsch Hot Rod guard to a modern era Hot Rod here:

The 2015 Hot Rod models dispensed with the metal Brian Setzer model plate -

The replacement was an engraved Truss Rod cover - they should have put both on!

The Quickguards Truss Rod covers in Silver Sparkle, appealed to me as I had already on my 2022 guardless guitars, added genuine Hot Rod Pickguards - see below.

Paint removed Gretsch Hot Rod pickguard on the Green Sparkle

Gretsch Hot Rod flames pickguard added to the Blueburst

I test painted Tamiya clear X-23 Blue and clear X-25 Green acrylic

 paint as test finishes onto a clear plastic carton lid -

The overlay of the lid gave me a test view of the final finish 

without having to put paint onto the Silver Sparkle guard at this stage

I ordered two of the silver sparkle plastic Truss Rod covers from Quickguards. They are busy people there and the guards took a while to be made and to arrive, but they are very good. When fitting, they advise to just tighten down the guard onto the surface of the guitar lightly and not to overdo the screw pressure.

The Hot Rod selection 2022, 2005 and 2022

The guards have round ferrules where the screws sit and if you tighten down too much on the plastic sheet material it can split. Just for guidance here.

The clear Green acrylic - I tinted some clear Acrylic with small amounts of Green.

This just toned down the silver slightly, without darkening the guard too much

On the guitars I used for this project - a 2022 Blueburst Hot Rod and a 2022 Extreme Coolant Green Sparkle Hot Rod, I laid the new unpainted guards over the originals to see how they looked against the paint finish on the guitars.

The finished guard has some contrast to the paint finish -

and looks better than the stock plain finish black and white guard -

the Hot Rod name and flames are not lost under a 'too dark' coated finish

To get the right shade on the guard, I first test painted onto a clear plastic lid some Tamiya Acrylic Clear X-25 Green and X-23 Clear Blue sample swatches and tried the guards under the samples to see how they looked.

The blue looked a bit too dark, so I left that for the moment, for the Green I tinted the green colour in small doses into clear Tamiya Acrylic to get the right amount of colour hue, without losing the transparency or having the Green colour too dark and overpowering the sparkle on the guard when painted on.

                                       The plain silver sparkle works nicely here -

The guard contrast is good against the blue, but guard could be blue tinted blue -

however, as this guitar has a silver pickguard fitted, this is now a matching 'set'.

On the Blueburst Hot Rod, I found that the clear blue used neat would be quite close to the guitar colour, so I left the guard on that guitar just silver for now, as below.

This really works nicely and matches the silver pickguard on the guitar

On the Extreme Coolant Green guard against the guitar finish, the silver looked very bright, so to tone it down I tinted some clear Tamiya Acrylic with some clear Green. 

As the Green is quite a strong colour, the idea was to have the clear Acrylic with a hint of added green to show off the silver but to tone down the harshness and darkness of neat Green clear tint.

The silver / Blue theme on the Blueburst 6120 guitar -

a difficult colour to photograph but to the eye is amazing!

Nice if it was blue sparkle!

The Green Sparkle finish on that guitar is quite vibrant so the toned down guard looked good.

As I have a clear guard on the Green Sparkle guitar, the toned down Truss Rod plate fits in nicely.

For the final touch, on the Green guard I clear coated the paint with X-22 Clear coat, giving the guard two coats to finish off, all the colours and clear coats were applied with a soft paint brush by hand.

Guitar Reviews 4U - D'Addario EXL125 9-46 Nickel Wound Guitar Strings review

 

D'Addario EXL125 9-46 Strings review

I fitted these strings to a Maple neck Custom Shop 59 Stratocaster that was giving me problems with the truss rod adjustment meaning I had to take off the neck more than on any other guitar I have owned to keep adjusting it.

So, to add a bit more load to the truss rod I looked at using slightly heavier strings than the 9-42 set i was using on that guitar.

So after some research, I tried these EXL125 'half heavier' set strings on the guitar in place of the 9-42 D'Addario set I had on it previously. It needed more load on the rod but not the extra load from a 10 set loading weight I guessed.

I use the standard D'Addario 9-42 strings on most of my other Stratocasters and they are great there with no issues, these EXL125 strings have slightly heavier bass strings as used on the 10-46 set, otherwise the top 3 strings of the EXL125 set are the same gauge and loading as the 9-42 set.

Checking out the string tension against the 10-46 set and the 9-42 set, these EXL125 strings sat in the middle of the range for string pull in pounds. So I thought that these were worth a try out to see if it would resolve the issue.

The EXL125 strings have done a great job and the slightly heavier bass strings has improved the guitar's sound (it has Custom Shop Fat 50's pickups fitted from the factory). The action is still very slick but there is more relief on the neck than on the 9-42 set.

Now the strings have settled and the guitar has been played for an hour, it sounds great, feels good and has sorted the loading issue on the truss rod and I haven't had to go back and adjust the string saddles or trem block height which is a bonus.

So a win all round.

Nice strings, great sound and work well. I have used this brand for 40 years!

Guitar reviews 4U - Gretsch 6120 Brian Setzer Hot Rod guitar G6120-HR 2401215836 Candy Blueburst finish - this guitar is amazing

  

Gretsch 6120 Brian Setzer Hot Rod in Candy Blueburst finish

Our review for you is for the Gretsch 6120 Brian Setzer Hot Rod  -

You will be blown away by the 'Blueburst' colour when you see it for yourself

Brian Setzer's partnership with Gretsch since the late 1990's has spawned affordable model editions of his classic 6120 and the modified 6120 Hot Rod guitars.

Blueburst 2022, Lime gold 2005 and Green Sparkle 2022 Hot Rods

Now in the 5th generation era, the Hot Rod series has produced some desirable guitars over the last almost thirty years. One particular favourite of mine was the Regal Blue 6120 Hot Rod, a guitar I have rarely seen for sale on the used guitar market.

The Blueburst colour -

the lack of a pickguard is notable here - one is now fitted

When I was aware of the current 6120 in Candy Blueburst, I was interested in one but after seeing it on a video in less than ideal lighting, I did think again. I had seen a 6120 Chet Atkins in blueburst as a used guitar which wasn't in the best of condition for about £500 more, so when an extreme coolant green 6120 came along, it was for me.

The blue paint really sets off the inlaid name 

and the chromed hardware

However, I did rethink the Hot Rod in blue recently and I am glad to say I did go for one that was on sale at £1999 and I review it here for you. Like the Anniversary Green guitars, the Candy Blueburst paint is a difficult colour to photograph and to the human eye it really is amazing, the photographs of this guitar don't really do it justice. 

Brian Setzer loves his Gretsch 6120 Blueburst too!

It has the Hot Rod 'trick paint' effect in that in certain light sources the colour can change shade. The metallic candy effect certainly contributes to this.

The Brian Setzer decal adorns the rear of the headstock -

Locking machines take care of tuning stability

As with this and the last era Hot Rods, the guitars now do not feature a pickguard, or a pickguard in the case to fit later. I personally prefer the guard fitted for playing and aesthetic reasons, which I have contacted Fender about but they have not responded on this. 

I fitted a genuine Hot Rod guard to this guitar, which will make it look like the earlier Regal Blue incarnation of the guitar and improves the playability. If you fit a Pickguard you may find that you need to use the Bigsby plastic spring spacer washer - this is in the bag with the Truss Rod Nut spanner. 

Detune the guitar, lift the Bigsby arm and take out the spring, put the washer in the 'well' where the spring sits and put the spring back in - top in first and then let the arm down so the Bigsby seats on the spring, then tune up and you will find that the arm is at the right height for a Pickguard.

One of the best of the Hot Rod 6120 colours ever - 

Genuine Gretsch Brian Setzer Hot Rod Pickguard now added

This new edition 6120 Hot Rod also features the single volume control moved nearer to the edges of the lower body horn, not something that I see adds any value and looks a bit out of symmetry with the lower horn. It looks frankly oddly placed when compared to an earlier hotrod.

The placement of the volume pot looks odd compared to a 2012 Hot Rod

Against a standard modern era 6120, the Hot Rod has a 9.5 inch radius neck at the nut, it is a joy to play and for those modern Stratocaster players used to a Player series or a 50's reissue Stratocaster, then you'll feel at home here. 

The 6120 with a 5420T Korean Electromatic -

The Korean 5420T has a slightly deeper body and no trestle bracing

These Gretsch Hot Rod guitars are made by the Terada company in Japan and the build quality and finish is superb. The paint on this guitar is difficult to spray as the graduation between the two shades of blue is hard to achieve, the paint is a Candy paint, having that slight metallic look. 

The guitar paint to the human eye is like a Kingfisher bird, which has blue plumage that shimmers in the light and reminds me of how this paint catches the light. Of the two shades of blue on this guitar I prefer the darker one, but the guitar is almost like a combination of the recent electromatic series blue shades here Fairlane Blue and Azure metallic. The combo of the shades really works.

The blue finish is hard to capture on film -

it is outstanding and has metallic lustre small candy flakes

The Hot Rod utilises the 59 Trestle bracing construction on the Hot Rod guitars - a fixture since 2004 and has a thinner maple laminate body like a 1960 6120 and is slightly thinner than my 5420T Electomatic in the pictures, but the 6120 is nicely bright sounding too.

The Brian Setzer signature TV Jones pickups are bright and sound great, I used my 6120 Green Sparkle Hot Rod version with a jazz band recently and it sounded great. 

Against a TV Jones 6120 Hot Rod from around 2005, the newer Brian Setzer Signature pickups are noticeably brighter sounding and have a slightly higher output volume. 

These new signature pickups fall between Filtertrons and DeArmonds in sound, having a nice woody sound on the neck pickup and at the same time clarity and a clear treble sound on the top strings. On the Bridge pickup these guitars have a real cutting Treble sound. The neck pickup gives an unmistakeable Gretsch sound.

A Vanson Roller Saddle Tunamatic was installed -

With a Pickguard fit the plastic space washer under the Bigsby Spring 

as the 'no guard' Hot Rods have a shorter Bigsby Spring -

the washer will bring the arm up to the right height with the guard fitted

The neck is a nice slim feel and to it and is superbly crafted by Terada. Topped off with Gotoh locking machines, which make string tuning and stability when using the Bigsby much more secure. The Bigsby design here is my favourite type, the B6C 'V' type. It has an easy action and contributes to the great sound.

For preference, I swapped the original Tunamatic rigid 'knife edge' saddle bridge for a Vanson roller saddle Tunamatic, which helps keep the guitar in tune when the Bigsby is used a lot. I've used the Vanson roller saddle bridge on about 8 Gretsches and the unit is inexpensive but an improvement over the knife edge Tunamatic fitted as standard.

Pickguards improve the playing experience

Both these 2022 6120 Hot Rods have guards fitted

Strap locks are equipped on this guitar and it is an improvement to have these for ease of strap fitting and removal. 

The guitar sits well on a strap and does not 'dive' as it is equally balanced. Across a number of playing styles it is versatile and playing is easy and you are not having to fight the guitar to get a good playing experience. 

The Japan necks are really a joy to play, once the guitar is set up you can just get on with enjoyable playing and not find yourself struggling to play. This guitar is a delight to play and I have not been disappointed with any of the ones I have played. Mostly I use one for Swing or Jazz and the sound and the playing experience is great.

The B6C Bigsby is such a good unit - 

far superior to the one that came with the 5420T originally

This particular 6120 Hot Rod example is particularly nice to play, that said I have owned 6 Hot Rod 6120's in all over the years and have found all of them to be very nice players.

I have over the last 40 years owned around 20 Gretsch guitars and the Japan made ones are the best in my view, that includes owning 60's and 70's American made Gretsch guitars. 

I definitely recommend one of these great guitars!

If you're considering a 6120 Hot Rod, the Blue one is fantastic, I did look  at the Candy Magenta and Magenta Sparkle guitars too but wasn't totally swayed by the colour which was a bit pink - having owned a candy apple red one before I should have kept! 

I understand that the Hot Rod model is difficult to keep evolving with colours, finishes, guards or no guards and flamed tops or solid paint colours, but we do get a really good guitar at the end of it. I do think they should include a guard in the case with the guitar even if not fitted as a production process.

The guitar now has a Quickguards Sparkle Truss Rod cover fitted 

The 6120 is supplied with a Gretsch hard case with purple faux fur lining, the interior case pocket has a set of Grover Strap Locks included, Truss Rod spanner and a plastic packing washer for the Bigsby to increase the arm height, the washer sits under the Bigsby spring as described earlier.

Quality of build and finish is superb on these Japanese made guitars. This guitar was new but somewhat old stock, not set up and the Rosewood fretboard was dry, hardly acceptable from a guitar shop calling itself a leading retailer.

That aside, a new set of D'addario 10's, an oil or two and a set up and it sounds as fantastic as it looks.

The guitar showing the Quickguards Sparkle Truss Rod cover fitted 

With a list price of £2499, at £1999 in a summer sale it was a great deal although I had been considering it for some months I am glad I did go for it. 

As I have been setting up guitars for many years, having to do this job wasn't a big issue but for a guitar of this ticket price the guitar should have been ready to play out of the box.

Try one and see for yourself! You will want one. Buy one before they are gone!

Guitar Reviews 4U - New Gretsch Brian Setzer Hot Rod no Pickguards issue - fitting one to a 6120 Hot Rod Extreme Coolant Green Sparkle guitar

 

Gretsch 6120 Brian Setzer Hot Rod - with or without pick guard? 

Guard or no guard?

No Pickguard didn't work for me on this 6120 Hot Rod - 

why is the 6120 Hot Rod guitar now a 'No-Guard'?

In this project I'll be fitting a guard to it

Brian Setzer has over years played his 6120 guitars with and without fitted Pickguards. Recently Fender dropped the fitment of Pickguards on his model line of 6120 Hot Rod guitars. So are you a Guard on or a Guard off Player? 

A 2005 Lime Gold Brian Setzer Hot Rod -

with solid silver finish Guard fitted from new, undergoing a playing set up

For me I like the Pickguard being in place, for both single notes and rhythm playing. I find the guard is a good place to anchor the hand for precise picking. Having tried this new guard-less Hot Rod, I have decided I need a guard fitted. Hence this project. 

 I'll be using a genuine Hot Rod Pickguard with a twist - 

it will be less the paint - for a reason - keep reading on!

Genuine Gretsch 0060874000 Pickguard Bracket Kit - 

around $15USD, includes 3 screws, spacer and felt pad - 

Using the correct parts reduces error and extra work

I suggest purchasing the genuine parts for this job where cost allows, a genuine guard will most likely fit without need for major adjustments and the correct bracket takes the guesswork out of the job of mounting the guard, plus we know as a genuine part it fits. 

It helps to have an example guitar to work with but if you haven't one to hand, I hope you find these example pictures useful to you in fixing on the guard and bracket when we get to that stage in this article.

Note that the Bracket arm has countersunk holes for the body side screws -

the copied non-genuine versions of this Bracket don't always have these

Before we start the job, the type of Pickguard finish is worth considering - painted or clear see through. I'm fitting a guard to a 6120 Hot Rod with the Green Sparkle finish and I'd rather this finish was visible because it looks so great, but I'd still like to use a genuine Hot Rod guard which is supplied in silver finish to the back face.

If you're ok with using a solid finish guard just fit that and omit the steps below of removing the paint.

The solution for me in this project is to remove the paint from the new guard. I've also covered this paint removal subject in another post specifically related to that job, as many Gretsch owners have asked the question about safely removing the paint. 

I'll briefly cover it here too for purposes of information just giving you what I think is the best solution to achieve that. 

The paint coat is quite thin on the Pickguard and is applied on the back face only, the guards are clear plastic Lucite material and have in this case the 'Gretsch' name, Hot Rod name and Flames logo pressed in at the moulding stage which are then paint filled. So far so good.

The Gretsch name is painted in with black, it is not a decal and the Hot Rod and Flames detail are in silver as the paint colour used on the rest of the guard, using the edges of the moulding to show them in an understated way.

Do NOT use these methods for paint removal!

To remove the paint, I use a 1200grade wet or dry paper used in car bodyshops, wetted with hand warm temperature but not boiling water, to which a couple of drops of washing up liquid has been mixed in with the water. Avoid these other methods listed below in BLUE at all costs!! 

DO NOT Use Acetone - it will melt plastic. DO NOT Use Sandpaper - it will mark the plastic. DO NOT Use Wire Wool - it will scratch the plastic. DO NOT Use Thinners - it may make the plastic go cloudy and ruin the job. DO NOT Use Paint Remover or Paint Stripper - they can melt or affect the guard plastic and plastic clarity by clouding the plastic. Here endeth the lesson!

Here is my method for safe paint removal:

Wet the rear Pickguard painted surface, wet the paper in the water mix and carefully start to rub down the rear of the guard, you'll notice the silver finish particles start to show in the water - this is normal, so you know this is working!

Work carefully rubbing down as you only need to take the thin surface paint layer off. Stop and wipe off the guard back frequently as you work to check your progress in paint removal. 

Use the 1200 grade paper like this

Rewet the guard surface and the abrasive paper each time you work - this water mixture helps lubricate the paper and reduces the scratching of the surface plastic.

The guard is soon getting towards being see through

Remember, the less scratching of the plastic happening, the less work required to fix any problems later on! I'm used to this approach from working on car repaint jobs over the years.

I have left the 'Hot Rod' and Flames logo in silver so that it stands out but is not too obtrusive.

When the surface paint has been removed, use the car body rubbing compound to polish the plastic. T-Cut or Farecla G3 liquid compounds are good for this stage, I have both of these at home in my workshop. I tend to use G3.

Just needs a polish with the G3 Farecla

Polished and rinsed off - result achieved

To use them slightly wet a cloth and use either compound onto the cloth, carefully polishing so that the cloth fabric weave does not leave scratches.

Colour coded hardware to match into the green colour of the guitar

I used a 7mm depth x 10mm width Felt from a Dremel set for the screw 

that goes through the guard into the guitar top as a Spacer

the green paint sealed the Felt and stiffened it slightly

Once a clear finish is achieved, in this case the Black on the Gretsch Logo just stands out, like the Hot Rod and Flames logo does against the clear plastic and the guitar body colour.

Hot Rod 'Phantom Guard' fitted

Pressed in details are not lost in the paint removal

Against the 2005 Lime Gold guitar you can hardly tell this new 

2022 guitar has had a guard added from here!

Guitar Reviews 4U Gretsch Pickguard Paint removal - We show you the best paint removal solution and what NOT to do or use!

 

Gretsch Pickguard Paint removal 

A lot of people are asking about the best way of removing Pickguard paint, I'll show you the best way in easy to follow steps in this article. I also wanted to fit a guard to my Grestch 6120 Brian Setzer Hot Rod and be able to see the Green Sparkle finish.

I'll show you a way of safely removing the Pickguard paint and adding a Hot Rod Clear Pickguard to show off your Gretsch guitar's great paint finish! Here's how...

to make a 'Phantom Guard' - for your 6120 Brian Setzer Hot Rod!

Gretsch Brian Setzer Hot Rod Pickguard - 

What is the best Paint removal method? Read on and find out.....

I recently purchased this 6120 Hot Rod in Extreme Coolant Green Sparkle. The lack of a Pickguard was a big issue as it made playing it less easy so I have decided to fit a guard, but at the same time have one that allows you to see the great finish as much as possible. Here is the 'Phantom Guard' job.

Gretsch Brian Setzer 6120 - Extreme Green Sparkle! - no guard - yet...

Having both versions of 6120 Hot Rod guitars I also don't want to lose the ability to see the paint finish on the green one - its of the best aesthetics of the guitar . So, I want to avoid a solid painted finish guard. The Silver paint is only on the rear face of the pickguard, so here is how to remove it. Safely!

The 2022 Green Sparkle (L) and 2005 Lime Gold Hot Rods (R) -

The genuine 6120 Hot Rod Pickguard will fit both guitars is the good news

I did order an aftermarket non genuine 6120 Guard in clear plastic sheet for this project but it was not to the same dimensions, after seeing the paint removal question, the solution was to modify a proper Gretsch one. The obvious part to use for this project was the Hot Rod 6120 Guard, a made in Japan part, available as a spare part.

Genuine Gretsch Brian Setzer Hot Rod silver paint backed Pickguard

For some guitar colours, the silver painted guard would look great against the paint, but on this sparkle finish 6120 I think the guitar finish is so 'mega' that it has to be shown in all its glory. 

Pickguard reverse showing pressed in details

The bonus is that on the genuine Gretsch Hot Rod guard, the Gretsch name and the Hot Rod name and flames logo are pressed into the guard during manufacture so there is no issue of any decal or paint loss during any paint removal being likely using my method.

The solution to me was therefore quite obvious - buy a silver backed Hot Rod guard and make it see through. I've seen many posts about people wanting to know the best method of paint removal from a Pickguard. So here are the methods to use and those to avoid, based on my years of car restoration and painting work experience.

Firstly, the things to definitely avoid doing or using to remove the paint -

Here's why not to use these - from left to right above, explained below:

Sandpaper scratches too deep, Steel Wool is dirty, scraping is harsh and hard on the hands, Acetone (Nail polish remover) melts plastic so is a big no, Paint stripper may also damage the plastic and Thinners may attack or cloud the plastic material of the guard.

So now you know what not to use and why.

The best method to use for a clear Pickguard is here below

It is - Wet or Dry car bodyshop paper, used wet with washing up liquid

I've been around car restoration since 1982 and paint is one major area I have worked with on cars and I have also sprayed guitars I have built or refinished. So, to get the silver off the Pickguard back surface, I use a 1200 Grit grade Wet or Dry paper with water.

Pickguard reverse view and 1200 Grit paper

The warm water in a bowl used for the rubbing down has a few small drops of washing up liquid added in the warm water, the water should be to hand warm temperature no hotter. 

Wet the pickguard rear face first, this has the paint area we are going to remove on and we will be only working on this side of the guard.

Work the wetted paper over the Pickguard on the 'long side' direction

(In the direction of the arrows as above)

Avoid working in 'swirl' patterns as they may take more polishing later

Wet the guard rear face and wet the paper, then start by rubbing the wetted paper (abrasive side down to the work surface) working from one end to the other along the 'longest side' direction of the Pickguard.  Use a light pressure on the paper only, it minimises scratching. You only want to remove the paint layer on the back of the guard, not key the surface for later painting! 

Stop and check progress and also re-wet the paper frequently during the work, this helps to avoid scratches and over working the job. We are only removing the paint layer back to the clear plastic on this job.

You'll quickly see the paint has started to be removed 

as we have daylight showing through, above the flames logo

In a few minutes we have most of the paint removed -

Do keep the paper wet to avoid it dragging and scratching!

Regularly wash the paper during this operation and change it to a new cutting area as you go, rinse the rear of the plate too in the water to keep it wet for the work. The 1200 grade paper is a good compromise grade as it is less likely to lead to more scratching and clean up work with polishing, later on. 

A harsher paper grit grade may be quicker to use but the polishing may take longer to resolve any scratches left. Check along the guard edges as paint can remain there.

The indented parts retain the paint, we want to keep this for this situation

as seen in this rear side of the guard view

One 'Phantom guard' clear of paint - just requires a polish!

see how the name and flames logo left stand out - just what we want

Now you are at this stage of the work, check to see no paint remains on the guard edges, once that is all clear, wash the guard off under a cold water tap and dry the guard off on a towel or kitchen paper.

At this stage, the guard may look a bit 'foggy' - this will soon polish off

There is still some paint residue to remove on the edges here, but not much

Now we need to do the polish up job, I use Farecla G3 Rubbing compound, used in car body shops to polish paint after spraying. T-Cut also works for this job too, I tend to use the Farecla G3  as it is quite neutral and has no harmful (to my skin) residues or solvents. It is also not too harsh in abrasiveness on the surface to be polished.

Wet a small scrap of clean soft cloth, add on a small toothpaste size blob amount of G3 paste and start polishing the pickguard in the same 'long side' pattern you did to remove the paint. 

As you will see from the cloth below, at this early stage of polishing the G3 has rubbed off the remaining bonded micro layer of paint from the plastic guard material that has keyed into the Pickguard surface. This is good to see, you will soon have removed any trace of this.

Using Farecla G3 rubbing compound, you can see the last of the Silver paint -

this is normal and any remaining paint is quite quickly removed by polishing work.

Work and check the progress, remember to keep the cloth slightly damp to help lubricate the polishing and to slightly dilute the polishing paste. It should not take long to get the guard free of paint, abrasions and clear to see through, then wash and dry off.

Wet the guard off occasionally to see progress - 

we are getting there quite nicely.

The logos are still present and visible - but so is the guitar's finish -

so we are achieving the end result!

A quick test fit to show what I was trying to achieve here. 

Top view - 'Audience view.'

Pickguard test fit - it is almost invisible! -

Next is to prepare the hardware for fitting the guard

As we have achieved the Pickguard near invisibility, we need to consider the mounting bracket - of which we will use a genuine Gretsch one, disguised to blend in as much as we can with the finish on the guitar top in this case.

A new pickguard 6120 Bracket - I could only get a gold plated one -

this has countersunk holes on the foot - shown here for the screw head flush fit

The gold plating is a thinnish flash coat and was easily polished off 

back to the chrome - here we can then prepare it for a colour coat

A metallic Lime Green metallic car paint was used as my base coat -

two thin and fairly translucent coats to help hide this against the paint top.

The bracket was then sprayed with a clear lacquer from a can -

I sprinkled on some layers of Green Sparkle custom car paint metal flakes

Once the bracket had been painted over, I used a spray coat of clear acrylic lacquer and sprinkled on some green metallic metal flakes used in custom car paint onto the wet clear acrylic surface.

I carefully damped this down with a tissue to bed it into the clear coat when it was near to dry. I did this a couple of times and then left it overnight to dry out each time. I then applied a brush coat of Tamiya Acrylic clear coat over the sparkle coat, using one coat per day over 3 days and left it to harden for a day between applications.

You can see the clear guard and the bracket in Green Sparkle! -

The Green will make the bracket blend in better than a plain chrome one.

The fixing parts are something to consider next, I had a screw to fit the plate to the guitar top which saved me a lot of money as the genuine part and bush is expensive for what it is. A 15mm length x 2mm screw should be fine for this job. 

This should just be flush with the inside of the guitar top and not snag any wiring running underneath the wooden top of the guitar. I did cut mine to length and filed the end to take off any burrs before fitting.

When drilling the hole for the top plate screw, do it carefully with a cordless drill at low speed, this will help the drill not go through the top and cause any damage to any wiring under the maple top board of the guitar.

The screw cut to 15mm length should then screw in and remain flush with the underside of the top board.

Three mounting screws, Felt spacer, plastic spacer disc and Bracket 

Colour matched to merge in with the guitar paintwork

The mounting parts are going to be 'colour coded' so that they merge in with the guitar colour more than if left unpainted. The Felt Spacer is actually a Dremel Hobby Tool polishing felt pad and quite firm, it is 7mm thickness x 10mm diameter so ideal to go under the Pickguard.

The 'Ghost Guard' is now in place -  

the sparkle finish Bracket merges in quite well

The 10mm width of the Felt allows it to provide support to the underside of the guard. I gave it a couple of light coats of green acrylic which will seal and firm up the Felt fibres and also tint it to merge in to the guitar colour better than the plain white of the original felt. 

The Felt had a hole for the Dremel Mandrel to go through so I did not have to make a new hole for the screw to pass through. So this was a bonus too.

The Logo and name were left on the plate and stand out -

they are not too obtrusive to the eye and tell you it's a genuine Hot Rod part!

The Gretsch equivalent spacer part is a plastic piece of tube - used as a spacer. The Felt being wider adds a bit more stability I think than the thin wall plastic tube.

The job has worked out really well and achieved the objective -

a clear guard, using Hot Rod Gretsch genuine parts

The screw crown tops were lightly sanded with 1200 grade to remove the Gold flash plating and then painted with transparent Tamiya clear Green acrylic and given a clear coat to seal them and help them merge in with the guitar.

The white plastic plastic disc is a spacer, it goes under the Pickguard Bracket for the nut. A Black Felt disc goes under the guard and is hardly visible as it is over an F-Hole. 

See my note in this picture about the screw hole 

for the body to Bracket screws positioning!

The drill bits you need to use may vary in size for the screws you use but for the genuine Gretsch Japan screws for the Bracket side mounting, I used a 1.5mm to make the holes for these smaller Bracket to body side screws and a 2.5mm for the top screw through the plate into the body - however, I had this screw in stock - so you may need to check against your drill bits selection to match a drill of the right size to the screw before doing the job.

REMEMBER - MEASURE AND CHECK BEFORE YOU DRILL!

Then check again....

I recommend that you use masking tape under where you want to drill the bracket, firstly, it is easy to mark onto the tape with a permanent Sharpie type fine liner and secondly it helps stop the drill bit slipping and damaging the paint.

Loose assemble the guard to the Bracket so you can move them but not so they slide around. Try the guard on the guitar top. Locate so the guard it fits around the Pickups and also has a 1mm or so gap against the side of the neck - basically as long as it is not smack up against the neck when fixed down. When this done, you can nip the nut and screw up but don't overdo it or you can crack the guard. 

Note the bracket position in the photo - it points back toward the E string end of the Tunamatic bridge - this is handy to know if you don't have another guitar as a pattern to copy from.

I then test fitted my Felt to the screw through the Pickguard and tried the Pickguard on the guitar before drilling anything! I checked it off against the guard on the Lime Gold 6120 Hot Rod.

Once I was sure all was right, I carefully drilled the Bracket guard holes into the body and fitted the screws, then aligned the guard on the top and drilled that. One point here before you drill the top hole into the body top is that the Bracket guard has a slot that allows some traverse movement which you may require, to get the guard to line up correctly on the top. So do check before you drill!

The job is now done - from here you can hardly tell the green 6120 has a Pickguard!

only a slight shadow from the green sparkle bracket gives it away.

This Pickguard addition has made this 6120 Hot Rod a different guitar to play.

It is just such a better guitar to play with the guard being added. It adds precision to the right hand placement for single notes, solos and chord playing.

I hope that this post has shown you how easy it is to safely remove the paint from a Gretsch Pickguard and also how to add a guard to a Brian Setzer 6120 Hot Rod guitar!