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.
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.
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 needs to be made silver to stand out, like on the Hot Rod and Flames logo.
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!
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