Basic Pickguard Assembly Kit Components

• Pickguard - Custom Routed For Recessed Mini-Toggle Switch (Your choice of one of the following pickguards)
• Black 1 Ply 0.120" Acrylic, Rounded and Polished Edge, Standard 11 Hole
• Black 1 ply 0.120" Acrylic, Rounded and Polished Edge, Vintage 8 Hole
• Black 1 Ply 0.090" Vinyl, Standard 11 Hole
• Black 1 Ply 0.090" Vinyl, Vintage 8 Hole
• White 3 Ply 0.090" Vinyl, Standard 11 Hole
• Black 3 Ply 0.090" Vinyl, Standard 11 Hole
• Mint Green 3 Ply 0.090" Vinyl, Standard 11 Hole
• Parchment 3 Ply 0.090" Vinyl, Standard 11 Hole
• White 1 Ply 0.065" Vinyl, Vintage 8 Hole
• Plus any of the other pickguards found on our pickguard page can be substituted. Send us an email if you'd like one of these optional pickguard choices.

• Custom stainless steel Recessed Mini Toggle Switch Mounting Bracket.

• SPDT mini toggle switch for neck/bridge pickup selection modification.

• Three CTS 250k audio taper split shaft potentiometers.

• Pickup Selector Switch - CRL or Fender 5-way.

• Sprague Orange Drop Tone Capacitor (Your choice of one of the following four)
  • 0.047 uF (Gilmour Style)
  • 0.033 uF
  • 0.022 uF (Modern Style)
  • 0.01 uF

• Treble Bypass Filter Kit.

• Tremolo Arm - Custom shortened 4-¼" Gilmour style length. Select from the following styles.
  • American Strat (10-32)
  • American Deluxe Strat (Push-In)
  • Mexican Strat (5mm x .8)
  • Japanese Strat (5mm x .8)
  • Squier (5mm x .8) Known as "Smaller Threads".
  • Squier (6mm x 1.0) Known as "Large Threads". This arm will NOT have a plastic tip due to the larger size. See our Custom Tremolo Arm page for details at Item #4027

• Four 3/8" star washers for potentiometer height adjustment.

• Black Strat wiring diagram with neck/bridge pickup modification.

• Treble bypass filter wiring diagram.

Basic Pickguard Assembly Kit Description

• All of the components listed on the left are of the highest quality.  We want you to have the best quality parts you can get for your project.  All you have to do is add your favorite pickups, control knobs and switch tip.  We stock some of the most popular pickups for this project; Fender Custom Shop Fat 50's, Fender Custom Shop Custom '69's, Seymour Duncan SSL-1 and SSL-5. We even offer vintage '62 style customized Genuine Fender Green Lettered & Numbered Control Knobs for that authentic Black Strat relic appeal.

• A significant feature of this kit is the recessed mini toggle switch.  It's a unique feature that is synonymous with David's Black Strat.  We don't glue ours to the back side of the pickguard with a piece of plastic or sheet metal, we use a sturdy piece of custom formed stainless steel that is strong and easily mountable underneath the volume and tone potentiometers.  It is not a permanent piece of the pickguard, but when installed becomes an integral part of it.  The routing of the slot for the recessed mini toggle switch is probably the most difficult and unique feature of this pickguard, you have to be precise to make sure that it aligns perfectly with the mini toggle switch and that it is of correct proportions so you don't have an ugly hole in your pickguard.  We make sure that there is perfect amount of space on each side and just long enough to accommodate the toggle levers amount of throw accurately.

• Another important feature of our Acrylic 0.120" pickguard is the rounded and polished edge.  Typical pickguards have a beveled 45° edge.  Our 0.120" Acrylic pickguard is exactly the same as you find on the original Black Strat as well as the Fender Custom Shop versions. You won't find this rounded and polished edge characteristic on others offering a similar product, they are simply using a typical 0.090" vinyl pickguard with the 45° beveled edge that you find on just about every Strat pickguard.  The rounded and polished pickguard edge is only available on our Black 1 Ply 0.120" Acrylic pickguards.

• The correct pickup and 5-way switch mounting screws for this pickguard are the round head style since the pickup and 5-way switch mounting holes are not countersunk. We offer two purchase options for these screws, chrome plated and stainless steel.

• IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are planning on using a 22 fret neck with your Black Strat project some body and neck combinations may experience clearance issues with the 22'nd fret overhang coming in contact with the surface of either of the 0.120" thick Acrylic pickguards. So we offer an alternate All Black 1 Ply 0.090" Vinyl Pickguard that will clear the 22'nd fret overhang without issues. this pickguard is available in either the standard 11 hole or the vintage 8 hole versions and is shielded in the control area only. However, if you can measure the clearance between this 22 fret overhang and the top of your current 0.90" thick 3 ply pickguard and you can measure at least 0.035" then the Black 1 Ply 0.120" Acrylic pickguard should work fine. Typical automotive feeler gauges should work fine to determine this clearance.

• NEW PICKGUARD SELECTION OPTIONS: We now offer alternate pickguards for those that want the Gilmour Black Strat style pickup selection modification but do not want the same visual appeal with the solid black pickguard.  The alternate pickguards we can provide you with are; white 3 ply, black 3 ply, mint green 3 ply, parchment 3 ply as well as a vintage 8 hole white 1 ply. 

• We will provide you with the Black Strat specific wiring diagram via email after order placement.

Select Your Basic Pickguard Assembly Kit Options

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Since this is an assembly kit you must have the necessary skills and tools to assemble this kit and you also must possess the knowledge to troubleshoot if problems arise in your assembly. We do not provide a troubleshooting service to figure out what went wrong with your particular assembly and with any mistakes you might of made.

By purchasing this assembly kit you acknowledge that you are aware that some Strat bodies are NOT 100% compatible and some pickguard perimeter mounting holes may need adjusting on your body. 

NOTE: A characteristic we sometimes find in Acrylic pickguards are very small imperfections in the surface, typically they are very small and round in appearance and average in size like this dot in the quotes -->  " . ".  This characteristic is not something we can consider as defective and will not accept a pickguard in return for refund or exchange since we can't send them back to the manufacturer, they tell us it is normal characteristic of the casting or extrusion process. We won't hand select a pickguard to determine if it does or does not have this characteristic, that would require removing the surface protective film from each pickguard. We wanted to make sure you were aware of such possibilities if you find one of these in your particular pickguard.