Don't compromise quality for price, our fully loaded complete pickguard assemblies utilize the best of every single component and design along with superb attention to detail to present you with a complete Gilmour style Black Strat pickguard assembly that you will be proud to own.

Take a close look at the specifications and details below and you'll understand the attention we've taken to every single aspect of the Gilmour Black Strat pickguard assembly.

If you have any questions give us a call at 209-565-2112 and we'll help you sort it out.

Every component in our Black Strat Pickguard Assembly has been researched in detail to provide you with a pickguard assembly that is truly authentic from the correct pickup selections that you would find in a Fender Custom Shop David Gilmour Signature Series Stratocaster to the high quality craftsmanship in the detail of the recessed mini-toggle switch in the 0.120" all black 1 ply beveled acrylic pickguard.  We provide you with high quality CTS potentiometers, CRL 5-way pickup selector switch along with Sprague Orange Drop tone capacitors.  We even offer you with a number of alternate customization options to the basic design to even further enhance your particular pickguard assembly without compromising that great Gilmour tone.

With our Black Strat pickguard assembly you will receive a complete loaded fully custom pickguard and electronics assembly with authentic Fender Custom Shop and Seymour Duncan pickups of your choosing with everything installed, wired and soldered in place, ready to drop in your favorite guitar body by simply connecting the audio and ground leads.  The pickup covers, volume knob, tone knobs, pickup selector switch tip, vintage tremolo cover (back plate) and tremolo arm tip can be selected as White, Parchment, Aged White or even Black and all are genuine Fender accessories.  We include our own custom shop's stainless steel 4-¼" shortened Black Strat style tremolo arm along with a set of GHS Boomers David Gilmour Signature Series Strings (blue set), a Fender tremolo cover (style depends on accessory selections) and a Switchcraft 1/4" mono output jack.  We also include all the mounting screws for the pickguard, tremolo cover plate and output jack plate.

We've also added the option to select from 7 different pickguard's than the typical Gilmour Black Strat style all black 1 ply 0.120" beveled acrylic pickguard. We offer a White 3 ply, Parchment 3 ply, Mint Green 3 ply, Black 3 ply, or a White 1 ply  pickguard.  These come in the standard 11 hole, '62 style 11 hole or the '57 style 8 hole.  These pickguard options would be for those that want the awesome Gilmour tone, electronics and the unique pickup selection modifications but not the same visual appearance.  This pickguard assembly does not have to look like the famous Black Strat, but can take on that same great tone and features but visually customized for your particular Strat stylings.

Some of the significant features of this assembly is the recessed mini toggle switch, the unique selections of custom shop pickups and the pure black 1 ply 0.120" thick beveled acrylic pickguard.  The recessed mini-toggle switch modification is a unique feature that is synonymous with the Black Strat.  For the recessed mini-toggle switch mounting braket we use a sturdy piece of custom formed 303 stainless steel that is strong, and by our unique design easily mountable underneath the volume and tone potentiometers with no attachment modifications to the pickguard required.  With this Black Strat pickguard assembly no modifications are required to your Strat body, it's a "drop-in" unit that shouldn't take no longer than 1/2 hour to install.

If you plan on using a 22 fret neck some body and neck combinations may experience clearance issues with the 22'nd fret overhang coming in contact with the pickguard with either of the Acrylic 0.120" thick pickguard's we offer, the alternate pickguard selection would be to go with the 0.090" vinyl 1 ply black pickguard.  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" to 0.040" then the Acrylic pickguard's should work fine.  Typical automotive feeler gauges should work fine to determine this clearance.

Every pickguard assembly is fully tested before leaving our facility and full testing results are provided with each assembly.

Complete Specifications and Details of Assembly Options

• Neck Pickup - Your choice of one of the following three pickups:
  • Fender Custom Shop Fat '50s Neck.
  • Fender Custom Shop Custom '69.
• Seymour Duncan SSL-1 Vintage Staggered.

• Middle Pickup - Your choice of one of the following three pickups:
  • Fender Custom Shop Custom '69.
  • Fender Custom Shop Fat '50s Middle.
• Seymour Duncan SSL-1 (Rw/Rp) Vintage Staggered.

• Bridge Pickup - Your choice of one of the following four pickups:
  • Seymour Duncan SSL-5 Custom Staggered.
  • Seymour Duncan SSL-1 Vintage Staggered.
  • Fender Custom Shop Fat '50s Bridge.
  • Fender Custom Shop Custom '69.

• Tremolo Arm - Custom shortened 4-¼" Gilmour style length. Select from four tremolo block threading types.
  • American Strat (10-32).
  • Mexican Strat (5mm x .8).
  • Squier (5mm x .8). Squier calls this their "Smaller Thread".
  • Squier (6mm x 1.0). Squier calls this their "Large Thread".

• Accessories Color - Pickup covers, knobs, tips & tremolo cover:
  • White
  • Parchment
  • Aged White
  • Black

• Pickguard - Custom routed with the small slot for the recessed mini-toggle switch (Your choice of one of the following 10 pickguard's)
  • Black 1 Ply 0.120" Beveled Acrylic, Standard 11 Hole.
  • Black 1 Ply 0.120" Beveled Acrylic, Vintage 8 Hole.
  •  Black 1 Ply 0.090" Vinyl, Standard 11 Hole.
  • White 1 Ply 0.065" Vinyl, Vintage 8 Hole.
  •  Black 3 Ply 0.090" Vinyl, Standard 11 Hole.
  •  White 3 Ply 0.090" Vinyl, Standard 11 Hole.
  •  Parchment 3 Ply 0.090" Vinyl, Standard 11 Hole.
  • Mint Green 3 Ply 0.090" Vinyl, Standard 11 Hole.
  •  Black 3 Ply 0.090" Vinyl, '62 Vintage Style 11 Hole.
  •  White 3 Ply 0.090" Vinyl, '62 Vintage Style 11 Hole.

• Custom stainless steel Recessed Mini-Toggle Switch Mounting Bracket for neck pickup selection modification mini-toggle switch.

• Mini-Toggle Switch Recessed In Pickguard (Neck Pickup Selector - Gilmour Style).
  

• Volume & Tone Controls: CTS 250K Audio Taper Potentiometers.
  

• Pickup Selector Switch - Your choice of one of the following two:
  • CRL 3-Way.
  • CRL or Fender 5-Way.

• Tone Capacitor - Sprague Orange Drop (Your choice of one of the following four capacitors)
  
  • 0.047 uF (Vintage Black Strat style).
  • 0.033 uF.
  • 0.022 uF (Modern Style).
  • 0.01 uF.

• Custom Designed Electronics With Extra Pickup Selection Options (Gilmour Style).
  

• Customized Wiring For Bridge Pickup Tone Control (3 option selections).

• Treble By-Pass Filter (optional install, no extra charge).

• Stainless Steel Pickguard Screws. Enough For An Entire Strat.
  

• Fender Vintage 1 Ply or 3 Ply Tremolo Cover (Depends on pickguard selection).

• Switchcraft USA 1/4" Mono Output Jack.
  

• Set Of GHS Boomers David Gilmour Signature Series Strings (Blue set).

Assembly Options Described

• Bridge Pickup Tone Control:  With standard or normal Strat wiring you do not have a tone control for the bridge pickup.  We offer three bridge pickup tone control options.  First option is to have normal Strat wiring with no bridge pickup tone control.  Second option is to have one of the tone controls change the tone for the bridge pickup alone while the other tone control changes the tone for the neck and middle pickup together.  Third option is to have one of the tone controls change the tone for the bridge and middle pickups together while the other tone control changes the tone for the neck pickup alone.

• Tone Capacitor Value Selection:  The modern value of 0.022 uF rolls off less treble as you increase the tone control, the Black Strat style of 0.047 uF rolls off more treble quicker as you increase the tone control. We also offer a 0.033 uF and a 0.01 uF.

• Accessories Color:  We offer four accessory color selections of White, Parchment, Aged White or Black for the pickup covers, volume and tone control knobs, pickup selector switch tip, tremolo arm tip and tremolo cover.  With the Aged White accessories the tremolo cover will come in Mint Green since Fender does not make aged white tremolo covers.  White and Aged White tremolo covers will be vintage style with the six individual holes for the strings to pass through.  Parchment and Black tremolo covers will have the single rectangular slot for the strings to pass through and will also come in the 3 ply.

• Body Ground Connection:  Most of the relatively newer American Strat bodies have a ground wire connection inside the conductive paint shielded control cavity with a small wood screw attachment.  Mexican Strat bodies do not have this body ground connection.  Unless your bodies control cavity is shielded and you plan on connecting a ground wire from the electronics to the shielded control cavity do not select this option.

• Treble By-Pass Filter:  This filter reduces the amount of treble that gets lost when you turn down the volume control on your guitar.  It is a good option to have installed.

• Pickguard:  For the Gilmour Black Strat specific pickguard we provide the 0.120" all black 1 ply beveled Acrylic in either the standard 11 hole or the vintage '57 style 8 hole. Both of these Acrylic pickguard's are fully shielded. 

  We also offer seven additional optional genuine Fender pickguard's for those that want the unique pickup selection switch concept behind this pickguard assembly but would rather not have an all black pickguard. The optional pickguard's are as follows:

  • White 3 Ply, 11 Hole Standard (Fully shielded).
  • Black 3 Ply, 11 Hole Standard (Fully shielded).
  • Mint Green 3 Ply, 11 Hole Standard (Fully shielded).
  • Parchment 3 Ply, 11 Hole Standard (Fully shielded).
• White 3 Ply, '62 Vintage 11 Hole (No shielding, add shielding below).
• Black 3 Ply, '62 Vintage 11 Hole (No shielding, add shielding below).
• White 1 Ply, '57 Vintage 8 Hole (No shielding, add shielding below).

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 the 0.120" thick Acrylic pickguard's.  So we offer an alternate All Black 1 Ply 0.090" Thick Vinyl Pickguard that will clear the 22'nd fret overhang without issues. We only offer this pickguard in the standard 11 hole version.  This pickguard is only shielded in the control area.  However, if you can measure the clearance between this 22 fret overhang and the top of your current pickguard and you can measure at least 0.035" to 0.040" then the Acrylic pickguard's should work fine.  Typical automotive feeler gauges should work fine to determine this clearance.

All of our pickguard's are routed with the small slot for the recessed mini-toggle switch modification and have full shielding with the exception of the '57 or '62 vintage pickguard's, they are not shielded.  If you select either of the '57 or '62 pickguard's and you want the specific shielding characteristic of that era you will want to add this shielding option below. The customized aluminum pickguard shield for the '62 vintage pickguard is $25.00, The customized aluminum control area shield for the '57 vintage pickguard is $15.00. If you have another idea for a pickguard that is not shown, drop us an email and we'll see if we can work it into your assembly (there will be a small additional charge for any custom pickguard).

• Tremolo Arm: We include our own custom shop's 4-1/4" shortened stainless steel tremolo arm. We offer three different attachment threading types; American Strat (10-32), Mexican Strat (5mm x .8), Squier (5mm x .8) which is considered by Squier to be their "Smaller Threads" or Squier (6mm x 1.0) which is considered by Squier to be their "Large Threads".  If you select the Squier 6mm tremolo arm then it will not have a plastic tip attached, instead it will be manufactured like the American Deluxe Strat's and you will receive an all stainless steel tremolo arm and the tip end will be rounded and highly polished.

• Seymour Duncan Pickup Covers:  You can have an official Seymour Duncan logo'ed white or custom aged white pickup cover installed on any Seymour Duncan pickup you select for your assembly as long as you are selecting White or Aged White as your accessories color.

Descriptions And Characteristics Of The Pickup Selection Options

• The Seymour Duncan SSL-1 Vintage Staggered Pickup is an exact replica of the original Alnico V Stratocaster guitar pickups.  The same type of magnet wire is used, as well as the same number of coil windings.  The staggered rod magnets are hand ground, then aged by the exclusive Dun-Aged process.  Lacquered bobbins and cloth braid hookup wire complete the vintage look.  Every detail is included to duplicate the bell-like tone and the high-end bite that made the vintage Strat pickups famous.  The SSL-1 is offered for the middle position in a Reverse Wound / Reverse Polarity (Rw/Rp) for hum cancelling in 5-way switch positions 2 and 4. This pickup is often overlooked as a superb choice for a neck and middle pickup which would be perfectly matched with the SSL-5 in the bridge.

• The Seymour Duncan SSL-5 Custom Staggered Pickup is the Seymourized version of the SSL-1 pickup.  It has distinct vintage tone combined with a stronger magnetic field and custom coil for higher output, more sustain, and great harmonics.  Perfect for the modern higher output Gilmour tone.

• The Fender Custom Shop Custom '69 Pickups offer you a unique construction and vibe.  These are the guitar pickups that can deliver the coveted clear, transparent highs, thumping lows, and bleeding midrange response and feel that define electric guitar tone as we know it.  These Fender pickups are built using height staggered Alnico V magnets and a special gray bobbin.  Each pickup is checked, dated, and initialed by none other than Fender Custom Shop master pickup building legend, Abigail Ybarra, who has been winding pickups for Fender since the late 1950s.

• The Fender Custom Shop Fat '50s Pickups are calibrated pickups constructed with hand-beveled, staggered Alnico V magnets and Formvar magnet wire.  The Fat '50s Strat Pickups deliver enhanced bass response without the harsh midrange.  The middle pickup is reverse wound/reverse polarity (Rw/Rp) for hum canceling in positions 2 and 4.  Fat '50s pickups are factory original equipment on Custom Shop Fender Showmaster series Stratocaster guitars.

Our complete Black Strat pickguard assembly package includes a set of GHS Boomers David Gilmour signature series strings, stainless steel pickguard/output jack plate/tremolo cover mounting screws (enough for an entire Strat), custom shortened 4-¼" Gilmour style stainless steel tremolo arm, Fender tremolo cover and a Switchcraft USA ¼" mono output jack.