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Within this article Layer = Ply.
A common misconception we hear about pickguards
is in reference to equating thickness with
number of ply's. Some believe that a
pickguard's number of ply's determines its
thickness, but this is not true. There is no
relationship between a pickguard's thickness and
number of ply's. Ply's simply refers to the
number of individual
laminate color layers that make up a pickguard.
A 3 ply pickguard will have 3 separate color laminate
layers that make up its construction. A
typical black 3 ply pickguard will have a
surface color of black, then a white middle layer
and a black bottom layer, The white middle layer is what
you will see as the thin white pin-stripe around
the perimeter edge. Most 3 ply pickguards are in
the 0.090" thickness range, but the number of
ply's does not determine the thickness. Usually you will see a black 3 ply pickguard
described at B/W/B which means
Black/White/Black and a white 3 ply
pickguard described as W/B/W which means
White/Black/White.
A pickguard described as 1 ply is going to be a
single color, no layering, its going to be a
solid color, but it can vary considerably in
thickness, it could be as thin as a vintage 1
ply pickguard that is only 0.060" thick or it
can be a little thicker 1 ply pickguard that is
0.090" thick, then you can have a 1 ply that is
even a bit thicker like our 0.120" thickness
custom manufactured Acrylic pickguards. They're
all 1 solid color, therefore they're all 1
ply's.
You also have pickguard types like tortoise shell
or pearl pickguards which are typically called 4
ply's. These pickguard's surface layer will be tortoise shell
or black pearl or
white pearl etc... and then underneath this
surface
layer is a white layer, then under that is a
black layer and then under that
another white layer on the very bottom. Typically these
4 ply pickguards are in the 0.100" to
0.120" thickness range. Around the perimeter edge
of these 4 ply pickguards you will see each
distinct color layer take on the
appearance of thin pin-stripes around the
perimeter edge. This layering is what
gives the pickguard edge a distinct character
instead of simply being 1 single color.
So bottom line here is, never equate number of
ply's to how thick any given pickguard might
be... |
