Whether or not or not pickguards have an effect on guitar tone is an attention-grabbing matter, and opinions fluctuate within the discipline of guitar makers.

Q: How does a pickguard caught to the highest of the guitar have an effect on its tone? I’m questioning if it restricts motion, inflicting that space of the soundboard to be much less lively.
—Hugh Hinde

A: I’ve all the time constructed my devices with out pickguards, however many of the guitars I restore have them. Pickguards are identified culprits for a handful of points, most notably the notorious B-string crack that’s the all-too-frequent results of the plastic guard shrinking over time, and splitting the adjoining wooden of the highest. Guards have diverse in thickness throughout totally different eras, makes, and fashions. I’ve labored on paper-thin Martin pickguards, and different guards that had been nearly comically thick.

I really feel that the common manufacturing unit guitar just isn’t constructed calmly sufficient within the higher bout to be considerably affected by a reasonably skinny pickguard, although a fastidiously tuned luthier-built instrument may definitely be. Mass and stiffness could be the principle components contributing to a change in tone. Typically, the skinny plastic guards on most flattops are very mild and fairly versatile, and likewise normally glued on an space of the highest that’s braced fairly closely to strengthen the soundhole. Within the case of the common Taylor or Martin, I can’t truthfully say that I’ve seen a significant distinction in tone when the guard is eliminated for restore. A Sixties Gibson Hummingbird I labored on was a unique story, however that guard was almost 1/8-inch-thick versatile vinyl, and weighed fairly a bit.

Sadly, most guitars don’t allow a simple comparability with and with out their pickguards, as they’re normally glued on, and in lots of circumstances, painted in beneath the lacquer itself. No matter their impact could also be, it’s a part of the general tonal image that defines these basic fashions, and I’ve definitely by no means listened to a very good prewar Martin that I assumed could be improved by eradicating its pickguard!

This text initially appeared within the March/April 2023 challenge of Acoustic Guitar journal.