Pearloid pickguards.....cool or cheesy??

[jimmyohio75]

????????????

[ReddRanger]

Depends on the guitar for me. But I think they're cool on the right guitar.

[5E3]

Depends on the guitar for me. But I think they're cool on the right guitar.
:agree completely.

[Craig Walker]

Yep, some look great, some not so much....

[Tone_Terrific]

Mandatory, if you include tortoise as a pearloid.

[Pa'ani]

It works great for quite a few applications, then it seem not to work on certain color schemes.

[gkoelling]

Back in the early 90's I was putting them on strats and thought they were extremely cool.:cool:

Then someone was importing guitars from India with them stock and the guitars were complete crap. I ended up selling the strats that had the pearl guards (not for that reason) and will likely never spend money on one again.

I did have a tortoise tele guard here that I mailed to a TGP member this year at no charge. I was glad to see it go.

The partscasters I've been building all have single ply guards. No eye candy, thank you. Just function.

Tastes change, to me they now look gaudy and cheap.

[theRocco]

I never thought I'd like a pearloid pickguard--until I saw this guitar:

http://images.lilypix.com/albums/userpics/10028/normal_blacktelewithPearloidPickGuard.jpg

It got sold right before I called so it's the one that got away but someday I'll put together something like it. The key here is the right "aging" of the pearloid guard, for me anyway. That, and the Maple Neck, single-bound Black body, rusty hardware--oh man, ride 'em cowboy!

This guitar is the perfect "Cowboy Tele" imo, rode hard and put away wet. It was Richie Sambora's tele, one of two Custom Ordered for Gregg Allman and Cher's son.

I never say never now because sometimes it will just hit you as being right. (I felt that way about Goldtops until I bought one then it seem right all along.)

I think the poster(s) above who say it's ok in the right combinations are correct: I wouldn't like this one if it had a Rosewood neck, Black body with Rosewood neck on a tele is not for me (there I go and saying never, never say never!).


Here's some more very cool "Pearloid"

http://images.lilypix.com/albums/userpics/10028/normal_prinz.gif

http://images.lilypix.com/albums/userpics/10028/princeTele.jpg
Yep, that'd be cool...unless tortoise doesn't count as pearloid to you (I never thought it did).

[jay42]

Aren't they cool because they're cheesy?

[atquinn]

It all depends on the guitar, but I tend to go with "cool" :D

-Austin

[Griz]

Cool because they are cheesy.

:AOK

[Motorhed]

Cool because they are cheesy.

:AOK


That's what I was gonna say. :dude

[MartinC]

Cool ... but:


Depends on the brand ... some look a bit crappy.
They need to be in the context of the right guitar and body colour. I think they work best with solid colour bodies, but a tobacco sunburst strat with a white pearl 'guard works really well too.
Only white works for me ... don't like black, or tortoise shell (with the exception of one I saw recently on TGP that had been hunted down and put onto an SRV sig strat ... I forget the poster's name ... sorry!)
I've got one on a Suhr Classic in Lake Placid Blue ... a thing of beauty in this beholder's eye. Not this actual guitar, but identical in appearance, except this one is a Standard:

http://www.suhrguitars.com/images/galleryG/g28_big.jpg

[stratman89]

My Suhr Classic T w/ pearloid

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q318/stratman89/myclassict009.jpg

[freedom's door]

Cool.

[Radax]

Cool for the right axe.

Mike

[Flyin' Brian]

Yuk.

[dverna]

Cheesy

[gkoelling]

Yuk.

Very well said. :AOK

[phantasm]

Pretty cheesy for the most part. White pearloid is the worst, but black/grey isn't so bad.

[HurricaneJesus]

Pure cheese. Instant removal on any guitar I wind up with.

[WordMan]

I love them for guitars where I want a funky, retro look...

[Will Chen]

I love the looks of white on a vintage looking axe. My Fernandes TE-3 (Tele Thinline) has a natural ash body with white pearloid guard and she's a beauty.

[Glowing Tubes]

I'm gonna say cool:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v219/Andersonguy/blackstrat.jpg

[Eagle1]

Its like fancy wood tops it was cool but then it was on everything . Now White pickguards and paint is cool, goes in cycles .

[phantasm]

They don't look right for a strat as far as retro goes. How many strats from the 50's had pearl guards?
It does look good on things like the Italia guitars that are amde today- reminds me of Egmond guitars from the 60's.

[Troubleman]

:barf2


Pure and simple...

jb

[c_mac]

I think that it depends on the guitar. Some guitars look great with a pearloid guard.

[JTC]

Totally gay. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

[joe324]

I Like it on Mark Hoppus' Pink PJ Bass

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v35/xsinfulx/IMG_0002_2.jpg

[captainchair]

I think they're too flashy, on any color scheme. But I'm also very spartan when it comes to my guitars, I like solid colors and simple bursts (i.e. not bright plasma green bursts with aqua). They just look tacky IMO. It wouldn't stop me from buying a guitar if it had one but it would be the first thing I would remove and if I didn't have another pick-guard i'd just play guardless

[Dannc6]

cool on a tele thinline.... otherwise.... not so much for me.

[Tinman]

Come smell my cheese.

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h22/tinman631/PICT0043.jpg

[Joe Gamble]

IMHO.... complete Gorgonzola.

[jhc]

Cool! :AOK

[geetarman]

Generally I'm not a fan but it looks good on my custom koa strat.

[saucyjack]

Cheesy.
Even on the right guitar.

[DrumBob]

I like black marine pearl on a black Tele or Strat, and a tortoise on a white one, but for any other custom colors, plain white or aged green guards are fine. I've seen weird stuff like tortoise on a candy apple red, or blue marine pearl on a grey Clapton Strat...hideous!

[MisterMitch]

I love my pearloid pickguard ('94 Anderson Hollow T Classic Contoured) !!!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3185/2554442434_3e21788073.jpg?v=0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3186/2554442436_ab611eb7fe.jpg?v=0

[zombywoof]

Both - I like 'em on certain other people's guitars - just don't want one on mine.

[todd richman]

I like them on certain guitars. I just bought this Dano 59-DC partly because of the pearl guard. Plus it is cool Shell Pink in color and has the correct wood bridge and matching painted headstock.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=140266423349

[Amplite]

Cool with a touch of cheese. I have had a white perloid pickguard on my 3 tone sunburst strat for 14 years and I used to like it more than I do lately. I get a lot of good comments on it. I think most people like it more than I do.

[MichaelThomas]

I love perloid pickguards!!!!! But sometimes, I just gotta go with that nice vintage mint green ;)

[HHB]

I like tortoise but pearloid is too flashy for me

[kensmith]

I like them, but actually as much for the surface finish as much as the look. I like that they are smoother than normal 3ply guards. My picking hand (pinky) likes to slide around....crazy huh?

[mprvise]

Behold the power of cheese! (BTW - Prior to this thread I didn't realize how many of my guitars have perloid/tortoise.)

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m50/mprvise/GROSHEDDIES.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m50/mprvise/stratclosenew.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m50/mprvise/TYLERCLASSIC.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m50/mprvise/LentzDL-90silverfromshop.jpg

[damo7v]

Hmmm, I'd have to say that generally I'm not a fan. But for me it's really a case of horses for courses.

Case in point:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/damiengalt/music_gear/jem7vwh/jem7vwh_030905_20.jpg

I can't help but think that if Elvis was still alive and (through some bizarre turn of events) had become a shredder, this would quite possibly be his weapon of choice. So if only for that reason, it demands a pearloid guard.

[MisterTV]

Permanently in my "never cool" file, along with gold hardware and flame finishes. More Liberace than Elvis.

[-Analog-]

1 guitar with Mother of toilet seat on it for me :)
http://www.nortoncable.com/images_/LaceSensors.jpg

[KKauffman]

Not for the faint of heart, OMG it has gold hardware, quilted maple top, white pearl binding, pickguard and tuning machine buttons! :eek:

http://www.pbase.com/crumblebum/masterbuilt_telecaster

[strat6866]

Not a big fan of perloid here. Give me white, aged or mint anyday.

[TS808]

For me I like them and have white pearl on my strats...they start to look super cool as they age too. I never did care much for the plain white pickguards for some reason.

[Motorhed]

I don't guess some of you would like the Warmoth tele idea that's been going around my head...Surf green with a maple fretboard with pearloid neck/body binding/pickguard/block inlays lol.

[90wreck]

You tell me.(myself...not really)
The original guard was gone(it had an after market black triple ply on it) and I had this one laying around.
My intent is to get a mint green in time.
But everybody that has see it likes it.
BTW, it is a 67 prototype Thinline Custom. It is chambered with no F holes. Quartersawn spruce top and back. Confirmed by Joe Glaser(if you trust his opinion). It weighs about 5.2 lbs.
The PG will eventually be changed to a period correct, just haven't gotten around to it.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a101/wreck90/music%20gear/b449aef7.jpg

[Lucidology]

Behold the power of cheese! (BTW - Prior to this thread I didn't realize how many of my guitars have perloid/tortoise.)

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m50/mprvise/GROSHEDDIES.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m50/mprvise/stratclosenew.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m50/mprvise/TYLERCLASSIC.jpg



WOW.. each one of those looks totally killer ..

I for one, dislike vintage looking mint colored pickguards ... think they're really ugly & dull ....
though I must admit, I've had my share ...

[MartinC]

I don't guess some of you would like the Warmoth tele idea that's been going around my head...Surf green with a maple fretboard with pearloid neck/body binding/pickguard/block inlays lol.

Sounds just fine to me ...

[retrokid]

I don't usually like them, but I like them on Ibanez JEM's.
In addition, some of the pictures posted in this thread contained nice-looking pearloid pickguards!

[retrokid]

Behold the power of cheese! (BTW - Prior to this thread I didn't realize how many of my guitars have perloid/tortoise.)

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m50/mprvise/GROSHEDDIES.jpg



Could you please tell me what guitar this is? It looks fantastic!! :dude

[HoboMan]

http://www.communityofficesupply.com/images/git/sg/sg1.jpg

[mprvise]

Could you please tell me what guitar this is? It looks fantastic!! :dude

Grosh #1383 - Bent Top Custom. It has one of Don's large soft V necks - love it! :love: