WARNING - don’t put your pickguard in the oven to flatten it

[MattK]

I’ve put this on the Other Site Guys but felt it was important to share here too. I love my 78 Musicmaster, but the pickguard had become rippled and bumpy over the years.

Reading online I found folks saying putting theirs in a warm oven (200F / 100C kind of thing) for ten minutes, then pressing between flat surfaces, cured their warping.
I heated my oven to a bit over 100 (perhaps my main error) and put the guard in for five minutes on a flat tray. I saw the points curling up a bit and guessed that it was part of the softening process. Took it out and laid it between two sheets of glass with books stacked on top for pressure.
To my horror it has come out with the shine dulled, but much more seriously, it has shrunken by up to 5mm in places. The photo below shows it lined up on the screw hole near the bridge, and there is 5mm of body showing at the neck pocket.

I'm gutted. Don't do this.

[Gavin]

rub it with olive oil, salt and pepper it, and put it back in for another five. might not fix it but it will taste delicious

[MattK]

^ This is the quality community I come here for.

[Gavin]

Nick apparently did successfully oven bake his pick guard.

http://www.shortscale.org/viewtopic.ph ... n#p1471035

[Nick]

10 minutes is far too long, I found.

I successfully flattened a friends musicman bass pickguard a few years ago, following some advice I found on some forum (probably tdpri or something). What I remember was the 200°f, and putting the pickguard on a flat baking sheet (covered in foil to protect the surface of the sheet). No pressing involved, it flattened on its own once it got warm enough.

I tried to find the post again when I had the warped JM guard since I couldn't remember exactly what worked before...I found probably the same post you did about the 10 minutes, and the mention of pressing between two blocks. I knew it worked without the blocks so I didn't use them...I don't know if I left mine in a full 10 but when I took it out, it was soft like rubber. Laid it on the counter to cool/harden, only to find it had shrunk just enough for a few screw holes not to align perfect.

In hindsight, I probably just had the Musicman pickguard in for 2-3 minutes. Better yet just watch it with the oven light on, and as soon as it gets soft enough to flatten, take it out. YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY depending on the plastic type... I'd be especially wary of doing this to vintage pickguards that like to shrink on their own even without added heat

[MattK]

Sounds very wise - I was actually watching it like a hawk and there wasn't a point at which it relaxed flat. I pulled it out after about 4 minutes but the damage was done. Had to bite the bullet and buy an old one, it was about two and a half times a WD guard would have cost but I know I would have kept looking until I found an original. Same seller had a wiring harness which mine didn't have (just a couple of Alpha mini pots) so it ended up costing nearly what I paid for the guitar a decade ago! I love it tho and it's a keeper. Got to transfer the mini goat sticker that my daughter put over the extra hole that Aen drilled.