Axesrus - Pickguard - Suitable 54-57 Stratocaster

Main Description

This is the grand-daddy when it comes to Strat® plates – absolutely riddled with little niggles and flaws that Fender® would eventually hammer out as the guitar evolved into one of the most popular instruments in the world! What we call a 57 spec plate (as with the 62 – purely because that’s where most of us will see them, on 57 re-issues) is mounted with only 8 screws around the outside edge – which means that even when built with modern materials, they can be a little temperamental when it comes to temperature change and warping.

This is actually exasperated further by the originals (and subsequent re-inventions) coming with a single ply plate as standard, which is much thinner than a modern plate (1.8mm vs 2.3mm) – so if you are going for historical accuracy with your builds and repairs, it’s worth bearing in mind that it did change for a very good reason.

We carry the single ply plates as a matter of completeness, and know full well that sometimes, only 100% accuracy will do – and if the originals warped, then you want yours to warp too! It’s all part of the charm right? But the majority of the ones we carry are in fact a 3 ply to bring a little more of the stability you get with a modern plate into the equation. End of the day, if you’re not that bothered about sticking true to the original, then more power to you – got to get that guitar the way you want it right?

Actually a fairly specific plate to be honest, short of a Fender® “full fat” re-issue from this period, they don’t turn up all that often on your average Strat® (although it’s fair to say they do crop up with some regularity on non-Fender® guitars in similar styles)

As always with pickguards for the Stratocaster® - it’s worth remembering that all the naming conventions and dates relate specifically to guitars produced in the USA, and to a lesser extent, in Mexico – they’re fairly on the ball when it comes to sticking to the standards, so for the most part, they don’t cause any problems.

Where the system does fall down, is with your “imports” – Fender® Japan and Squier® have muddied the waters slightly – if you’re dealing with a 50s inspired guitar from the far east, it’s really worth checking out the hole plan in the Technical specifications to make sure it all matches up. Guitars like the Squier® Classic Vibe 50s for example, might look every inch the 54 re-issue, but the plate is not a 50s plate, it’s a modern one, but with only 8 holes!) – As a quick rule of thumb, all 50s Strat® plates are 8 hole, but not all 8 holes are 50s spec. As you can imagine, it can get a bit annoying.

But enough about the history and the manufacturers little niggles – how about a bit about the plate?

The plate itself is made for a 3 ply laminate of PVC (unless it’s one of the single plys, then it’s obviously 1 ply, and has the historically correct “square edge” rather than the 45 degree bevel), purely because it’s the best material for the job. Whilst it’s true to say that various other plastics have been used, most had their draw backs sadly – fine for historical accuracy, but a bit of a pig in day to day life. PVC is heat resistant to avoid warping, its colour fast, so will never change colour as it ages (although, as with most things, it’ll still nicotine stain, it’ll still bleach in the sun if you leave it there for a few weeks!).

So if you’re working on a Strat® from the early 50s (and if so, on a personal note – PLEASE don’t replace the pickguard!!!), or one of the re-issues or re-imaginings (that’s fine – they’re unlikely to pay off your mortgage any time soon), then this is the one you need, all built up with modern materials to avoid the little flaws of the originals, in a nice range of colours.

The plate itself is actually exactly the same size and shape as any other Strat plate - overlay a modern plate on a fifties plate, and they're identical - but there are a couple of differences that are worth watching out for.

A Closer Look and what to look out for

  
  Mounting Holes
Where most of us will be familar with a Strat® sporting 11 mounting holes on its pickguard, in the fifties, they only had eight. Seven of them actually match up with the modern 11 hole plate, but the one below the switch is actually in a different place.

    Interestingly, whilst there aren't many Fender® guitars that turn up with fifties plates, there are plenty of Squiers! Most of the Affinity series actually turns up with this exact plate (and, even more weirdly, the Classic Vibe® fifties, doesn't - that screw near the switch? On a CV50, is actually in the same place as a modern 11 hole plate, even though its still an 8 hole scratch plate)
  
  Pickup and Switch Bolts
Fender® stuck with counter sunk bolts up until about 1977, so whilst this isn't limited to a 50s spec guard, you'll normally see them with counter sunk holes for the pickup and switch bolts.
Now, we've got a bit of a hodge podge here - because we've got some old stock plates that still have dome head bolts holes on them - so, for completeness sake - the following 50s plates are "incorrect", in that they aren't recessed on the bolt holes (all other colours are correct)

    Black 3 ply (B/W/B),Black 3 ply (B/B/B), Classic Tortoise Shell (T/W/B), Ivory 1 ply (Thick). Ivory 3 ply (I/B/I), Mint B 3 ply (M/B/M), White Pearl 3 ply (W/P/B)

  Truss Rod Access
With a Fifties Strat®, your always going to see the access for the truss rod at the heel of the neck, never at the headstock (which wouldn't come in until the 80s!) - as such, the pickguards are often "notched" with a little recess to allow access. 
Again, full discloure - theres a few old stock plates here without the truss rod nothces - anything not listed here, has the correct half moon cutout in the neck heel.

 Black 3 ply (B/W/B),Black 3 ply (B/B/B), Black 1 ply (Thin)m Black Bakelite 1 ply (Thick), Classic Tortoise Shell (T/W/B), Ivory 1 ply (Thick). Ivory 3 ply (I/B/I), Mint B 3 ply (M/B/M), White Pearl 3 ply (W/P/B)

Edges

Now, officially, a Strat® from the fifties, would only have come in one style - single ply, and about 1.8mm thick from top to bottom - and if you do go that route (what we call a "thin 1 ply" - dont be shocked and appaulled that its a bit wobbly - its not ideal, but if you've got your heart set on WLD (What Leo Did) - then thats the way to do it. Interestingly, the 1 plys always came with a flat edge, and no bevel.

We know its a bit of an issue nowadays, so along with the 1 ply thins, we also make 1 ply thicks - which look pretty much identical, but are 2.3mm thick - gives them a little extra strength, and they're much less prone to warping.

We also carry plenty of colours in a more modern 3 (and 4) plys - at that point, we're so far away from histroical correctness, that we build them with the 45 degree bevel on the appropriate edges.

Fender®, Squier®, Strat® and Stratocaster® are registered trademarks of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation and Axesrus® has no affiliation with FMIC

Other Part Compatibility

The Fender® Stratocaster® is one of those guitars that turns up in a fair few versions "as standard" (think HSS, HSH, HH, Hard tails, locking trems - theres loads!) - but the after market mods available nowadays are about as wide ranging as you can get! Its, thankfully, pretty straight foward on the whole, but just for completeness sake, we'll link out to compatible parts for this pickguard.

 
  Pickups

This being a 50s spec pickguard, your pretty safe in assuming your going to be fitting 50s spec pickups to boot - and, honestly? They dont come much better then our Late 50s single coils - completely accurate to the period, build around 3/16" Alnico rods, wrapped with heavy build Formvar copper in 42 AWG, and ticking along at just under 6K - about as 50s as 50s gets!

  Knobs

 Usually, a Strat® comes with UFO knobs (1 volume, 2 tone) - our premium knobs are universal fit, so whilst these plates are drilled out for CTS pots (10mm), if your fitting Alphas, the knobs will still fit - keeps it nice and simple.

  Bridges
Startocaster® guitars actually come in 3 different "flavours" when it comes to the bridge - the "norm" is a tremolo (either a 2 stud/modern version, or the traditiona 6 screw/vintage offering) but Hardtail versions of the guitar exist too (dating right back to 1954!) - thankfully, the route on the pickguard doesn't change - and will fit around Tremolo OR a hardtail withou any modification.

 
  Covers

Single coil covers, thankfully, haven't really changed all that much with Fender® - the outside profile went through a few teething trouble changes early on, but they're always been the same size/mounting. 

    Just be careful with the pole spacing - most single coils are 52mm spacing (centre to centre on the E poles) - but you do see some weird ones (52.5mm is common coming out of the Far east, and you do see 50mm and, rarely, 48mm spacings)
  
  Tips

 Tips see a fair bit of variaiton too weirdly - most guitars use a 5mm wide lever, so need a tip to match - BUT - 4mm is common on Japanese guitars, and 3mm turns up very often on anything Chinese or Korean
 
  Bolts
Every Stratocaster® made before 1980 (including  reissues made after) come with counter sunk bolts on the pickup and switch - just remember, were working through some old stock plates here, so not all plates have recesses for these bolts.

   The Fender® standard is 6-32UNC, but be aware, there are M3 versions that turn up on ear eastern guitars (and theres a few weird threads that appear on some Fender pickups - the SCN series being one)

 
  Screws
You do, weirdly, see some variation in pickguard screws - but for simplicities sake, we keep all of our plates working to the same size thread/head. Stops things getting confusing.
 
  Electronics

With this setup (a pair of single coils) and taking into account some level of histroical accuracy - you're best running a guitar fitted with this pickguard/pickup config with 250k Audio taper pots - but if we're keeing things 50s, its "the norm" to see a 0.1 cap in place of the more usual 0.022 which came in later - AND - 50s strats didn't have reverse wound middle pickps! So they only came with 3 way switches.
We also offer wiring kits too
 
  Back plate

50s back plates (and infact, anything "pre 1980") traditionally only ever came in single ply (and as far as i can tell, only ever in white!) - and had 6 elongated holes that lined up with the string holes in the trem block - now, we're not slaves to histroical accuracy, but its worth remembering, that pre 1980 back plates are slightly smaller then modern ones, so whilst a 1 ply plate is pretty much perfect, we do offer 3 ply versions - theres a slight bug in those, in that the bevel on the edge of the plate fouls slightly into the screws counter sinks. You'll never spot it in real life - but its there, and worth remembering.

Why Can/Cant I move pot holes?

Right then - this has been in the offing for a while now, so probably worth explaining whats going on with the pot hole options!

We're, slowly but surely, switching all of our pickguard stock over to "No pot" versions - and that means we can drill them out to order - so if your in the mood for switching over to master tone, master volume? Just Volume? No holes? Or just moving the volume pot out of the way so you dont keep hitting the thing? You can - its an easy job, so its all done at no extra cost, and it gets you dangerously close to custom pickguards without the supidly long lead times and eye watering costs!

However - theres a few little caveats that are worth noting.

Returns

Lets get the elephant in the room out of the way first eh?

Once pickguards are drilled - theres no going back - so worth being aware that once its drilled, its yours - the pickguards come with a standard config loaded up, so whilst these are drilled to order, we will accept them back as a return/refund if you change your mind. (and obviously, if the plates shipped without any holes in there, no harm no foul - can come back!)

Any deviation from "the standard" (remember, thats no always 1V 2T "normal layout" though) - the pickguard is no longer returnable. Frankly, it makes selling the returns next to impossible. I wish it wasn't, but lets be honest - you can make some pretty weird setups here, so lets just be sensible about it. If its non-standard, its non-returnable.

So, its really worth using all the resources here to make sure its exactly what you want before commiting to buy the thing! Theres spec diagrams under the tech spec tab, theres photos of all the colours under the "Tortoise shell/whites/pearls explained" tabs - your as well informed with what your getting as you can be (and again, if in doubt? Just buy the thing without the pot holes and drill it out yourself - 10mm drill bit and a cordless drill - easy job - we'll even tell you where to put the holes)

Why cant i do it on all colours?

Put simply? Because some of the plates are already drilled out - we're switching the entire stock over as we get new plates in, but as you can imagine, its not exactly a quick process. Anything where you can customise, you'll be faced with the drop down menus to select what you want (and the picture updates to show what your getting) - anything you cant customise, will revert back to "standard" and show the "Please Note - The selected colour/material is currently not available for customisation" message - you can still order the plate, but you cant move the pot holes unfortunately.

What is Pickguard Style/Mount?
Rather then having multiple product listings on the site to cover "minor" variations within pickguards (especially in the more specialist stuff!) - we're just building them in as options within single products - so with common plates, like an Modern Strat? You can pick between left and right handed versions - more niche stuff? Like the Locking Trem plate - thats got loads more options in there, right down to pickup options (HBSCSC, SCSCSC and HBSCHB) - just keeps the site looking tidy, even if it does hide a few of the options a little deeper. Easier to dig deeper then have to trawl through 10 pages of completely irrelivent plates though!

Hole Postitioning

This is, despite my best efforts - dull as dish water! I'm describing the space between holes here, so dont expect anything life changing - but, worth having the details, and i'll try and include a few little tit-bits to watch out for. Just remember, that the holes are drilled out to 10mm, so they'll take Alpha, CTS and Bournes pots.

  Volume pot

We do 4 volume pot hole versions
So, working from the back of the plate, up from the very bottom pickguard mounting hole.

    Standard - the usual position, if there was a single coil there, the knob would be nearly touching the bridge pickups height adjustment bolt. 102mm centre to centre, angled at 54 degrees (approx)
Offset 1 - what i'd call the "Tom Delonge" offset - volume pot right down out of the way, nearer the switch. Personally, i dont like it with a switch - its just that bit too close - BUT - if you can live with it, it gets the volume out of the way AND you get to keep both tone pots.
97mm centre to centre, angles at 36 degrees (approx)  
Offset 2 - What I'd call the "Ibanez®" offset - volume controls about half way between standard and the neck tone pot (so you cant have the neck tone AND offset 2) - personally, a better choice for getting the volume pot of the way, because it doesn't crown out the switch like Offset 1 does.
84mm centre to centre, angled at 50 degrees (approx)

    No Volume Pot  - what it says on the tin - no hole for the volume pot will be drilled.

  "Neck" Tone

 As we get away from the volume pot, things get a bit simpler thankfully - tone pots are either there or they're not - but for completeness sake, i'll put the dimensions/angles in. (Just remember that neck tone is the one in the middle between volume and the bottom tone pot hole - controls the neck pickup!)
Standard -60mm centre to centre, angled at 44 degrees (approx)

    No "Neck" Tone -again, no hole for the neck tone.

  "Middle" Tone
The bottom tone pot (NOT the one in the middle!) - controls the middle pickup traditionally - again, not a great deal you can do with it - its either there or it aint.
Standard -19mm centre to centre, angled at 31 degrees (approx)

   No "Neck" Tone -again, no hole for the neck tone.

And in closing - Pickguards, once drilled away from the standard hole plan, come under the remit of Custom work and as always, if you've got any questions what so ever, please feel free to get in touch with us and we can talk through all the finer details of your proposed build.

Tortoise Shell Explained

You’ve probably noticed with the pickguards, we do A LOT of different variations in tortoise shells – and even then, we barely scratch the surface when it comes to completing the line-up.

Basically, Tortoise shell, originally, way back when, when it first started (long before the electric guitar was a thing) was just that – pieces of a tortoises shell, fixed together into a shape, and polished until semi-transparent (some of the early acoustic pickguards were actually made this way)

Now, obviously, none of us want to see a return to those practises, but seemingly, everyone liked “the look” – so with the advent of plastic in the early part of the 20th century, science found a cheaper way (it wasn’t until the seventies when trade in hawksbill turtle (the main source of Tortoise shell) shells became illegal!)

The first “plastic” Tortoise Shells were made from Nitrate plastics, usually Celluloid – and, frankly, it’s pretty gorgeous! Its semi-transparent, it’s got a sort of leopard skin look to it, and it soon worked its way onto guitars (again, most acoustics)

The problem is – Celluloid plastics are astonishingly flammable – they have a low point of combustion, and once they’re burning, they don’t go out until the fuels gone, or they flame is deprived of oxygen. As you can imagine, no one really liked working with Celluloid. It was risky to use (cutting = friction = heat) it was dangerous to store, and it wasn’t really suitable for the job at hand ( it changed colour when exposed to sunlight, it warped, it shrank, it was generally, pretty badly behaved!)
Never the less, it did eventually find its way onto electric guitars by the late 50s and early 60s, but was soon replaced for something more suitable and much safer.

Nowadays, you see Tortoise shells in either Polyoxymethylene (more stable as a material, but still very flammable) or PVC (which is fairly bomb proof, but does give off toxic fumes if burnt)

Now, getting to the modern day – Tortoise shell comes in 5 “variants” for us (ignoring the Celluloid offerings, they’re still out there, and great for historical accuracy, but just be VERY careful with them – not only in buying them/storing your guitar once its fitted, but also in actually sourcing the stuff, we’ve yet to find a factory who will even consider making a plate with it (too big a fire risk) and even when we do, its very cost prohibitive (more expensive to buy the things then we could ever dream of selling them for!) – there are guys out there making them though – but as a rough guide, expect to pay upwards of £150+)

  
  Classic

Now this is a funny one. For the longest  time, it was the only Tortoise shell we had access to, and honestly – its OK –  turns up pretty often on mid-priced guitars, such as the Squier® Classic vibe  and vintage modified lines – personally, I think of it was a cheats Tortoise  shell, because it seems to be a screen print sandwiched between the layers of  PVC, and as such, it looks a little flat. It is, however pretty uniform, so if  you want all your tortoise shells to look the same, classics the way to go.

  3 Ply Brown

 Now we’re talking – rather then a “flat layer” brown  tortoise is the real deal – layers of semi-transparent PVC (one yellow, one  brown) over laid to give that characteristic look. For whatever reason, the 3  ply version shows a little more yellow in the mix then the 4 ply. It shows a great  depth of colour as a result, and if pressed, I’d say it was my favourite of the  shells.

  4 Ply Brown
Slightly darker then the 3 ply version, less yellow  bleed through in the mix (presumably because the yellow “layer” is thinner)

  
  3 Ply Red
Similar to the brown version really – yellow and red,  one on top of the other, but it’s the same principle, same results, just a  little more vibrant then the brown.

  4 Ply Red
Where the brown 4 ply shows a little less yellow, the  red version pretty much cuts it out completely. Its almost bordering on a red pearl  for us, and certainly not without its charms. Ideal if you really hate the idea  of the yellow peeking through.

  Celluloid
For completeness sake, heres a photo of a celluloid plate too - i think we can all agree, it looks absolutely glorious, and theres a real depth to the "shell" effect - but if you look closely at the photo, you can probably see that the plate (in this case a Jazzaster) has badly warped, its been kept in the same conditions as the PVC plates above, for the same amount of time, but its way past being usable now.

Pearls Explained

Pearloid plates are similar to the tortoise shells, but theres a little less subtly between them, and they dont really have anything overly interesting in their history - as far as i can tell, they're always been PVC, and the variations in colour and pattern are pretty easy to follow.

So lets take a closer look.

  
  White Pearl

The most common pearloid you're going to see - "white pearl" - i think its safe to say we all know the look. Interesingly, Pearl pickguards are actually made from a material intially intended to be a faux "mother of pearl" (which is the inside of an oyster shell)

  Aged Pearl

 More common then you'd think strangely - fairly safe to think of it as the Parchment version of white pearl. For whatever reason, the pearling is a little tighter, with fewer blank spots between the reflective sections.

  Ivory Pearl
If Aged Pearl is the Parchment, then Ivory Pearl is most definately the Ivroy to the white - much more creamy in colour. Usually, you only see if in a 3 ply triple Ivory - not very common nowadays, but does occasionally turn up.

  
  Avalon
This is a fairly new pattern as far as we can well - actually a much closer representation of that "mother of pearl" look that the original pearloids were going for. Rather then being broken up into reflective "squares", its more bothches and swirls, gives it a nice crisp finish.

  Abalone
If Avalon is getting closer to mother of pearl, then its probably only right that we've got one thats getting close to its opposite number, abalone (which is the inside of the shell of a few species of marine snail) - its certainly a very "unique" pattern, and again, is more swirls then squares.

  Black Pearl
Black pearl is always a bone of contention for us - its not "really" black - its more a dark grey colour - there is a blacker version out there (not that we can find it!) called "Moto Pearl" - but yeah, they've both got their place.

  
  Purple Pearl
Hardly an all time classic, but not without its charms. Nice tight pearling, very few gaps between the squares, so nice and uniform - a love it or loathe it colour i suppose. Pair it with a black body and black plastics, and its a nice little statement piece though.

  Blue Pearl
Colour aside, its a fairly traditional pearloid - reflective squares, blue tint - looks a bit crackers on its own, but with the right body, it can work really well.

  Green Pearl
Again, a bit of a novelty colour for me - not exactly what you'd call a classic, but if thats your thing - more power to ya.

"Whites & Creams" Explained

Ok, even i'll conceed that this isn't the most thrilling of toics at this point, but there is actually plenty of confusion when it comes to the "off white" pickguard colours, so seeing as we're ticking off pearls and tortoise shell varients, we might as well address the parchments, mints and creams too.

So lets get stuck in

  
  White 

We carry all our white plates in the above "shade" - its a completely opaque pigment, and is what you expect really, a very clean, crisp, pristine white.

  Parchement

Occasionally called "aged white" in the trade - parchment is the next shade in from white, slightly darker with a very slight creamy/yellow tint - think of it like old news paper.

  Ivory 3 ply
As called aged white (and a source of much confusion!) - Ivory  is the only plastic that differs in colour in its 3 and 1 ply forms. The 3 ply above is quite a yellow, almost buttery cream, almos shades of nicotine staining.

Avalon Mother of pearl pickguard for a stratocaster

Ivory 1 Ply

And, for completeness sake - Ivory 1 ply. Strangely, never called Aged white - differs from the 3 ply version quite drastically, its much more a cream colour.A little softer, much less nicotine yellow.

Mint

Now, Mint is where things get really fun.

Mint was originally designed to mimic the "greening" of white celluloid plates as they age, but as they've become more popular, tastes have changed a little, so you see some variations within mint, so we differentiate between these variations.

At the bottom, you've got Mint "B" - the original Mint - its quite dark, and quite green. Any guitar you see online with a mint plate, is likely to have a mint B - its the most common of the mints.

Slap bang in the middle, you've got Mint "A" 3 ply- this is a slightly ligher then B, and is a half way house between parchement and Mint B for me - a little more subtle, a little less green.

And right at the tip, we've got 1 ply Mint "A" - slightly different to the 3 ply version, a little less green again.