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Main Description
Ok - so "officially" there aren't many RGs that come with this plate as standard, but its something that definitely has a place in the world! Ditching the middle single coil, and going back to basics with a HB/HB setup - OR - go nuts and use the Ibanez® smart switch to give you the pickup switching options found on some of the 20 series.
Worth being aware though, that all RGs are not created equal, and whilst this plate represents out first foray into pickguards for this line of guitars, there does seem to be some variation between guitars - so as always, its worth checking the tech spec diagrams here, against your guitar.
But beyond that - its business as usual really - designed to port onto the grand daddy of metal guitars, cut for humbucker in the bridge and neck.
Be aware too, the RG plates are a bit strange, in that the pickup routes wont accept a covered humbucker. We did consider not building that feature into the pickguards - but because the bodies are so tightly routed, even if you could fit a covered humbucker into the slots, you aren't getting it into the body.
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Ibanez® is a registered trademarks of Hoshino Gakki, Ltd and Axesrus® has no affiliation with FMIC or Hoshino Gakki, Ltd.
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+)
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.
"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
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