Having had my L05 for a number of years, I decided to give her a new look and have the pickguard removed.
I read a few threads about the subject , grabbed a hairdryer, lifted up slightly the upper corner of the pickguard..........all was going well.......and suddenly, CRACK!!!! :whistling:
I partially lacerated the wood next to the abalone in the rosette , and splitted and damaged the poly finish extending towards an uncovered area of the guitar top. :angry:
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s13/Pinguponte/76C43E0C-6EEB-449B-84DA-E74B4B28475C-401-0000001634DC0CC0_zps005d00f1.jpg)
So in one second I wrecked my twice GOTM L05. I couldn't believe it. I felt like a murder holding a knife next to the victim in the crime scene. :crying:
Went to see a local Luthier http://www.gorkaurra.com/. He had to sand the guitar top, fill the ulcerated chipped area around the rosette and refinish the top.
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s13/Pinguponte/81CAC1EA-EBCE-41E4-B9DA-4D58DF6CB2DB-401-00000014D4303072_zps5bc54731.jpg)
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s13/Pinguponte/76B3BAC1-1855-4794-8F69-121C071098B9-401-00000014E5217887_zpsa359a275.jpg)
Although he suggested a Nitrocelulose finish, I finally decided on Polyuretethane.
Here´s the end result. Although you can see a tanline where the pickguard was, the guitar looks very nice. Hopeully the tanline will fade with time :cheers
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s13/Pinguponte/43A8658E-F5F4-4A1F-BA33-A515A576E1A8-401-00000014AB6FEE3A_zps0417d5a4.jpg)
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s13/Pinguponte/FDCC357F-1935-45BF-8B0F-998DB51FCC4C-401-0000001491E3ADEF_zps360aae5a.jpg)
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s13/Pinguponte/98FB7880-A85E-4445-B447-EDD3C36484E6-401-000000150A7E3421_zps2b7cc9a1.jpg)
So, I suggest if you are thinking about removing your pickguard, my advice is Don´t do it. Take it to your local Luthier and let the professional deal with it.
I've done it successfully a number of times and would add that if you opt to do a pickguard-otomy yourself, take your time and resist the temptation to yank it off once you soften the glue. I also like to use dental floss as I'm gently pulling it up...
Ponte I am glad it was restored. Looks great now!!
Unfortunately, there is a "ghost" pickguard there, as the top didn't age beneath it.
Is it possible to order a Larry sans any pickguard? Mine has the translucent rectangular deal that they used back in the lat 90's early 2000's. It's always seemed a bit strange to see the rectangle, but I am too nervous to take it off for fear of doing this type of damage. It seems to be tanning fine through the guard.
You can order larrivees without a pickguard I believe. I wonder if that tab line will ever age to the same color as the rest of the guitar or if it will always be a lighter shade?
Quote from: Walkerman on April 17, 2013, 08:42:11 AM
Unfortunately, there is a "ghost" pickguard there, as the top didn't age beneath it.
Quote from: brandon on April 17, 2013, 10:23:45 AM
You can order larrivees without a pickguard I believe. I wonder if that tab line will ever age to the same color as the rest of the guitar or if it will always be a lighter shade?
Hi Walkerman and Brandon.
I hope the tanline darkens with time and light exposure. I´ve been told it will eventually happen.
Has anybody got any experience on this?
Thanks for your comments jrporter and brandon
Yes, the tan line fades in time. I've done it.
Not overnight. But in time. Its own sweet time.
The tan line should disappear eventually, mine did.
It originally looked like this and below it I found a picture taken about a year later. Its been over 5 years now and there is no sign of a line. I know I'm probably in the minority having kept the same guitar for so long. :bgrin: I just can't seem to justify getting rid of these Larrivee guitars that sound so magnificent.
(http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa242/daddyo12453/Glossed%20OM-03MT/IMG_0584_1_1.jpg) (http://s199.photobucket.com/user/daddyo12453/media/Glossed%20OM-03MT/IMG_0584_1_1.jpg.html)
(http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa242/daddyo12453/Hog%20tops/IMG_1263_1_1.jpg) (http://s199.photobucket.com/user/daddyo12453/media/Hog%20tops/IMG_1263_1_1.jpg.html)
BTW the luthier did a nice job refinishing the top.
Quote from: Queequeg on April 17, 2013, 12:06:46 PM
Yes, the tan line fades in time. I've done it.
Not overnight. But in time. Its own sweet time.
Thats encouraging, Queepeg
Are those photos before and after? and whta is the timespan Mr LV?
Quote from: rockstar_not on April 17, 2013, 09:05:53 AM
Is it possible to order a Larry sans any pickguard? Mine has the translucent rectangular deal that they used back in the lat 90's early 2000's. It's always seemed a bit strange to see the rectangle, but I am too nervous to take it off for fear of doing this type of damage. It seems to be tanning fine through the guard.
Yes... I ordered my OO-03 w/o a pickguard....
Quote from: Ponte on April 17, 2013, 01:28:16 PM
Are those photos before and after? and whta is the timespan Mr LV?
The first picture was a few days after I took it off, the second picture was about a year later.
I had a similar incident recently whilst attempting a pickguard removal, as soon as I noticed it though I just stuck the pickguard back down which put the sliver of wood back in place. Can't see it under the pickguard so it's no big deal.
Quote from: jrporter on April 17, 2013, 06:47:24 AM
I've done it successfully a number of times and would add that if you opt to do a pickguard-otomy yourself, take your time and resist the temptation to yank it off once you soften the glue. I also like to use dental floss as I'm gently pulling it up...
I would add, probably help to not pull with the grain and to soak that dental floss with naptha.
Also, if you bought the guitar used be aware that the guard or adhesive may not be what the factory used. They could have used something dumb like superglue.
QuoteAlso, if you bought the guitar used be aware that the guard or adhesive may not be what the factory used. They could have used something dumb like superglue.
That's one reason I've never tried taking the after market one off on my 20+ year old L-09..... and would the tan line ever actually catch up after I don't know how many years ?? :? ...yup, too scared to risk it :whistling: ...trouble is I'm stuck indoors all morning waiting for the water company engineer to come fix my meter... and.... idle hands.... :blush:
Pete
Me I just would have put nail polish on the bare spots or left it and called it a day. Looks like a nice refinish.
:smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile:
Water guy came early.... and those idle hands got put to work. Top corner of the pickguard was slightly unstuck and picking at it with my thumb nail seeing no tan line turned to a hair dryer and thin blade scraper and the awful thing came off working "slow & easy" as people have said. Took far longer to clean off the glue gunk left behind.
Absolutely zero tan line !!! :bgrin: I'm guessing the top had matured with a clear guard on and the after market tortoise one was put on later. Guitar looks great :nanadance
Who would have thought a thread with such a scary start would finally decide me to take the plunge ?!? :doh
Pete
I've had similar adventures with pickguard removal in fact my results were much worse. Fortunately, after a visit to Oxnard, my 1975 L is as good as or better than new. I prefer the looks of a Larrivee with the clear pg or entirely without one but this looks like a good argument for leaving well enough alone. :smile:
Quote from: ducktrapper on April 18, 2013, 08:34:31 AM
I've had similar adventures with pickguard removal in fact my results were much worse. Fortunately, after a visit to Oxnard, my 1975 L is as good as or better than new. I prefer the looks of a Larrivee with the clear pg or entirely without one but this looks like a good argument for leaving well enough alone. :smile:
Quote from: steve1 on April 18, 2013, 12:11:47 AM
I had a similar incident recently whilst attempting a pickguard removal, as soon as I noticed it though I just stuck the pickguard back down which put the sliver of wood back in place. Can't see it under the pickguard so it's no big deal.
I'm glad I'm not the only one that fiddles and makes mistakes with my Larri.
Quote from: hatofthecat on April 18, 2013, 07:15:14 AM
:smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile:
Water guy came early.... and those idle hands got put to work. Top corner of the pickguard was slightly unstuck and picking at it with my thumb nail seeing no tan line turned to a hair dryer and thin blade scraper and the awful thing came off working "slow & easy" as people have said. Took far longer to clean off the glue gunk left behind.
Absolutely zero tan line !!! :bgrin: I'm guessing the top had matured with a clear guard on and the after market tortoise one was put on later. Guitar looks great :nanadance
Who would have thought a thread with such a scary start would finally decide me to take the plunge ?!? :doh
Pete
Im glad it all went well Pete. Send us a photo
Ponte - Before and after shots, can't seem to get a decent colour match as I think the before one was under fluorescent lights in the store (bit of a clue in the reflection...).
Up very close at just the right angle I can see a very slight 'dink' outline in the finish of upper edge the original clear pickguard but that's it. I have now also been able to justify to my girlfriend why a man with so little hair need's to own a hair dryer :whistling:
Pete
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BtfsvNWQ3Ns/UXFEVnZXUBI/AAAAAAAAALM/7X9NucUaKd8/s640/pb050246.jpg)
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-mMDV54NMQoQ/UXFEdbs6iFI/AAAAAAAAALY/MljfYLTm-qo/s640/DSC02482_800.jpg)
Ponte if you put the guitar near a window that gets sunlight for an hour or two each day it should speed up the tanning of the PG area. Just be sure to not leave it in the sun on a hot day.
After doing the initial damage I would have just ordered a PG from Larrivee and put the new one on over the damaged area. Probably would have used superglue as a finish in the small areas and polished out with micromesh and buffed with polish. But that's me.
Quote from: Ponte on April 19, 2013, 03:28:35 AM
I'm glad I'm not the only one that fiddles and makes mistakes with my Larri.
Im glad it all went well Pete. Send us a photo
In my case, in 1977 I had removed, successfully, the original clear pickguard due to its curling up and collecting dirt around the edges. I play in such a way that I don't really need a pickguard in the first place. However, one night while I was at work, my room mate's buddy severly scratched the unprotected top with a flat pick. Yeah thanks for that dude. The only thing I could think to do was to cover up the worst of it with a solid pickguard. After several years, that pickguard started to lift up and I tried to replace it with a better one. When I slowly tried to lift it off, it tore a strip out of the top of the guitar. Afer I stopped crying, I glued the piece back in and put the new pickguard on and forgot about it for 25 years. Thanks to Matthew, it's looking pretty good now although sadly, the front crack has reopened despite my best attempts to humidify. Drat and darn.
Quote from: ducktrapper on April 19, 2013, 12:25:39 PM
In my case, in 1977 I had removed, successfully, the original clear pickguard due to its curling up and collecting dirt around the edges. I play in such a way that I don't really need a pickguard in the first place. However, one night while I was at work, my room mate's buddy severly scratched the unprotected top with a flat pick. Yeah thanks for that dude. The only thing I could think to do was to cover up the worst of it with a solid pickguard. After several years, that pickguard started to lift up and I tried to replace it with a better one. When I slowly tried to lift it off, it tore a strip out of the top of the guitar. Afer I stopped crying, I glued the piece back in and put the new pickguard on and forgot about it for 25 years. Thanks to Matthew, it's looking pretty good now although sadly, the front crack has reopened despite my best attempts to humidify. Drat and darn.
Ricky with Larrivee told me once that JCL uses a contact wood hygometer. If I had that rare old Larrrivee I think I might invest in one to get a truer reading of the moisture content on that guitar. I have seen cracks close completely just from humidification. I hope this doesn't get worse, I like this guitar and I know it means more to you than all your other guitars.
Quote from: dependan on April 19, 2013, 12:31:13 PM
Ricky with Larrivee told me once that JCL uses a contact wood hygometer. If I had that rare old Larrrivee I think I might invest in one to get a truer reading of the moisture content on that guitar. I have seen cracks close completely just from humidification. I hope this doesn't get worse, I like this guitar and I know it means more to you than all your other guitars.
I humidify the entire room and have maintained a level between 40 and 50% throughout the winter. The crack was repaired and I gather it's not that unusual for a repaired crack to reopen. Whatchagonnado? :crying:
Quote from: hatofthecat on April 19, 2013, 09:34:04 AM
Ponte - Before and after shots, can't seem to get a decent colour match as I think the before one was under fluorescent lights in the store (bit of a clue in the reflection...).
Up very close at just the right angle I can see a very slight 'dink' outline in the finish of upper edge the original clear pickguard but that's it. I have now also been able to justify to my girlfriend why a man with so little hair need's to own a hair dryer :whistling:
Pete
Hi Pete. Love the hairdryer argument. I haven't got tht much hair either :roll
Quote from: dependan on April 19, 2013, 11:06:52 AM
Ponte if you put the guitar near a window that gets sunlight for an hour or two each day it should speed up the tanning of the PG area. Just be sure to not leave it in the sun on a hot day.
After doing the initial damage I would have just ordered a PG from Larrivee and put the new one on over the damaged area. Probably would have used superglue as a finish in the small areas and polished out with micromesh and buffed with polish. But that's me.
Thanks for the advice Dependan. ill put it near the window
Quote from: ducktrapper on April 19, 2013, 12:25:39 PM
In my case, in 1977 I had removed, successfully, the original clear pickguard due to its curling up and collecting dirt around indoethe edges. I play in such a way that I don't really need a pickguard in the first place. However, one night while I was at work, my room mate's buddy severly scratched the unprotected top with a flat pick. Yeah thanks for that dude. The only thing I could think to do was to cover up the worst of it with a solid pickguard. After several years, that pickguard started to lift up and I tried to replace it with a better one. When windowI slowly tried to lift it off, it tore a strip out of the top of the guitar. Afer I stopped crying, I glued the piece back in and put the new pickguard on and forgot about it for 25 years. Thanks to Matthew, it's looking pretty good now although sadly, the front crack has reopened despite my best attempts to humidify. Drat and darn.
Nearly did that, Duck. Im glad i didn't have to wait another 25 years
Quote from: ducktrapper on April 19, 2013, 12:25:39 PM...Thanks to Matthew, it's looking pretty good now although sadly, the front crack has reopened despite my best attempts to humidify. Drat and darn.
When JCL recently visited Wildwood Music, I showed him the top crack on my L-41. He just smiled and shrugged and said "yeah...guitars will crack, especially older ones. They're made of wood, and wood will crack." He also said that even meticulous humidification is no absolute guarantee that a guitar won't crack, because all it takes is once instance of a drastic temperature or humidity change. He told us that it's best to keep guitars in their case, properly humidified, in winter, and
out of their case in the warmer months. This then segued into a story about Peter Yarrow's stolen/recovered guitar, which JCL said has over 20 body cracks, but Yarrow wouldn't trade it for the world.
Quote from: JamesN on April 20, 2013, 01:07:49 PM
When JCL recently visited Wildwood Music, I showed him the top crack on my L-41. He just smiled and shrugged and said "yeah...guitars will crack, especially older ones. They're made of wood, and wood will crack." He also said that even meticulous humidification is no absolute guarantee that a guitar won't crack, because all it takes is once instance of a drastic temperature or humidity change. He told us that it's best to keep guitars in their case, properly humidified, in winter, and out of their case in the warmer months. This then segued into a story about Peter Yarrow's stolen/recovered guitar, which JCL said has over 20 body cracks, but Yarrow wouldn't trade it for the world.
Well yeah, crack or no crack, it still has the voice of an angel. :+1:
Quote from: hatofthecat on April 19, 2013, 09:34:04 AM
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BtfsvNWQ3Ns/UXFEVnZXUBI/AAAAAAAAALM/7X9NucUaKd8/s640/pb050246.jpg)
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-mMDV54NMQoQ/UXFEdbs6iFI/AAAAAAAAALY/MljfYLTm-qo/s640/DSC02482_800.jpg)
A Larrivee with the gorgeous traditional rosette should NEVER have a tort or dark pickguard on it... :mad:
Also, Pete, yours must be from the same era as my '92 OM - I don't see many with that refined traditional rosette...
QuoteA Larrivee with the gorgeous traditional rosette should NEVER have a tort or dark pickguard on it...
:+1:
I got the guitar for a great price and it was absolutely immaculate except for the god awful pickguard.... its taken me 2 and a half years to finally pluck up the courage to peel it off.
QuoteAlso, Pete, yours must be from the same era as my '92 OM - I don't see many with that refined traditional rosette...
Yup. I really prefer it to what was then the abalone "upgrade"..... every other guitar on the market has abalone and I've never been a fan of it as it just looks like a bit of plastic to me :rolleye: ...uh oh, gonna get really flamed now :whistling:
....and round the back its a subtle Koa :smile:
Pete
Really fantastic before and after photos guys. Pretty brave. I don't understand the point of the pickguard. I think it's to guard the top from the pick. For those of you who don't know me I'm really sarcastic. I miss the clear ones. :coffee
Quote from: MPrice on April 21, 2013, 04:49:12 PM
Really fantastic before and after photos guys. Pretty brave. I don't understand the point of the pickguard. I think it's to guard the top from the pick. For those of you who don't know me I'm really sarcastic. I miss the clear ones. :coffee
Depending on how they play, some people need them and some don't. Different strokes for different folks. :whistling:
Quote from: L07 Shooting Star on April 21, 2013, 06:36:54 PM
Depending on how they play, some people need them and some don't. Different strokes for different folks. :whistling:
Very true but remember, in my case, you can't always control who plays your guitar. The idiot who played mine sure needed one.
Quote from: ducktrapper on April 21, 2013, 08:39:14 PM
Very true but remember, in my case, you can't always control who plays your guitar. The idiot who played mine sure needed one.
I was thinking of you and your recent post about that incident when I advised the newbie, clairelynchfan, about not letting anyone touch her guitar without her permission in another thread she started.
In the band I'm in right now, our mostly keyboard player, but also an excellent guitar player, has this bad habit of grabbing my L-07 off it's stand and slamming away on it whenever he wants to try something or demonstrate how something should be played to the rest of us. And I literally mean "slamming" the guitar. He is left-handed and plays it upside down and tries to play it as loud as he can. He is a bull-in-a-china-shop kind of guy who truly has A.D.D. issues and in spite of me constantly reminding him to not just grab my guitar like that, he does it anyway. I even put another cheap guitar on a stand near his keyboard so he would grab it instead. At our last practise, he used that one once, but the next time he grabbed my Larrivee again. I finally blew my top and told him "Tony, don't ever use that guitar again unless you ask me first. It's very precious to me." After the practise, he apologized to me so I hope it finally sunk in.
In my case, I was working and my room mate and his buddy got a little lit up and the buddy, a spoiled brat of a doctor's son who had never played a guitar that sounded so good, caused some serious damage flailing away at it. I didn't discover it until a day later when I opened my case. Never even got an apology. My room mate was aghast, although why he let his friend play my guitar I don't know and, of course, he never offered to pay for repairs and, of course, the friend never came by the house again. He should have required dental work.
A couple of years later my former room mate borrowed my Twin Reverb, dropped off the back of a truck causing some serious damage. I don't see him much any more. Heh.