Clear pick guard on FP'd top

[Kary Karahadian]

I have an OM with a French polished top that i am hoping to put a clear pick guard on. Frank Ford has a nice video on the process, however he uses water to help eliminate bubbles under the guard during placement. With shellac, i'm concerned of the outcome using even a little bit of water, but leaving bubbles under the guard would look awful. Any recommendations?

[Bob Gramann]

I use the StewMac clear film pickguards on my french polished classicals. I use a little bit of water with an even littler bit of detergent in it like Frank Ford suggests (or like I remember he suggests—I haven’t looked at the page in many years). I’ve had no problems. The water/detergent allows you to work the bubbles out to the edge.

[Kary Karahadian]

thank you Bob. I was concerned about the water affecting the shellac.

[Alan Carruth]

I've never had a problem with that.

[Kary Karahadian]

Bob and Alan,
are you using the .011 or the thinner .005 SM material?

[Bob Gramann]

I'm using the .005" StewMac stuff. A long time ago, I had less than satisfactory results from the .011 clear sheets, so I stayed with the thinner StewMac stuff.

[Alan Carruth]

I've been using the Stew-Mac stuff as well.

Traditionally Flamenco makers used water based glue to put tap plates on the tops. I've done it using common flexible sheet plastic and white 'Elmer's' glue. You spread a thin coat of glue on the pickguard, put it down in place, and squeegee the glue out from the center to the edges. It takes a week or so for all the water to evaporate and the glue to become clear, but it doesn't bother the top. The amount of water you're using with a self-stick is probably much less.

[Bob Gleason]

You can pay SM $25.00 for 4 sheets of .005 self adhesive, or you can buy 2 sheet packs of it in a stationary store for less than $5.00. I bought a case of it years ago, so I don't know the price these days, but I bet it's still out there.-Bob