Loaded pickguard vs building your own on a budget.

Yes you are correct so, I think you should be the guinea pig and buy a cheap loaded guard and let us know if it’s worth it ,,,

 

Squier Strat Standard loaded guard is a great starting point and can sometimes be found under the $40 shipped.

 

I hit up Mike Riley at RRG. He custom wires loaded pickguards for me for less than what it could cost for me to buy the parts alone. He's my hero and I loves him.

Even his basic $65 units sound incredible. Here's Vince Esquire using one of Mike's basic RRG's in his Strat.

 

I second that - whiskyjim*rocknrguitars on eBay sells some great loaded pickguards. Great work.

 

The young guy is great Eddie … but put a curve on the ball cap visor buddy.
Cheers, Barrie.

 

He reminds me of a cross between Adam Sandler and Tony Romo.

 

Before I read your post I was just looking at the bill on that hat thinking please bend that thing. What a great player though.

 

It really depends on the situation. If you are just putting together a partscaster, and not too worried about the quality, then the $40 loaded guard is the way to go. If you are trying to upgrade a guitar, then the $40 guard is not an upgrade at all. I personally enjoy building pickguards. I can make them exactly how I want them with whatever switching seems cool at the time. And it’s not that expensive. I just checked on eBay for everything you need to build a guard and the total was about $75. Here’s the list:

$25 G.M. 62’z pickups
$27 TAOT wiring kit
$15 Fleor pickguard
$6 Pickup covers and knobs

those prices include shipping.

Here is a guard I just finished up last night.

 

https://stratosphereparts.com/fende...ots-knobs-switch-stratocaster-parts-alnico-5/

 

I picked up a guitar madness PG loaded for the Harmony build I just did. I think it was just under $50 delivered. It has alnico 5 magnets, vintage spec, full size 250k pots and sounds as good as my Strat loaded with 57/62’s.

 

You can't compare the two unless you are both using EXACTLY the same pups,switches,pots...
Then it's a matter of who can find them cheaper & what's YOUR time worth.

 

The loaded pick guard I bought for this rebuild was purchased from 920D. It has top quality components, a set of Fender deluxe drive pickups and a tiny toggle switch that enables me to switch on the neck pickup in positions 4 and 5 so I can ultimately play with all three pickups engaged. The quality is outstanding and so is the sound. I think I paid $119.00 on sale for it and I think it's worth it to buy a guard that includes some reasonably good quality pickups.