I need to replace my pickguard on my 89 MIJ strat. I was thinking am out replacing the pickups and electronics also. Anyone have a suggestion on a good replacement that don't cost over $120 or so?...ken
Carvin?
Life's journey can be hard at times, but you have to realize that you are the only one with the power make it a worthwhile experience.
I got a wired PG from guitarfetish.com and it changed my SX strat into a real player. The stock PUPS on it were really bad IMO. These don't have GFS pickups in them.
I bought the 1st one on the page. $38.
http://store.guitarfetish.com/wipi.html
The hand wired pickguards start at $135, they have GFS pups in them. I haven't tried one of those but I am pretty sure that I read another post on here that someone bought one and loved it. Maybe they will chime in on this.
My dad would always talk about retirement, and allude to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. And I say all you've got at the end of the rainbow is death. You're riding the rainbow right now. - Mark Borchardt
Dog, you are looking for a full assembly?
I would normally recommend Texas Specials, but getting a fully wired guard would run you $150+. Another option would be simply getting a MIM pre-wired guard - they sound pretty good.
I can't say anough for how good the $18 GFS pickups are (on their clearance page, the overwound). You get 3 pups and covers for $18. I would buy a pre-wired pickguard and swap out the pups for these $18 ones... I know, sounds strange,but they are amazing.
-=- Steve
"If the moon were made of ribs, would you eat it?"
Thanks guys, I think I'll get the pre wired PG from guitar fetish for $32 and swap out the pups since I'm pretty happy with the one I have :D
problem solved 8)
I just got the Pre wired pick guard from Guitar fetish :D Looks good. Tomorrow I do major surgery on my beloved Stratocaster :shock: Wish me luck :wink: I'll let you know how it turns out.....ken
Sounds like fun to me.
Best of Luck!
My dad would always talk about retirement, and allude to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. And I say all you've got at the end of the rainbow is death. You're riding the rainbow right now. - Mark Borchardt
Just got done with my strat surgery...the patient did well :D First I took out the old (and damaged pick guard Assembly you can see the damage here, also the tone control was dead and the 5-way switch was getting funky.
Here is the new one next to the old one, I went with the cheap $32 one from Guitar fetish. I was going to change the pups but I left it like it was.
Here is the new one installed, note that the new one has 3 More screws than the old one so I had to drill new holes. Also the fit was a bit off, but close enough :wink: 
Then I adjusted the truss bar ( who in the hell had the bright idea of putting the adjustment on the bottom of the neck so you have to take the bloody thing off to adjust it :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: 
Then put the neck back on, restrung it, lowered the bridge saddles, Adjusted the intonation and the pick ups .The action is now very low and I have to say, this sounds sweet!! I think I'll just keep the replacement pups as they sound just as good as the old ones. --ken
Congrats on the new pickguard. WOW you really did need it.
And the truss rod screw at the bottom, I just couldn't handle that. On the other hand, I've had my strat since 1994 and still haven't adjusted the truss rod.
My dad would always talk about retirement, and allude to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. And I say all you've got at the end of the rainbow is death. You're riding the rainbow right now. - Mark Borchardt
I only needed about 1/4 of a turn to tighten it up just a bit. I think the GF PGA was better quality than the original. Did you notice that it had shielding under the pots? the old one didn't and the new PGA was triple ply, not single like the original :D ..thanks for the tip!! I think next will be a new bridge :twisted: This is the first time I did anything really major to a guitar so I'm really pleased with myself :D --ken
BTW here is the end product...just like new 8) 
Mine had the shielding too. I was pretty surprised by the overall quality for such a cheap price.
Enjoy your new hotrod!
My dad would always talk about retirement, and allude to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. And I say all you've got at the end of the rainbow is death. You're riding the rainbow right now. - Mark Borchardt
Great write-up and mini-review Dog! GFS has some really nice low-budget items.
who in the hell had the bright idea of putting the adjustment on the bottom of the neck so you have to take the bloody thing off to adjust it :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
I hate that "vintage correct" adjustment location, which is also on my Mustang bass. It should be banned, even from the reissues!
"Everybody got to elevate from the norm."
Great job there Ken! Looks good as new. 8) My Strat has the truss rod adjustment screw on the bottom of the neck too! :evil: I'd never seen that before. It's nice to know I have company! :twisted: :P :lol:
Dan
"The only way I know that guarantees no mistakes is not to play and that's simply not an option". David Hodge
Nice job! I've got the same pickguard (but in black) on my strat knockoff, and I was also really happy w/ the quality for $40. The fact that the wiring job was actually pretty well done on mine surprised me. I was expecting to have to redo all the joints and replace the pots, but it was fine straight from the shop.
TZ
My SX Strat with a wired PG from GFS. I took the pups and electronics out and put them in the SX pickguard and replaced the stock creme plastic parts with 2 Fender white PUP covers, 1 Fender black PUP cover, and 3 white Fender knobs. It looks so much better, and sounds 10 times better.
My dad would always talk about retirement, and allude to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. And I say all you've got at the end of the rainbow is death. You're riding the rainbow right now. - Mark Borchardt
