Pickguards

A pickguard (also known as scratchplate and uncommonly, a finger rest) is a piece of plastic or other laminated material that is placed under the strings on the body of a guitar, mandolin or similar plucked string instrument. more...

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The main purpose of the pickguard is to protect the guitar's finish from being scratched by the pick, hence the name "pickguard".

As well as serving a practical purpose, the pickguard may also be used for decoration and is often made in a constrasting color to that of the guitar body (popular variants are white pickguards on darker guitars and black pickguards on lighter guitars). As well as plastic, other pickguard materials can include plexiglas, glass, plywood, fabrics, metal and mother-of-pearl/pearloid varieties. Expensive guitars may have luxury pickguards made from exotic woods, furs, skins, gems and precious metals.

The pickguard is a very common site to place an autograph, since the signed pickguard can easily be detached and moved to another guitar.

Pickguard types

Pickguards come in various designs and shapes but designers usually try to match a headstock and pickguard design. Both can be used to incorporate logos, branding or elements of the manufacturer's style.

Acoustic and classical guitars

Aggressive strumming with a pick can easily damage the polished surface of the guitar's soundboard. Pickguards fitted to acoustic guitars are usually made from thin (2 mm) sheets of plastic (such as PVC), attached with an adhesive just below the sound hole. The material should not be unduly thick or heavy since this might reduce vibration of the soundboard and alter the tone or volume of the instrument. Although not a job for the novice, a badly scratched pickguard could be removed and replaced by a guitar technician or luthier. On some older Martin guitars it is quite common to see the black pickguard curling up at the edges where the adhesive bond between the plastic and the wooden top has broken down. This does not usually present a problem and adds to the "character" of the instrument.

Classical guitars rarely have a pickguard since they are usually finger-picked and are not subject to much scratching. Conversely, the Flamenco guitar is subject to heavy strumming with the fingernails and often has pickguards fitted both above and below the soundhole.

Fender-style

Fender-style plastic pickguards are usually fitted on solid-bodied electric guitars such as the Fender Stratocaster and Fender Telecaster (and their many replicas) and often cover a large area of the top surface. Most of the guitar's electronic components (pickups, potentiometers, switches and wiring) are mounted on or behind the pickguard and this design simplifies repairs to the wiring once the pickguard is removed. Repairs are usually much harder with Gibson-style guitars, especially archtops, since all the internal parts are only accessible through the f-holes in the soundboard.

Read more at Wikipedia.org