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Manufacturer: Fender
HOLE PATTERN
Over the years, Fender has used different numbers and placements of perimeter screws on Tele pickguards, as shown in the chart below. Additionally, sometime after 1970 they started mounting the neck pickup directly to the pickguard, which provides for easier height adjustment of the pickup. Before this, the pickup was screwed directly into the body, and it was necessary to remove the pickguard in order to adjust the pickup's height.
Most - but not all - of the 8-hole Tele pickguards we sell have the holes for direct attachment of the pickup to the pickguard (these are the holes on either end of the pickup opening). If you're purchasing a pickguard without these holes, you'll need to screw the pickup directly into the body, or, if you want to mount the pickup to the pickguard, you'll need to drill holes on either end of the pickup opening. Most of the vintage-construction pickups sold in the aftermarket ship with the wood screws that would be used to screw the pickup directly to the body. Mounting these pickups to the pickguard will require machine screws. 6-32 screws are commonly used, though 5-40 screws will fit through the holes in Fender's pickguards more readily. 5-40 screws that are either nickel-plated or stainless steel aren't available just anywhere, but we have them here if you need them.
| Acme's Terminology | Fender's Terminology | Fits These Guitars | # Perimeter Holes |
| Vintage 5-Hole | '52 Reissue | 1950 through 1959 | 5 |
| Modern 8-Hole | American Series | 1960 to present; American Standard, Deluxe, etc; Mexican Standard | 8 |
TORTOISE/MOTO PICKGUARDS
The top ply of these products is made of celluloid, and consequently it can be unstable. Solvents may be released from the top ply over time, which allows it to shrink slightly while the underlying plies remain dimensionally stable. The net result of this is that the material cups (like a very shallow bowl), so that when placed on a flat surface its edges may be raised 1/4" to 1/2" above the surface. If you're familiar with vintage Fender guitars then you've seen dimensionally-unstable pickguards - early '60s Strats will often have a crack or two in their pickguards that run from a perimeter screw hole out to the edge of the pickguard, for instance. And if you've ever looked at an old Jazzmaster with a tortoise pickguard and noticed that the wood screws are going in at angles rather than straight, this is the reason: The pickguard has shrunk, while the wood has not, so the screw holes no longer line up perfectly.
Even if the pickguard is cupped when it comes out of the package, it can be screwed flat onto the guitar (the perimeter screws will easily pull the edges of the cupped pickguard down to the body), but even with the perimeter of the pickguard held to the body, the pickguard as a whole will never lie quite as flat as a pickguard made from vinyl, or some other modern, dimensionally-stable material. This comes with the turf though, if you want the look then you have to put up with the shortcomings of the material.