P90 SG Custom Build - Finally Finished!

In late November I wrote about my first custom DIY guitar build, but at that time there were still a few important "bits" missing to truly finish the project. I was still waiting on a custom truss rod cover and toggle switch plate (AKA "poker chip") that were on order, but hadn't yet arrived. I was also trying to figure out how to get a custom pick-guard made for the guitar as Warmoth didn't offer one for the Diamondback body. However with a little work I was able to get a pickguard made and now the guitar is finished. I may eventually sign the back of the headstock or something, but all of the pieces are finally in place.

If you do a Google search for "custom pickguard" you'll get a lot of hits. I mean a lot of hits. The problem is many of these sites really only offer a standard pick guard in a custom material. A few will go a step further and will make a pickguard from your provided trace, but the trace has to be perfect. For the Warmoth Diamondback I was in essentially uncharted territory. There was no pick guard, but I had an idea where to start! As my guitar was meant to mirror the Gibson SG Standard (well, technically and SG Special since it has P90 pickups), I figured I'd pick up an aftermarket pick guard designed for the SG Special and use that as a starting point for designing my own version. 

I used a WD Pickguard as my starting point (the 5-ply on the right in the photo above). However, the pickup spacing and many of the body curves are very different on the Diamondback body. I took a couple of old manila folders to use as pattern material and started re-working the outline of the SG through trial and error (a lot of error) until I found something that looked right on my guitar. I had hoped since I was using WD as a starting point, they'd be able to fabricate the finished guard. They would have been a great choice if I'd been confident in my outline, but I knew it was rough and I wanted a very clean final product. So I ended up looking elsewhere.

After several days of emailing various companies, Halo Guitars came through and thought that they could work with what the pattern I'd worked up and get me a finished product together. I sent them my initial scan above and some dimensions (I'd update the template again and send subsequent scans as part of the process). After only a little back and forth they sent me a CAD drawing of the pickguard, I double checked the measurements on the real thing, and once I was satisfied it was right, they went to work.

I went with a 5-ply black-white-black-white-black like the early SG models, and let me tell you, Halo absolutely came through! The custom pick guard (above) lined up perfectly with my very crude manila folder pattern, and the screw locations were spot on as well! They normally only work in 3-ply at most, so this was a bit of a departure for them, and they handled it beautifully. If you're looking for any custom work - Halo should definitely be on your list.

As I'd mentioned before, I had the toggle switch plate on order which required me to rely on others' ability with graphic design more than usual. Since September my primary graphics and gaming computer has been down hard (the one with Illustrator and Photoshop). After a little searching, I found a shop on Etsy, StrathVegas Custom Works, that made custom poker chips. The best I was able to do on my laptop graphics-wise was a quick sketch (above) and I asked if that was enough to take it from there. He sent back the image below.

So, in short, yes, he could do exactly what I wanted. I immediately put the toggle switch plate on order and waited patiently for it to arrive. Unfortunately when it did, my heart absolutely sank - at least at first. The envelope (photo below with the addresses blurred) had clearly been, well, mangled in transit. I figured it must have gone through a letter sorter along the way somewhere and the plate had gotten caught and ripped out with part of the envelope. So I fully expected I'd need a replacement. However as luck would have it, the plate was actually in the other end of the envelope and had arrived safely!

I could then simply install the toggle switch plate around the threads of the toggle switch itself, and then put the nut back on. I had to be careful as the custom plate was a little thinner than an OEM plate, but I really love how it came out!

Getting the custom truss rod cover followed a similar path. I took the original cover that came with the neck from Warmoth (that I honestly think they only mean to be a pattern given the low quality compared to their other work). I then looked around for a place that did custom truss rod covers, and once again found a shop on Etsy - GuitarHeads. 

Because the Warmoth truss rod cover was non-standard, I sent him the scan above (along with a few others) so he could get the measurements. Once again the Steggo motif comes through on this particular one with a cool script font as well. Fortunately the truss rod cover did not go through the same postal mishaps and arrived in good shape.

As you can see from the photo above, the cover looks amazing, so all that there was left to do was drill some holes in the neck (yeah, that was a gut check) and screw in the cover (below). Again, I'm incredibly happy with the end result.

With the other bits in place, it was time to once again drill some holes into a perfectly beautiful guitar to add the final pieces. I took the completed pick guard, and carefully lined it up with the pickups and edges of the guitar. My son helped me ensure that the drill was perpendicular to the surface of the guitar body, and I drilled the five holes (shown in the photo below).

Once the holes were drilled, adding the pick guard was trivial. I'd already run screws through the guard itself to ensure it wouldn't bind or try and lift up as I was screwing it down. All five screws went in without issue and the spectacular end result is below!

I honestly find it difficult to adequately express how much I love this guitar. It is unique in my collection in terms of pickup configuration (it's currently my only P90 guitar - more on that later). It plays beautifully. The clean tones are amazingly clean, and if you want to dirty it up - well - let's just say I know what guitar to use any time I want to play Social Distortion! As this is my first build, I also learned a lot. There are a few things I'd do differently next time, but by the same token I'm proud of the research I did ahead of time which led to some good decisions.

In fact, I enjoyed this build so much, I'm planning on a couple of other builds over the next couple of months (including another P90 build - though very different from this one). You see, my wife got me a very special present for Christmas (pictured above). It's a String Swing wall-mounted guitar rack. You'll notice it is empty. It is empty because I literally have nothing to fill it with - so over and above the rack which is an amazing present in of itself, I was given permission, which is quite frankly an even better gift. So continue to watch this space for more home brew goodness!