Happy holidays, all! We think you’re just tops. Just tops!
A very special thanks to Mandy McGee Photography and Jerry Nebel, who is quite possibly the greatest Santa Claus ever. Seriously. I’d be willing to bet that the REAL Santa’s got nothing on Jerry.
After lots of hard work and determination, we’re ready to officially announce Mike & Mike’s Guitar Guards! These pickguards made from recycled vinyl records are produced entirely by hand in Seattle, WA and are made to fit many of the most popular guitar models: Fender Telecaster, Esquire, Telemaster, Nashville Tele, Mustang, Jaguar, Jag-Stang, Jazz Bass, G&L ASAT and ASAT Special, Gibson SG, Gretsch and pretty much any other guard that fits within the boundaries of a 12″ LP. Over the coming months we’ll be looking to add even more models to the party. Pretty snazzy, don’t you think?
We’re proud to offer these custom-fit replacement pickguards in three distinct collections:
Assorted – $45: Pre-cut, semi-random guards for popular models with a choice of overall label color to match your instrument. This series could include popular artists, not-so-popular ‘joke’ artists, self-hypnosis records, blooper reels, etc.*
Custom – $60: Custom-cut guards with full artist/album options (even soundtracks and off-the-beaten-path releases) as well as accommodation for non-standard pickup configuarations. We’ll send a list of options or you can make a request, which we’ll do our best to fill. These guards will also ship in their original album sleeve whenever possible!*
Premium – $75: All of the above in limited edition colored vinyl releases. Ships in original album sleeve!*
You’re also welcome to send us your own records for us to cut into the shape of your choosing!**
Each guard is hand-cut and lovingly shaped for a true-to-spec fit. Edges are sanded smooth, lightly beveled and polished to a 1950’s Bakelite sheen, and great care is taken to ensure a perfect, tight fit with all components. As an added bonus, we also laquer each label individually to ensure that it weathers even aggressive picking technique with aplomb. This also has the effect of making the label stand out a bit more, with a slight increase in hue saturation and contrast.
Interestingly enough, this is one of the only upgrades you can make to your guitar or bass that already has music in it. Each and every one of our Mike & Mike’s Guitar Guards contains a purposely-recorded performance, a snapshot of the hard work, dedication and careers of living, breathing musicians who sought to make a life for themselves. Every guard is an archive of the human spirit!
It’s also immensely important to us that our product is environmentally conscious, so helping to recycle old, worn-out and discarded vinyl albums is a huge part of what we do. We search high and low for great materials, and we do our best to use only records that have a bad side or songs that won’t play. No sense wasting a perfectly good record!
Now you can play on your favorite record! Mike & Mike’s Guitar Guards are the perfect addition to a well-loved instrument, adding a touch of mid-century class the moment it’s mounted. These guards can be found at Thunder Road Guitars in West Seattle, and on certain new Fastback Custom Guitars.
Interested in one of these fine accessories? Email us to get started!
Special thanks goes to all of those who have helped and encouraged us to pursue this little dream of ours: Charissa Adams, Chelsea Young, Dana and Vivian Huff, Alex Lathum, Chris Graffmiller, Michael Plotke, Scott Paul Johnson and Wallingford Guitars, Wesley William Wood and Rural Nyce Custom Guitars, Frank Gross and Thunder Road Guitars, Mark Naron and Fastback Custom Guitars.
*There is an additional $10 fee for shielded guards. Please have Make and Model info ready when ordering.
Recently, I picked up this guitar on Craigslist hoping it would be a suitable replacement for my beloved Les Paul, with which I finally parted due to weight and disuse. As soon as I first laid eyes on the Billy Bo, I fell in love with its Cadillac lines and chromed-out embellishments. I had to have it.
The Billy Bo has an impressive spec sheet: 22 frets on a rosewood fretboard, two TV Jones Power’Tron Plus pickups, pinned Adjust-O-Matic bridge, laminated maple top and a 24.6″ scale length. Very cool. Also, it weighed in at 6.8 lbs, so it had that going for it! And the look? I mean, damn.
Luckily, the price was right so I splurged. I didn’t hesitate, and the minute I got it to the bench I knew exactly where I was going. I lowered the action and fiddled with pickup height and pole piece balance, and did a slight electronic tweak to brighten up the guitar. (More on that later…) After the set up–and cutting a new nut as the original one was horribly cut–the guitar went from affectation to a full-on obsession. It was the only guitar I played for three weeks!
I mean, just look at it!
The guitar played great and sounded huge, so why is it a guitar that got away? Well, it was dark. These guitars are notorious for not having a ton of treble on tap. While the guitar sounded authoritative and gruff, I really found myself missing the high end I associate with Gretsch guitars. Had I possessed the means to swap out the pickups for TV’s Classic Plus or Power’Tron standard models, I would have been happier. Bear in mind that this isn’t so much a criticism of the guitar rather than an issue of personal taste; to be fair, I got some absolutely killer tones out of the thing. The only other complaint I had was that it lacked a vibrato of any kind, which is something easily addressed with the addition of a Bigsby.
I was able to partially remedy the lack of treble response by adding what we call a treble bleed/volume mod network across the 1 and 2 lugs of the Master Volume controls. MVs are oftentimes the cause of excessive darkness in some guitar circuits, and re-wiring for a simplified scheme or adding one of these networks can lift the blanket from your sound. I’ve linked to my favorite combo, a 220K resistor in parallel with a 471pf capacitor. This not only retains treble frequencies at reduced volume settings, but also alters the taper of the pot, enabling a smoother transition from loud to quiet and with plenty of noteworthy stops on the way.
I sold this guitar about a month after I bought it, and while I was happy to make a few bucks I’ll admit that I haven’t stopped thinking about this guitar. Though it was too dark for my tastes, this guitar became a staple of my daily life and was the only guitar I played for two weeks straight. It even inspired three really great riffs that have made their way into some new songs, which is something that doesn’t come to me easily. I think that says something about how fun this guitar is to play, a quality severely lacking from some more traditional offerings.
My prognosis? I’ll definitely be buying another one in the future; the guitar was as fun to play as it was to see, and if I could have added a Bigsby and brighter pickups, this would have been one of my main guitars. I fully regret selling this one. Firebird Red isn’t quite my favorite color, but aside from the white-and-gold Falcon-inspired model, I can’t imagine loving that offset shape in any other finish. My only hope is that I can get such a tasty deal on the next one I buy!
-Michael James Adams
It also had the best bone nut I’ve ever cut in my life. Seriously. Undetectable to the hand and such a beautifully striped piece of bone.
Mike & Mike's Guitar Bar 