This is an old-school style of making a pick guard. Many bass builders would simply opt to have no pick guard at all, or alternatively buy a pre-fabricated, pre-shaped plastic guard blank. In the way the guard is done here, we physically take a plan, apply it to a large sheet of pick guard plastic and manually cut/shape it.
Will you ever need to do this yourself? If your bass build is a custom shape that requires a custom pick guard, then the answer is yes.
Below: The tools that will be used. Drill with forstner bit, double-stick tape, scissors, 1/4″ specialty router bit with 1/4″ bearing and 1/4″ shaft specifically used to cut and fit P-Bass pickup rounded corners (while this bit is not generally available, it is available by searching for it on Amazon.)
Below: The plan for pick guard. (Actually drawing out the plan is usually the hardest step.)
Below: Double-stick tape applied to back of the plan.
Below: Showing the plan with all the necessary tape applied.
Below: Cutting away excess paper for easier use of the plan later on.
Below: All excess paper is now cut away, resulting in one large “sticker.”
Below: Backing is removed so the adhesive is exposed.
Below: Plan adhered to a large sheet of pick guard plastic. Note: There are large cuts in this plastic because it has been used previously for other build projects.
Below: Pick guard plastic cut to the shape of the plan. Note: A band saw was used to cut this plastic and not scissors. If you do not have a band saw available, a hand jig saw is an alternative to cut this plastic.
Below: This is the back side where where just the plastic is shown.
In the next step we will be cutting the plastic for the pickup to fit into, and performing tests to make sure everything fits correctly.