Holter Pickguards

The Pursuit of a Passion

A decade ago Taylor Mullins decided to replace the pickguard on his treasured Takamine dreadnought.  Solving that seemingly simple problem subsequently immersed Taylor in a world of celluloid manufacturers, swirl patterning, adhesives, CNCs, and pickguard design – as well as marketing – that has coalesced into Holter Pickguards (www.holterpickguards.com). 

“I started by ordering replacement pickguards from the few sources then available,” Taylor recalls. “But invariably those pickguards were the wrong size or the wrong color or just too flimsy. I wanted beveled edges, optimal thickness, a rich vintage-style swirl: a high-quality vintage look.” The next logical step was to order sheets of celluloid acetate and cut the pickguards individually. “That was a learning experience,” Taylor recalls. “Luthier’s Mercantile International (LMII), now closed, sold me small sheets of celluloid, and I became good at cutting bevels and learning how to polish the celluloid to a mirror finish.” One of his early solutions to perfect the soundhole curve was using various diameters of PVC pipe to which he attached sandpaper. “Sounds odd, but it worked,” he says. 

  His early efforts to produce and then market high-quality pickguards caught the attention of various guitar forums, and demand and praise for Holter pickguards quickly grew through electronic word-of-mouth. A project manager for a local fabricator by profession, Taylor focused his process-improvement skills on his emerging pickguard business. “As demand grew, I realized that buying individual sheets of celluloid from LMII and other vendors was not economically viable, so I began the search for a manufacturer who could provide material in quantity. LMII had been a Delmar customer for years, so I worked with Delmar to create the patterns I needed.” 

Taylor recalls, “From the beginning, I’ve focused on offering quality traditional and authentic pickguards. Over the span of a year, I worked with Delmar to perfect my Deep Maroon and Fire Stripe patterns and get that product in hand.  As I’ve added new designs – like the Tiger Stripe – working with Delmar has become smoother, with a shorter turn-around time between proposed design and production celluloid.” Offering cream and white pickguards turned out to be as challenging as sourcing celluloid. “It took a while,” Taylor explains, “to find plastic that would bevel and polish the same as celluloid. I think I have it, but I’m always on the lookout for better materials. ” 

“As demand increased,” Taylor continues, “the challenge was to produce pickguards in sufficient variety and quantity. I finally built a DIY CNC and programmed it to cut a variety of pickguard shapes. The CNC program also enabled me to mix different shapes on a single celluloid sheet, resulting in less waste. I could cut out a lot of pickguards, but finishing them – scraping and wet sanding and polishing – still took a lot of time.  I’m always trying to figure out how to improve my processes and I found that using a foam base for my orbital sander enabled me to perfectly bevel an edge, so that bought me some time. But I still spend a lot of time wet standing and polishing a pickguard.“ Taylor estimates he spends about 2 hours finalizing each pickguard. 

Holter currently offers 200+ pickguard sizes and configurations, accommodating a wide variety of both acoustic and electric guitar makes (such as Fender, Gallagher, Guild, Gibson, Martin, Santa Cruz, Collings, and Rockbridge, to name only a few). Pickguards are currently offered in Subtle Red, Deep Maroon, and Amber Speck (“a unique blend of leopard print and authentic tortoise to capture a bit of the Tony Rice vibe,” Taylor explains). Fire Stripe (as its name implies) leans into the red tones, while Tiger Stripe has more yellow. If you prefer a solid color, Holter offers plastic pickguards in solid cream or white. Examples of each are available online.  Additional options include finishing (gloss polish, satin, or aged/relic), orientation (right- or left-hand), and with or without adhesive backing. For custom sizes or shapes, Taylor provides that bespoke service as well.    

To help customers select the right-sized pickguard, the Holter website provides templates for each pickguard size that customers can print and position on their guitar. “That works best when folks actually print the template and test-fit the paper version to their guitar,” Taylor says. “I want to ensure customers are happy from the moment they open the mailer and pull the pickguard out of its protective sleeve to when they put the new pickguard in place, and for years to come.  Customer satisfaction is incredibly important to me, so I’m committed to working with my customers to resolve any issues, whether it’s a mistake with the template or a shipping delay. At the end of the day, my goal is to make sure every customer is satisfied, no matter how we get there.” With each order Taylor also provides instructions on how to best remove the old pickguard and install the new one.  

A hallmark of success is repeat business. Taylor has a large number of customers who order another one or two pickguards after receiving their first Holter. As noted, the Holter name is frequently cited on guitar forums, and Taylor is in frequent conversations with both small and large luthiers who either use Holter pickguards exclusively or want to provide them as a finishing option for their custom or production guitars. If your favorite instrument needs a custom upgrade, a Holter pickguard may be just the accent you need.