Legendary guitarist and songwriter Hank Garland was a man of impeccable taste. Hank came together with friend Billy Byrd to create the Gibson Byrdland model guitar, a 17" electric archtop with a much thinner body than an L-5 style guitar and a fast-finger-friendly 23.5" short scale.
Hank was a big fan of pearloid and Charlie Christian pickups. Impeccable taste, see? This special Limited Edition "The Hank" pickguard reproduces the look of the unique vintage pearloid pickguards found on the original Byrdland No. 2 and Byrdland No. 3 guitars.
The "Aged White Vintage Style Pearl" celluloid mimics the guard on Hanks No. 2 Byrdland in Natural finish. The "Buttercream Vintage Style Pearl" is like that found on the sunburst No. 3 Byrdland guitar. Each guard has 5-ply White/Black binding with Blackout option for the thicker layer of black within the binding scheme.
Each guard is sold individually and pickup cutouts can be made for an extra $20. Please use our Contact Page to communicate about the pickup cutouts. The guard measures about 8" long. Guitars shown in photos for reference only, not included in sale.
These guards are made-to-order, and the current build time is 2 weeks.
I ship my guards undrilled to match all applications. Each guard is fully cut and polished by hand. Material pattern will vary between each guard. I use two layers to create the thickest outer binding layer, as Epiphone and Gibson have done. I find it lasts longer this way.