Official Luthiers Forum!

Can I remove a pick guard from a standard dreadnought acoustic guitar without destroying the finish? Any sage advice appreciated.

A modern guitar, where the guard is stuck on after the finish? Yes, but you’ll probably want to put another one on on as there’ll be a visible ‘tan line.’

Warm gently with a hair dryer, wick a little naphtha underneath and go slow.

Thanks for the great advice! I hadn't considered the tan line aspect.

Also not all guitars have the pick guard sitting on top of the finish some have finish on the guard too.

What kind of guitar is it? If the pick guard is attached with an adhesive you can use an eye dropper and invert the instrument so that you can drip naphtha into a lifted part of the pick guard. By inverted I mean so that the liquid naphtha stays in the void of the lifted guard and then get in there with a pallet knife and gently separate things as the naphtha releases the adhesive.

Work slow, be careful and Bob's your uncle.

Lastly why do you want to remove the guard? Just curious and also wanting to make sure this is not a Martin where the warranty would cover any pick guard issues and/or B string cracks from shrinking guards, a common Martin ailment from the past.