Paul Setzer's Custom Work

Paul Setzer (no relation to Brian Setzer) is big in the Gretsch modification community. He is a sign maker in North Carolina and has done some pretty amazing work over the years and is an active member on the Gretsch Pages. The story goes that someone needed a replacement pickguard for his vintage 6120 and Paul had the materials to make a new one, he just needed measurements. Once he had those he whipped a couple up and tested out the shades of gold on the back (Gretsch pickguards are painted on the back to increase durability of the color of the pickguard and to add some depth to the looks) and the customer was incredibly satisfied.

Then a bunch of people started to request the same thing from him until one person asked if he could do something a little more custom and Paul was able to. Part of being a good sing maker is being a great artist and Paul not only has the artist thing down pat, he is also a friendly guy who seems to know exactly what you, the customer, wants.

Orders started pouring in with people looking for the classic sign post pickguard that usually features Chet Atkins' signature but now feature the signatures of the customers. These weren't a problem at all for Paul and the customers were incredibly satisfied.

I started talking to him about a pickguard featuring one of my favorite motifs, Pac Man. He was instantly into the idea but we were both a little perplexed as to exactly how we wanted it to look. Pac Man eating dots was a given but if he was eating in a straight line, like going from bridge to neck below the pickups for instance, it would ignore the natural curves of the guitar and especially the curve of the bottom of the pickguard.

And Pac Man can't eat dots on anything other than a straight line.

"No worries," Paul said. "Just let me think about this for a little while."

Think about it he did and what he came back with was spectacular. Where I expected Pac Man eating dots in a straight line on a green pickguard, with perhaps some color - a yellow Pac Man but black everything else - Setzer showed off this amazing game grid with Pac Man that featured not only the dots but the borders surrounding the dots (this solves the problem of an empty pickguard that doesn't show off any curves), a power pellet and freaking GHOSTS. All of it was in beautiful color and my mind was blown.

He said it was the most involved pickguard he ever made because of the amount of colors, the grid, and finding the right green for the base (6118 pickguards, when the guitar is light green on top, feature an olive green pickguard). It was so awesome that eventually I got a truss rod cover to match.

And since then he's gotten more crazy looking orders, that while completely possible for more than one person to like, was really made for JUST one person to like and that one person (the customer) hasn't complained yet.

Paul's a great guy, very nice and easy to do business with and I highly recommend him to anyone who's looking to replace the plastic parts on their guitar with something else be it a straight swap for something that looks the same but is newer, or something completely custom. Paul's more than capable.

-Pappy