The first Pickguards on the Telecaster were one ply black. The earliest ones were a fiber material then later made of bakelite with 5 holes for screws. In Late 1954 the single ply white pickguard was introduced.
The Telecaster Custom was introduced in 1959 and had a 3 ply white/black/white celluloid pickguard with 5 screw holes. This is also used on custom color Telecasters. The single ply white pickguard remains standard equipment on the blonde Telecaster.
In mid 1959 all the telecaster pickguards have 8 screw holes.
In mid late 1963 all the telecaster models have the 3 ply white/black/white pickguard, the celluloid “Green Guard” is dropped after 1964 and replaced with plastic.
