Our Story

Decoboom is a design and manufacturing studio specializing in engraved guitar pickguards and other parts. Located on the central coast of California (in a little town called Los Osos), Decoboom is owned and operated by founder Andrew Bingham. 

Following the lead of innovative manufacturers in the 1940s and 1950s who took great care in fabricating and decorating plastic goods and components, Decoboom challenges the modern idea that plastic goods must be low-quality or disposable goods. 

The vision behind Decoboom began with Andrew's obsession for vintage guitars, and the discovery of this early 1950s reel to reel tape machine discovered in a barn in rural Minnesota.

Take note of the dimension in this cast acrylic logo, which was painted from behind, leaving it protected for over sixty years as a monument to midcentury industrial art.

This simple piece of plastic lit the way for Decoboom's creation. Why not put the same care into plastic today?

Why not create something like this? 

As with the Webcor reel to reel that inspired our process, Decoboom engraves and paints our acrylic pickguards from the reverse, allowing the artwork to not only be protected for decades to come, but also to create the effect of artwork "floating" like mountains in the clear material.

We also make pickguards with a custom-made 3-ply material that we machine-engrave to create deep valleys of shadow and depth in the carved surface.

All of our engraved pickguards are deep-engraved and cut by CNC to exacting standards, using an American-made specially-modified acrylic that cuts cleanly and resists warping, breaking, or chipping. 

Although our process is more labor-intensive than more modern methods of decorating plastic (such as sublimation and UV printing), by machine-engraving and hand-painting our pieces we honor the midcentury heritage of industrial design--when great care and vision were often put into even the smallest and most "insignificant" of plastic components. 

Because of our careful process, we believe our products possess a timeless aesthetic that works well on both modern and vintage guitars. While the original pickguard on this 1958 Harmony Stratotone had been shattered into pieces, we believe Harmony would have approved of the Decoboom replacement--an engraved and hand-painted pickguard in our classic midcentury "Sleepwalk" pattern. What do you think?

From Surf to Western, and Midcentury to Hippie, Decoboom offers a wide range of designs influenced by the guitar and music culture of the 1950s and 60s, as well as more modern design influences.

Decoboom continues to grow its library of designs, so please sign up for our monthly email list to hear about our latest innovations.