howdy y'all,
first post in this section ... lately i've been playing almost exclusively w/ only bare fingers (right hand). on a whim i put on fingerpicks i'd normaly use to play pedal steel (plastic thumb and two metal) and i'm really loving the drive and volume i can get out of guitar. my question might seem silly but i just sunk quite a bit of bread into a new (to me) guitar (0002ha) and while i really do consider it a tool in a sense ... i don't want to scratch it all up. when using metal fingerpicks w/ fairly middle of the road techique does the pickguard get the brunt of abuse and scratches?

thaks,
mike

For me, the vulnerable place is the inside edge of the soundhole on the treble side, inside the area covered by the guard. I use plastic picks; they sound more like fingernails, of which I have the genetically most inferior on record.