MIMF

Gibson on their J-200 has an elaborate inlayed pickguard.
I am interested in inlaying on a pickguard for electric guitars, I have noted that some custom pickguard places say std pickguard material is not good to inlay.
So what material is good to inlay in a pickguard? then what material should the pickguard be? and how do you shape and fabricate the pickguard?
Any part of an answer is appreciated

James, aren't those pick guards painted in reverse on clear material and then laminated to tortoiseshell? I don't think they're inlayed.

You could make a wooden pickguard and inlay it with shell. But I wouldn't even try to inlay into a plastic pickguard. Routing plastic makes it melt.

You could inlay by hand- in a lot of ways plastic is much easier to engrave/recess than wood, since it's soft and there's no grain.