Taking the pickguard without taking the strings off is gonna be difficult, but I am pretty sure it is a modified pickguard and pickups, I was gonna upgrade it with some wilkinson pickups and a hot rails so it doesnt really bother me, Ill maybe add a humbucker if it can fit it since it seems the original body did have oneIs there any chance you can take the pickguard off and take pics? As others have pointed out, the guitar was modified at some point. I'm interested to see what' in there. I'm assuming it's some cheap ebay/amazon loaded pickguard with ceramic pickups but you never know. I have pretty expensive pickups in my Squier so you never know.