Pick Guards and Arm Rests

[Astro]

Life is good when this is what you worry about.

[karlmando]

A serious deal breaker for me is a scooped fingerboard. Passed a lot of mandolins here on the Cafe because of that alteration.
To each his own.

Oddly enough I love the scooped Florida to get it out of the way! Now I'm really going to get it. If anyone shows up at my house with pitchforks and torches however, I'm hoping my homage painting of Bill Monroe's mandolin will appease the mob!

I know, right? One thing that's beyond question, though, is that they DO protect the instrument from wear. One look at Adam Steffey's mandolin should make it obvious why an arm rest and pick guard would be beneficial for a hard-driving player who wants to keep the finish in good shape.

I do play with an arm rest and pick guard, and find them to be functional as well as protective. But even if I didn't, I'd rather buy a used mandolin that had them on there, knowing that it protected the instrument.

That's not real wear though. It's a pretty aggressive distress job on a replica of Hoss for sale here: http://cartervintage.com/mandopage/mandopage.html

Thanks for all the replies and thoughts. One things for sure, people are passionate about their instruments, and that's awesome.

[Rex Hart]

I'm generally not a gearhead but I'm thinking about an armrest mainly BC I've noticed that cloudy/dull area from my arm that Tobin mentioned.

So, any advice on how to get rid of that cloudy/dull finish where my arm lays?

[Hudmister]

Per Karlmando, Thanks for all the replies and thoughts. One things for sure, people are passionate about their instruments, and that's awesome.[/QUOTE]

[AlanN]

Adam looks like he's gonna squeeze a grapefruit...

[pheffernan]

That's not real wear though. It's a pretty aggressive distress job on a replica of Hoss for sale here: http://cartervintage.com/mandopage/mandopage.html

When does Steffey play one instrument long enough to produce that kind of wear?

[Tobin]

When does Steffey play one instrument long enough to produce that kind of wear?

Maybe that's why he switches so often?

I had forgotten about that Daley Hoss replica faux-distressing. But the point still remains. Guys like Steffey and Bush are phenomenal players, but they're hard on their instrument finishes. Some of the semi-pros and amateur folks like to show play wear on their mandolins as some sort of "street cred" thing, but it sure does seem like a shame to destroy the finish on a good mandolin if one can avoid it!

[fatt-dad]

Yeah, I don't get the reaction to the arm rest. The cork paddings make damage to the instrument very unlikely. I mean how would you know if one was or was not ever on an instrument.

pheffernan echos my thought about Steffy - first thing I thought of, since when has he played one single instrument long enough to show that much wear?

f-d

[terzinator]

Yeah, I don't get the reaction to the arm rest. The cork paddings make damage to the instrument very unlikely. I mean how would you know if one was or was not ever on an instrument.

Just did have to add this photo, in the interest of journalistic integrity. This is the same Collings I posted before (that had the pinky damage), and this picture was taken right around the day I got it. I don't know if you can see, but notice the small indentations/marks/marring near the binding where an armrest would go. (You might have to click on the image for the larger version.)



The previous owner had an armrest on it, but removed it to sell it, and it arrived with those marks. No idea what kind of armrest it was, or what the attachment material/method was. I wasn't pleased when I got it, I know that. But such is life.

On my current Collings, I've removed and replaced the McClung several times, and I have never noticed any kind of damage.

[David L]

The pick guard on mine is inlaid in the top, so I guess I'll leave it.

[karlmando]

Here a sad personal story about armrests:

I bought a really nice Weber Custom Vintage F from the classifieds here. Like really gorgeous. A showpiece looker. It had a matching wood floating pickguard and matching integrated armrest/tailpiece. I had it for a while. It was almost too flashy and nice for me though. I wanted a new guitar, and it was tying up a chunk of my instrument catch and release budget with its flair, so I sold it to free up funds for a guitar acquisition. I took the pickguard off, of course, when I got it, so I reattached that sucker and shipped her off to a happy buyer, packed up solid and in a Weber hard case and insured.

Well, UPS apparently had Hulk Hogan body-slam that package 75 times during delivery, to make sure it was durable. The mandolin itself with guard arrived OK, but of all things, they snapped the integrated tailpiece/arm rest in half somehow. They gave me the run around for damage cost. So in the end I gave the buyer a sizable discount, which he happily accepted rather than have me ship it back, arranged for a new cast tail piece from Weber (great service), and that was that. Took a nice hit on that one! Ouch.

That matching wood arm rest was pretty. But never did notice any increased comfort for me from it, compared to my other mandos.

Thanks for giving me a place to just vent and hear opinions guys!!!!

Yer Pal,
Me

[Buck]

I don't mind pick guards - if original to the mandolin or installed by the maker. A well executed "scoop" doesn't bother me much either. OTOH, I hate the look and feel of armrests and Tone Guards. And they both often leave imprints in the finish. I'd rather have natural wear on the instrument.

[Austin Bob]

I respect all of my instruments, no matter how much I paid for them. I would never do anything to intentionally harm, or deface one in any way. My pet peeve is when someone has a famous player autograph a nice instrument. I just don't get it.

But with that said, an instrument is a tool that I use to make music, and I have no problems making modifications that help me achieve that goal. I'm a pinky planter. So if someone were to buy my F5 after I die, they would have the choice of getting one with a huge worn spot on the top, or having one with two tiny holes to patch on the side of the fretboard if they didn't like the pickguard. Seems like a no brainer to me.

I feel the same way about strap buttons. I need a strap to get my mandolin into position to play. I don't feel a need for an armrest, but I wouldn't hesitate to install one if I thought it made me sound better.

I used to be in the bicycle business around a college campus. People would buy bikes to ride back and forth to class, but would carry their books in a backpack that was sweaty and uncomfortable, simply because they thought a rack on their bike looked uncool, or it might scratch the paint.

[Hudmister]

[QUOTE=terzinator;1400071]Just did have to add this photo, in the interest of journalistic integrity. This is the same Collings I posted before (that had the pinky damage), and this picture was taken right around the day I got it.[QUOTE]

Thanks for the photo, now I really want one of those, just like that one.

[terzinator]

Thanks for the photo, now I really want one of those, just like that one.

Yep, it was a gorgeous burst. Collings does it right.

[T.D.Nydn]

I don't like to add anything to a mandolin,,I like it "all natural"...if it came originally with a pickguard,I always leave it,it's part of the instrument.i agree with the comment about scalloped floridas,I don't care for them at all.ive passed up mandolins because people had them butchered.i actually play up there....

[Doug Edwards]

You know anything can cause some sort of wear on the mandolin. I've used an armrest continually for 42 months on this mandolin and not a mark.

[Caleb]

The previous owner of my Eastman used a Tonegard. When he removed it a chunk of finish all the way down to the bare wood came off with it. That's probably not typical but it does happen.

PS: I had one of Doug's armrests on that Eastman for a long time. It never left so much as a smudge in the finish or body of the instrument.

[Loretta Callahan]

I can understand not wanting to drill holes for a pick guard, but I've used both a tonegard and McClung arm rests on 3 mandolins with nary a smudge. Reckon it can happen …. but so far … so good.

Personally, I think an arm rest is a necessity for most flat top instruments. Arch tops … I can go with or sans arm rest.

No financial interest here …. I just really like Doug and his products and service

http://hillcountrystringworks.com/readystock.html

[fredfrank]

I was thinking about having a humbucker pickup installed in my Red Diamond mandolin. My only problem now is, where to put the tone and volume pots, and should I have the phone jack on the front like a Fender guitar or on the side like a Gibson Les Paul?

I'll probably have to cut away some of the pick guard to get the pickup to fit properly, but it should reasonably pleasing to the eye.

Okay, just kidding.

By the way, I'm trying to decide if my arm rest is worth more than the mandolin. The arm rest was made by Dudenbostel.

[Timbofood]

The Gibson catalog used to refer to them as "finger rests" back in the hey day
Just an observation.
I will keep mine on, didn't have an arm rest, won't put one on. No pickup, don't care. No tone guard. Only have the tuner on when in use.
I use the kiss method along with Harold Hill's "Think method" all as lightweight as possible.

[Josh Levine]

I recently got an Ellis, which are varnished. Typically I use a arm rest, but left it for for the first couple weeks. There were some minor indentations and scratches in the varnish from where my arm rests, more significant than if I just had the arm rest on. So I put the arm rest on and now it is more comfortable.