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Thread: Mandolin pick guards

  1. #1
    Registered User JiminRussia's Avatar
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    Default Mandolin pick guards

    Do pick guards block, mute or distort the sound? I wonder if pick guards that cover about 1/2 of the treble “F” hole affect the sound and/or volume of a mandolin.
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    Default Re: Mandolin pick guards

    Some will say the do, some will say they don’t and I’m in the second camp. It’s one of those things which keeps the forum going - a question to which there’s no difinitive answer.

    I believe a Mr Loar approved some mandolins with one of them on but who is he to know the answer!

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    Default Re: Mandolin pick guards

    This question could probably be tested by the use of modern recording equipment and sound levels produced by various mandolins played first with their pick guard on and then without. The sound recording levels would then be analyzed by an experienced technician to determine the difference. In my personal experience the pick guard has no apparent effect on volume or tone but of course what I hear while holding the mandolin is certainly not the same as heard by someone listening in front. I have mandolins with a pick guard and others without.

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    Default Re: Mandolin pick guards

    I played in a jam last Friday with 7 fiddles. My mandolin could be heard with a pick guard. I don't worry if it's louder with it off, it's loud enough with it on.
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  6. #5
    harvester of clams Bill McCall's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mandolin pick guards

    This question was resolved a long time ago, at least 2 months ago. Pickguards act as external Virzi tone enhancers, everybody knows that
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    Default Re: Mandolin pick guards

    It is a point of contention. I figure that if the model comes that way, I go with the maker's intention. (If I like the sound.)

    And the other way, if a mandolin comes without the pickguard, I don't add one, for the same reason.

    If I get mandolin that originally came without but now has one, i take it off. And the other way, if it no longer has its original pick guard, I seek one out to put on.
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  9. #7
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    Exclamation Re: Mandolin pick guards

    No. You can fit them that don't block any F holes, if that matters, aesthetically...
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  10. #8

    Default Re: Mandolin pick guards

    I think they do decrease the output but only very slightly. I have removed them from every mandolin I have had and that goes into the hundreds. Many of them such as on all the old Gibsons are far too big, in my view and shaped all wrong. I suppose bluegrassers or heavy strummers may wish to protect the tops so understand from that point of view. Cosmetically they can look awful when you have say a beautiful Cremona sunburst fitted with a big dark coloured pickguard with a white trim. Looks awful. Just my view of course.

  11. #9

    Default Re: Mandolin pick guards

    My MD615 has a small ebony guard that blocks just the top knob of the f-hole. I consider it one of those "the physics says 'yes' but the ear says 'no'" kind of things.

    To me, it is actually a pinkie knuckle rest, not a pick guard!

  12. #10
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    Default Re: Mandolin pick guards

    Quote Originally Posted by jimmy powells View Post
    I think they do decrease the output but only very slightly. I have removed them from every mandolin I have had and that goes into the hundreds. Many of them such as on all the old Gibsons are far too big, in my view and shaped all wrong. I suppose bluegrassers or heavy strummers may wish to protect the tops so understand from that point of view. Cosmetically they can look awful when you have say a beautiful Cremona sunburst fitted with a big dark coloured pickguard with a white trim. Looks awful. Just my view of course.
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    Default Re: Mandolin pick guards

    Lots of opinions, and some science re the effect of pickguards on tone and volume in this old thread.

  14. #12

    Default Re: Mandolin pick guards

    Bill monroe never used one ....and there you have it ...enough said

  15. #13

    Default Re: Mandolin pick guards

    For some of us, due to our technique, they are a necessity. Of course, that's viewing it as a finger rest, not a pickguard. As someone said, if you need a pickguard on a mandolin, your technique is probably off a bit.

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  17. #14
    Registered User Billy Packard's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mandolin pick guards

    IMO they won't effect the sound.
    I remove them because they get in the way.
    And no I don't ever rest my right hand anywhere on the mandolin!

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  19. #15
    Registered User Russ Jordan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mandolin pick guards

    Quote Originally Posted by jherm View Post
    Bill monroe never used one ....and there you have it ...enough said
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  21. #16
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    Default Re: Mandolin pick guards

    If the pickguard is mounted so there is a free flow of air in and out of the sound hole then it won't affect the main air mode frequency and thus won't affect the sound. What is important is how the pickguard is mounted and it's mass. If it is attached to the side (as most are) that adds mass to the side which lowers the main top mode frequency and thus must affect the sound. However, the change is fairly small so the difference in sound is likely to be subtle and most of us would not notice. I have done the measurements. If the pickguard is mounted to the fingerboard only then there is no change.
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    Registered User f5loar's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mandolin pick guards

    Quote Originally Posted by jherm View Post
    Bill monroe never used one ....and there you have it ...enough said
    well, Bill Monroe did keep the PG on his old F7 and when he got is old Loar it had the PG on it. He tells of the story it kept getting loose and kept falling off so he just left it off. Then later Monroe buys a new 1964 F5 and kept the PG on it. Then Gibson gave him a 1978 F5L and he kept the PG on it. Bottom line, Monroe could pick one with or without a PG so that dispells the myth he didn't have one.

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  25. #18
    Registered User Charlie Bernstein's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mandolin pick guards

    I've wondered that. The only things I'm sure of are that you pay extra for them and they don't improve the sound.
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    Registered User Eric Platt's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mandolin pick guards

    I like the look of finger rests. And until very recently used them for that purpose. Have one on the Northfield and the Strad-O-Lin. Had one on the Collings.

    Right now am experimenting with a different grip and closed picking hand so they are not necessary. Still like the way they look.
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    Registered User Sue Rieter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mandolin pick guards

    I like the way the one on my F2 covers up the worst of the wear. But even though I have the clamp squared away, it still tends to fall off more easily than I would like. The one on my SOL is just very cool with the matching tailpiece cover.

  28. #21
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    Default Re: Mandolin pick guards

    I’ve heard it was in fact listed in early Gibson catalogues as a “finger rest” and now we call it a pick guard. I’ve never been a big fan of the oversized Gibson style ones (which cover the F) but the smaller ones are fine. If I’ve got an arm rest and a tone gard and the pick guard, it just feels like to much stuff on the mando, so I’ve got it off my northfield 4th gen for now.

  29. #22

    Default Re: Mandolin pick guards

    Quote Originally Posted by Charlie Bernstein View Post
    I've wondered that. The only things I'm sure of are that you pay extra for them and they don't improve the sound.
    What if it acts like an external virzi?
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  30. #23
    Registered User Bob Buckingham's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mandolin pick guards

    I am fairly certain your dog can hear the difference.

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  32. #24

    Default Re: Mandolin pick guards

    I don't like pick guards. They're a pet peeve for me. They're often covering up the wood and the F hole, and I think the mando looks better without them. When I got my first mandolin, one of the first things I modified was taking the pick guard off and filling the holes with black crayon to hide them with the dark finish. Most instruments look better with age with some pick scratches IMO. Battle scars. And with arch tops, the strings are high enough off the soundboard that it's hard to do that anyway.
    If you play with your right pinkie planted though I can see them being useful.
    But this is just my opinion, if you like pick guards more power to you!

  33. #25
    Registered User Charlie Bernstein's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mandolin pick guards

    Quote Originally Posted by ColdBeerGoCubs View Post
    What if it acts like an external virzi?
    Depends on where you live.

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