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Thread: McClung arm rest and tonegard Gibson F5L

  1. #1

    Default McClung arm rest and tonegard Gibson F5L

    Hey folks. Thought maybe someone here would have had this same issue and could share their own advice about a potential solution. I was given a tone gard for Christmas this year and have been trying to get it fitted right with my 88 Gibson F5L. I currently have a McClung arm rest which I really couldn’t do without. I would consider the arm rest a critical part of my technique at this point. I’ve noticed that the tonegard pads and the depth of the McClung create a rather substantial gap between the pads of the tonegard and the back of the mandolin. This doesn’t really bother me all that much, considering it doesn’t affect the efficacy of the tonegard however, it does affect the the ability of the mandolin to fit properly in the Calton case I have. I figure I have 3 options.
    1. Modification of both the arm rest pad and tonegard pads to accommodate this gap.
    2. Remove tonegard after use and prior to storage in Calton.
    3. Get a case that has the depth that can accommodate this combination of mandolin, arm rest, and tonegard.

    I’ve included an attachment I hope helps give some visual clarity.

    If anyone has dealt with something similar and found a solution they liked, I’d love to hear the route you took! Thanks again Cafe.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

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  2. #2
    coprolite mandroid's Avatar
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    Question Re: McClung arm rest and tonegard Gibson F5L

    I combined armrests* and my older round wire tone-gard with out issues .. * not Doug's but same viola hardware ..
    Round wire ones use split rubber hose, for pads .

    FWIW:[Lebeda F & Pegasus case & 1922 A4, in original hardshell case, nothing has to be removed]

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  3. #3
    Lurkist dhergert's Avatar
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    Default Re: McClung arm rest and tonegard Gibson F5L

    Quote Originally Posted by MashMeister View Post
    ...
    1. Modification of both the arm rest pad and tonegard pads to accommodate this gap.
    2. Remove tonegard after use and prior to storage in Calton.
    3. Get a case that has the depth that can accommodate this combination of mandolin, arm rest, and tonegard.
    ...
    Re: #1, it seems odd that you cannot get them to work together without a greater than normal gap. I've not experienced this with either of my F-style mandolins that have both an armrest and a ToneGard, but my armrest may be in a different position on my mandolins than your armrest is on yours. Can your armrest be moved to allow the ToneGard to fit on the mandolin the way it was designed to work? Or, can you scoot the ToneGard slightly to one side more than another so that it does not share space with the armrest bracket?

    Not that it should endanger either product, but if it were me I'd hesitate to modify either the armrest bracket or the ToneGard in order to make them fit better, but I would consider moving either item around a bit so they coexist better. Properly installed, the ToneGard pads should be pressing against the back plate of the mandolin. My armrests are the smaller CA armrests, and I center them between the side of the tailpiece and the bottom of the treble side F-hole.

    Re: #2, removing the ToneGard when the mandolin is not being used and reinstalling it again before use is just asking for scratches and dings in the finish of the mandolin and possible damage to the ToneGard; they are designed to be installed and left on. If it were me, I'd rule that out as less than safe, right away.

    Re: #3, I don't have a Carlton case, but if it uses styrofoam padding internally, styrofoam can be permanently compressed into a form that may better fit the mandolin with the ToneGard (and armrest and in my case, a pickguard) installed. I've done that frequently with other teardrop shaped cases that do use styrofoam padding.

    Simply use a rounded heavy item like the head of a rubber mallet and with your added weight press down on the area of the padding that needs to be compressed, doing so until the fit in the case is as desired; this can be done to both the inside bottom and inside top of cases that use styrofoam. The styrofoam will compress and for the most part stay in that compressed state.

    I've also done this with a stock TKL wooden case that uses a combination of closed foam/paper products for padding, with sufficient success for one of my mandolins with its ToneGard (and armrest and pickguard).

    Of course this is permanently modifying the case padding, so it'd be smart to have previously decided that the accessories in question are staying on the mandolin. Even if you are able to locate the armrest bracket and the ToneGard in a way that they do not conflict by sharing space, the ToneGard still will make the mandolin tighter in a case. If the case cannot be modified to fit the mandolin the way you want to accessorize it, it might be smart to get a case that can be made to fit.

    Best of luck with this!

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    -- Don

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  4. #4

    Default Re: McClung arm rest and tonegard Gibson F5L

    I've had a Tone-Gard and McClung rest on 3 mandos, and never saw that problem. First was on an Eastman MD815v (now with son, minus Tone-Gard, so can't report on how it actually fit), but now the same Tone-Gard with a recently purchased McClung on "The Loar" 310F that I got in exchange for the Eastman, and another Tone-Gard and McClung on my Northfield.

    Pics are attached, but in both cases, the arc of the Tone-Gard's metal is inside the edge of the mandolin where the [viola-sized] McClung goes.

    Click image for larger version. 

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  6. #5

    Default Re: McClung arm rest and tonegard Gibson F5L

    I had a mandolin where there was a bit of an overlap between the Tone Gard padding and the McClung hardware (not quite as much of an overlap as shows in your photo). I would recommend first shifting the placement of both the arm rest and the Tone Gard as much as possible for your playing to create as little overlap as possible. Then what I did was to cut away a bit of the Tone Gard padding where it overlapped the arm rest hardware (making sure to leave enough to still make good contact with the back of the instrument next to the arm rest hardware). I found that that worked fine for me. Of course you need to use your engineering judgment. If it looks like you're going to end up with the metal of the Tone Gard pressed against the arm rest hardware, I would assume that that's not a good option: I would guess that the potential of metal vibrating against metal will not make for a felicitous audio situation.

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  8. #6
    Registered User Eric Platt's Avatar
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    Default Re: McClung arm rest and tonegard Gibson F5L

    Have had it happen. Went and removed the pad on the Tonegard that caused the interference and reglued it to the side where there was no touching.

    As others point out, though, that could cause the armrest and TG to still touch.

    And also as others have said, maybe you can move the Tonegard around enough so they don't interfere. It's frustrating, I know. Good luck with any solution.
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    Registered User mandolin breeze's Avatar
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    Default Re: McClung arm rest and tonegard Gibson F5L

    Also on a 2000 Gibson F5L, just pushed it up enough to sit on the edge of the armrest bracket, so the TG is sitting flush on the back.

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    Last edited by mandolin breeze; Jan-01-2023 at 1:43pm.

  10. #8
    small instrument, big fun Dan in NH's Avatar
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    Default Re: McClung arm rest and tonegard Gibson F5L

    My Eastman 514 wouldn’t fit in the Eastman 500 series hard case with my Tone-Gard attached, so I bought a Gator mandolin gig bag whose Amazon reviews specifically said it would work for f body mandolins with a Tone-Gard attached.

  11. #9
    Registered User Mando Esq's Avatar
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    Default Re: McClung arm rest and tonegard Gibson F5L

    Quote Originally Posted by Eric Platt View Post
    Have had it happen. Went and removed the pad on the Tonegard that caused the interference and reglued it to the side where there was no touching.
    This was my solution as well with an identical issue using a tone-gard and a Dr. Arm armrest.

    As for a case: I recently got a Travelite case which fits everything well.
    Eastman MD515 mandolin
    Gretsch G9310 mandolin
    Eastman MDO305E-SB octave mandolin
    Eastman E20om guitar
    Vega Little Wonder tenor banjo
    Epiphone El Capitan acoustic bass

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