Pickguard for 1921 Gibson A

[Capt. E]

Got a Gibson paddlehead A made in 1921 that is missing the pickguard. What is the best way and source for a replacement? Anybody have a vintage one they would sell? That might be my best alternative. Perhaps I should just post an inquiry on the Classifieds here.

[toddjoles]

I believe that Darryl Wolfe (who started the restoration challenge thread) makes replacement pick guards of all types. Try sending him a personal message.

[Steevarino]

Or, you could contact the fine folks at Cumberland Acoustic... We do this sort of thing all the time, often with a one to two day turnaround time.

Steve Smith
www.CumberlandAcoustic.com
www.RedLineReso.com

[mikeyes]

Steve,

Do you have a source for the clips or do you use your fine design?

[toddjoles]

Sorry Steve, I didn't realize that you did reproduction PGs as well as bridges.

[Capt. E]

What I would really like to do is find a vintage tortise one, but that may take a while.
Thanks to you Steve, I had looked at Cumberland's site and didn't see any ready made, but now I realize you can make one on order.

Thanks for the suggestions

[Paul Hostetter]

I wish either Steve or Darryl would post images of their A pickguards on their sites!

In a pinch, I have made edge clamps out of violin chinrest hardware.



You clip off one side and adapt it. Gibson actually used something very much like these for awhile in the early teens:



And these things are impossible to find:



Or are they?

[Zigeuner]

And these things are impossible to find:



Or are they?

Well, perhaps not impossible. I've seen them on eBay, from time to time. The last pickguard with complete July 4, 1911 clamp that I saw, bid up to something like $300. I quit at $150.

I paid $50 for a spare broken clamp from a member here. I silver soldered that one and my original A-3 one which was also cracked. You can find them if you are willing to pay. They are scarce, as you know, I'm sure.

I wish that someone could tool up and start making replacements. They would also be expensive too, I guess.

[mandroid]

Hasn't Steve Gilchrist contracted someone to make those sort of clips for him?
.. may have to buy one of his mandolins to get it..

[8ch(pl)]

I believe I have seen single chinpiece hardware somewhere on the web. By single, I mean 2 independent screw-hook assemblies that are padded on the bottom and meant be installed 1 on each end of the chinpiece. This would eliminate fabricating one from the more common chinpiece mount.

[Paul Hostetter]

I believe I have seen single chinpiece hardware somewhere on the web. By single, I mean 2 independent screw-hook assemblies that are padded on the bottom and meant be installed 1 on each end of the chinpiece. This would eliminate fabricating one from the more common chinpiece mount.

Perhaps you're thinking of Hill style chinrest mounts. They work, but some look wrong:

.

These (by Wolf) might be OK:



This is what the bottom is supposed to look like:

[Rick Turner]

"What I would really like to do is find a vintage tortise one, but that may take a while. "

Are you thinking that the originals were real tortoise shell?

You'd be amazed at how old celluloid is...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celluloid

[Capt. E]

My A came with the bottom two pieces of the pickguard hardware: the bottom clamp and the lock lever with the patent date on it. I guess I could fabricate the top piece etc. Sounds like it would be quite a bit easier (a cheaper) than finding a complete vintage pickguard.

[mtucker]

see Ricks comment. you may be going to more trouble than necessary trying to source an original when one of the cafe vendors will work fine. Also, you might want to check with Christie at Gruhn's for those cam clamps.

[Steevarino]

Hi All --

Sorry, I sort of forgot about being part of this thread. Great pictures, Paul, as usual. Speaking of pictures, I DO have quite a few pictures of our various pickguards on our website. Try this page for some of our mandolin guards ... http://www.cumberlandacoustic.com/id4.html. You might give it a few seconds to load, as the "Add To Cart" buttons seem to have slowed things down (and spaced them out) a bit.

Also, I like the idea of modifying a chinrest type of clamp to act as a side bracket. I always have plenty of this hardware floating around the shop, as I use them on my mandolin armrests. I have a week-long junket planned to the Left Coast, but upon my return, I might try to come up with my version of a side clamp such as this. Something to sketch on the plane ride, anyway...

Over the years I have noticed severe anxiety for many mandolin owners to drill a tiny 1/16" pilot hole to secure the current style of side bracket. To me, even though the cam clamp gets high marks for coolness, I have seen these clamps loosen and cause damage all around the area they were supposed to be clamped to. In my mind, the very small hole is more attractive than all that clamp damage. Also, this hole is standard issue on true Loar F-5's, among many other fine vintage instruments, and the screw would be filling the hole anyway.

As Mack Truck says, here on the Nashville air waves, "That's my opinion, and it oughta be yours".

[Zigeuner]

Hi All --

Sorry, I sort of forgot about being part of this thread. Great pictures, Paul, as usual. Speaking of pictures, I DO have quite a few pictures of our various pickguards on our website. Try this page for some of our mandolin guards ... http://www.cumberlandacoustic.com/id4.html. You might give it a few seconds to load, as the "Add To Cart" buttons seem to have slowed things down (and spaced them out) a bit.

Also, I like the idea of modifying a chinrest type of clamp to act as a side bracket. I always have plenty of this hardware floating around the shop, as I use them on my mandolin armrests. I have a week-long junket planned to the Left Coast, but upon my return, I might try to come up with my version of a side clamp such as this. Something to sketch on the plane ride, anyway...

Over the years I have noticed severe anxiety for many mandolin owners to drill a tiny 1/16" pilot hole to secure the current style of side bracket. To me, even though the cam clamp gets high marks for coolness, I have seen these clamps loosen and cause damage all around the area they were supposed to be clamped to. In my mind, the very small hole is more attractive than all that clamp damage. Also, this hole is standard issue on true Loar F-5's, among many other fine vintage instruments, and the screw would be filling the hole anyway.

As Mack Truck says, here on the Nashville air waves, "That's my opinion, and it oughta be yours".

Those are nice looking pickguards. Why don't you add some for the early "A" Model Gibsons? Often an instrument may have the original side clamp with a pickguard that is totally degraded or missing due to having been thrown away by a previous owner. That was the case with my 1917 A-3. The pickguard had basically dissolved. The side clamp had a small crack in it which I successfully silver soldered. They are made of Nickel Silver, also called German Silver, that will get brittle with age.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_silver

[Rob Gerety]

I have a teens A4 with an original pick guard in perfect condition. The clamp looks great too but it had come loose before I owned it and caused a bit of finish damage from rubbing. I just leave it off now. I keep thinking I should pull it out and try to see if I can get the clamp to snug up tight. I gave it a quick try early on but I think I need to fashion some sort of padding for the mandolin contact points and I'm not sure what kind of material to use for the pads. Perhaps a little thickness provided by the pads would help it tighten up in which event I might start using it again.

[Bernie Daniel]

Well, perhaps not impossible. I've seen them on eBay, from time to time. The last pickguard with complete July 4, 1911 clamp that I saw, bid up to something like $300. I quit at $150.

I paid $50 for a spare broken clamp from a member here. I silver soldered that one and my original A-3 one which was also cracked. You can find them if you are willing to pay. They are scarce, as you know, I'm sure.

I wish that someone could tool up and start making replacements. They would also be expensive too, I guess.

They are hard to find -- I bought one off eBay as well a few years ago and if I recall I did pay $250 - 300 for it -- I was restoring an F-2. I did a look see at the tool up costs with a metallurgy company the specializes in small projects and you are looking at many thousands of $$ to make a batch of 500 units (this included pricing it out for their China subsidiary -- this issue seemed not making a piece but making it with acceptable QA/QC ).

Also for sure Gibson made a new batch for the "Victorian" model a couple of years ago -- I was told that by someone with ties to Gibson -- but they would not say how many were made at that time. The of course Gilchrist makes them too... as noted.

Here is a pic of one I made out of a strip of aluminum that I popped out of the DVD slot on a computer I was building - I save the little panels as the seemed like such pieces of metal. Anyway it works great on this mandola.

The example Paul gives might be a better way to go -- although the piece I made was "free" -- not counting my shop time....

[Zigeuner]

I have a teens A4 with an original pick guard in perfect condition. The clamp looks great too but it had come loose before I owned it and caused a bit of finish damage from rubbing. I just leave it off now. I keep thinking I should pull it out and try to see if I can get the clamp to snug up tight. I gave it a quick try early on but I think I need to fashion some sort of padding for the mandolin contact points and I'm not sure what kind of material to use for the pads. Perhaps a little thickness provided by the pads would help it tighten up in which event I might start using it again.

I use a small pad of 1/16" cork sheet under the brace that sits on the top and also on top of the foot of the clamp. You can either just hold them there and squeeze the clamp when you lock it or, as I do, use a small dot of Super Glue to hold them in place. (not on the top or bottom of the instrument but only under the brace and on the metal clamp). It worked for me.

[Zigeuner]

They are hard to find -- I bought one off eBay as well a few years ago and if I recall I did pay $250 - 300 for it -- I was restoring an F-2. I did a look see at the tool up costs with a metallurgy company the specializes in small projects and you are looking at many thousands of $$ to make a batch of 500 units (this included pricing it out for their China subsidiary -- this issue seemed not making a piece but making it with acceptable QA/QC ).

Also for sure Gibson made a new batch for the "Victorian" model a couple of years ago -- I was told that by someone with ties to Gibson -- but they would not say how many were made at that time. The of course Gilchrist makes them too... as noted.

Here is a pic of one I made out of a strip of aluminum that I popped out of the DVD slot on a computer I was building - I save the little panels as the seemed like such pieces of metal. Anyway it works great on this mandola.

The example Paul gives might be a better way to go -- although the piece I made was "free" -- not counting my shop time....

Yes, they really as as scarce as Hens' teeth. It looks like a good fix on your mandolin. I see that yours has the type of clamp wth a screw in the center of the portion that engages the brace. Apparently that was after 1917. My 1917 A-3 has two small screws to hold the clamp to the brace that extends from under the pickguard.

When I got my mandolin, there were only remnants of the cellulose nitrate pickguard remaining. I got a replacement for the pickguard from a fellow eBay and it looks OK. I redid the sprue and brace underneath out of black ABS sheet and it works well, including the small pins to engage the neck and the one that protrudes into the bridge through some felt packing.

Gibson must have had a "death wish" for their early pickguards. From the standpoint of durability, they picked the two worst materials on the face of the earth: Cellulose nitrate, which is guaranteed to degrade in most ordinary conditions of heat and humidituy, and so-called German Silver, an alloy with nigh nickel content that gets work-hardened with handling and through time so that cracks are almost inevitable. I guess we shouldn't complain about materials which were used in manufacture some 90 years ago, however.

In any case, it's the rare A-model mandolin that still has its original pickguard and clamp.

[Capt. E]

Thanks for all the comments. I suppose the pickguard on my A has also been long gone. The wear on the top shows that. I think there was probably a replacement put on at one point as there are two screw holes in the side of the body for the hardware. Certainly was a clamp on style originally.
I'm probably going to continue without one at this point, though the Cumberland guards would be a good choice. Also, Doug Edwards of Hill Country String Works makes some nice ones that match his armrests.
It would be nice if someone would make some reproduction guards to go with the tuning machines Stew-Mac is coming out with soon.

[david blair]

i have a pickguard (lost the bracket) from an 1918 A4 if you really need one. It's so ugly! It was repaired once leaving a scar across the middle. I keep my right hand off the top. Anyway, that tortoise is thick plastic with contact paper on the back side. Yuck.
Bakelite plastic may be a better option.

http://www.galaxyplastic.net/M1000a.htm

Archtop.com sells cool stuff too.

[George Roberts]

I don't know why my pictures never turn out as well as Paul's, but....
This is a 1920 A2 that has practically never been out of the case. It has the original pickguard that I'm quite sure has not been off the mandolin. The padding under the feet of the bracket are little rectangles of black felt. Hope it shows up in the photos.
George

[cygnet]

I was searching google for pickguard brackets and it pointed to this thread. I know it's been inactive for a while, but my question pertains to it, so back it comes. When I opened the case to my 1928 A the other day, the pickguard fell off. I thought it had just come loose, but on closer examination I see the clamp is broken.
I saw a reference in one of the posts above to silver soldering it. I tried JB Weld, but it immediately broke. I've soldered many an audio cable, but I'm guessing silver soldering is different, since the solder joints that I've done are pretty brittle, like the JB Weld. Where might I find a person that does silver soldering, and do y'all think that's the best approach.

[MikeEdgerton]

I was searching google for pickguard brackets and it pointed to this thread. I know it's been inactive for a while, but my question pertains to it, so back it comes. When I opened the case to my 1928 A the other day, the pickguard fell off. I thought it had just come loose, but on closer examination I see the clamp is broken.
I saw a reference in one of the posts above to silver soldering it. I tried JB Weld, but it immediately broke. I've soldered many an audio cable, but I'm guessing silver soldering is different, since the solder joints that I've done are pretty brittle, like the JB Weld. Where might I find a person that does silver soldering, and do y'all think that's the best approach.

Find someone that does jewelry repair in your area (make sure you can talk to the repair person, many stores farm that out). Stop putting other stuff like JBWeld on it, you may make it harder to repair.