Flatiron A5-Jr Pickguard Info

[Les C]

I recently purchased a 1984 A5-Jr. It came with the pickguard off. I've reinstalled it. The guard has two pins which enter the side of the fingerboard at an angle perpendicular to the pickguard. It is also attached to the side (lower bout) of the mandolin via a metal bar/linkage extension ending in a plastic tab with a screw (very similar to a Loar era Gibson). Under the center of the pickguard is a small plastic block where the metal bar/linkage is attached. The plastic block under the pickguard had a piece of blue synthetic sponge-like material glued to its underside (presumably to protect the top mandolin from potential scratching by the plastic block). This did not look original to me and also was potentially responsible for some minor finish degredation at the point where it would touch the mandolin. I've had the sponge replaced with a piece of cork. The cork fits snugly between the top of the mandolin and the underside of the plastic block.

Now for he question: Does anyone know how this pickguard was originally set up by Flatiron? I am concerned that some tone is being lost/muffled with the added piece of cork being in constant contact with the top. My gut feel is to trim the cork so that it would provide a thin protective layer over the plastic block in the even that the pickguard were pushed hard enough to contact the top. In this manner the pickguard would normally float free and the only points of contact would be at the fingerboard pins and the tab on the side of the mandolin.

Thanks in advance for any information on this one.

Regards,

Les

[Strado Len]

Les:

I do not believe any of the carved top Flatirons came with a pickguard as a standard feature. I owned an 1986 A5, which had no pickguard, and all of the Flatirons I have seen were pickguard-less.

Perhaps your pickguard was added on. I think having the pickguard rest on the top, whether with cork or some other material, would affect the tone. If the pickguard can float free without contacting the top, this seems preferable to me.

You might want to contact the folks at Weber Mandolins, as these folks actually built Flatirons, and are reported to be very helpful.

[Bill Van Liere]

Hi Les

I am the original owner of a 84 Flatiron A5-JR, mine did not have a pickguard. I know of two other A5-JRs identical to mine from about the same era, coffee colored finish as opposed to the later black-face JRs, none had a pickguard. Congrats on your purchase, I still love mine and feel these JRs have for a very long time held the position of one the best values in a F hole mando on the market.

[Les C]

Thanks for the responses Strado Len and Bill. I found your responses very interesting. It sounds like these did not come with a pickguard as a standard item. The pickguard on my mando is a dark brown (sort-of dark tortoise shell without alot of figure) semi-translucent color with white border and looks really good on the mandolin. For reference, the pickguard appears identical to the pickguards on the 1937 F7 and 1933 F10 pictured on page 91 of the Gruhn/Carter book. The mandolin has the coffee colored finish described by Bill, with the mandolin finish much lighter color than the pickguard.

I took Strado Len's advice and sent an e-mail to Laura Jean Lewis at Weber Mandolins. She responded to me immediately (that is an indication of a company with a great service ethic!!) and indicated she had passed my inquiry onto one of the individuals working at Sound to Earth that used to set up Flatirons. I will post any info I get here.

Thanks again...

Les

[Les C]

As mentioned above, here is the response I got from Donna Jean at Weber:


"Okay, here we go...The Flatiron A5-Junior did not come standard with a pickguard. #It was probably sent back to us as Flatiron for installation. #The little plastic block #you're talking about was/is a block of micarta, which is #composite routinely used as nut material. #We did not offer any support under the micarta block, but perhaps the owner felt it needed something. #It was installed as a "floating" pickguard, although it did screw into the rim."

So, you guys were right....its a non-standard item. #Thanks for your previous responses.

Les

[pickinNgrinnin]

That's Paula Jean Lewis.

You don't want to lose the name of the best Customer Service person in the business!

[Les C]

Dang!! I got it wrong twice too!! Apologies...