Pickguards

Do you all use a pickguard or not? I took mine off and the tone is much louder and clearer. Is it smart to take a pickguard off? What do you all do? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[onlyagibsonisgoodenuff]

I used to take mine off if the mando came with one, but whenever you swap mandos at a jam with a finger-dragger, you'll regret it. I think in order to make up for the small amount of tone or volume you think you are losing, get a tone-gard.

By the way, the pickguard, or finger-rest as it is correctly called, only blocks volume to you, but out in front of the mando it has no effect.

[Nick Triesch]

No!! Bill Monroe did not use a pickguard so it's really not correct to use one for bluegrass. Nick It's ok if you play Celtic though! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[onlyagibsonisgoodenuff]

No!! #Bill Monroe did not use a pickguard so it's really not correct to use one for bluegrass.
Well, he did actually use one once upon a time . . .

Bill and Charlie Monroe

[Jasper]

I'm not a knuckle dragger, so I don't like having one. My F5-G doesn't come with one, so I have no dilemma, as I wouldn't drill holes in my Gibson. However, I do like the looks of the abbreviated finger-rests that I have seen.

My hand felt kind of crammed with it on there. Id rather have the space. And i think a pickguard looks kind of cheapy.

[fatt-dad]

What kind of mandolin is that in wsm's hands and why is the bridge so far toward the tailpiece?

f-d

[mrbook]

If my mandolin has a pick guard, I use it; if not, I don't. I've never felt the need to add one, but also never taken one off. I'll have to think about it. I never noticed a change in sound on recordings.

[John Flynn]

Grisman likes 'em. I think it's personal preference, though. I have one mando with and one without. I don't see a need to change either of them.

[Jeffrey Lewis]

Once at a mando workshop (what other kind ) Sam Bush said that he thought it made no difference. The reason Monroe didn't have one, is cuz it broke, and he never put it back on. I think it looks much coolere without one. Altough, those cool litte ones are pretty neat. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[danb]

F7 or f12?

[AlanN]

I had a beauty built for my Gilchrist, made out of a special piece of material. It was bound w-b-w, and was of the small footprint. Thought I'd use it, but it's been off for the longest time and no plans to put back on. As has been said, it's a personal preference thing.

[Scotti Adams]

F7 or f12?
..I could be an F10...probably a 1933..cost $25 more than the F-7..and for a limited time you could get the F10 with and extended fingerboard, fancier inlay and in a black finish...and for another$25 you could get the F12..basically the same mando ut with a sunburst finish, pearl buttons and gold plated hardware. The F-10 was only availble from 1933-1935.

[Scotti Adams]

I never was a pickguard man til I got my first BRW..it looked cool..so I never took it off...all my mandos since have had them..My new Rose will be no exception....I personally think they having nothing to do with the sound...

[Darryl Wolfe]

F-10 was black....mando is an F-7..they varied somewhat from instrument to instrument

[Darryl Wolfe]

He also played this other mando with a pickguard..there's a rumor that it had some kind of signature inside it

[Daniel Nestlerode]

I don't use one. Once I got used to not having one, playing a mando with a pickguard seemed to inhibit my right hand a bit.

Best,
Daniel

That picture there with those Monroe Brothers. Just looking at that lets me hear that old lonesome sound of them boys. I think when Bill was with his brother that was one of his stongest times. Not in money but in the sound.

[kudzugypsy]

i was out of favor with a pickguard for most of my playing years until i finally got one that didnt warp. it took a while to get use to it, but i am firmly in the pickguard camp now. why? well i think of it more as a 'finger rest' which is how it use to be described. i will use it to keep my picking hand where it should be. i can get a much greater dynamic range from my right hand now, tremelo is better, etc. i just lightly brush, NOT ANCHOR, my ring finger against the guard.
it also helped my pick attack, as i had to clean up my right hand attack to keep it from clacking on the guard.

[Ken Waltham]

Bill was using an F7 before he got the F5. I wish I had that F7......
I have no idea whatever happened to it. I don't think he ever sold too much stuff, maybe Tom knows??
For me, the vintage F5's and oval hole F's don't look complete without their pickguards.
I've used mine always, and would never take it off.

[Flowerpot]

I think the big whopper pickguards that cover half the F-hole block some of the sound. The smaller one's don't make much of a difference.

I'm a pinky-dragger (while playing rythm chop) and I like having a small pickguard to keep me from messing up the top. The little, bound, ebony pickguards look real classy to me.

[lindensensei]

I've got on on a Fern, don't have one on a F5G, had one on an old 1916 A... to me it doesn't matter, it really only matters when those cellulid types start to out-gas and make all your hardware turn green. Of course some of that old binding does the same thing.

[Steven Stone]

[ it really only matters when those cellulid types start to out-gas and make all your hardware turn green.]

In my experience with vintage instruments celluloid outgassing problems only occur on instruments that are stored longterm in their cases. The gas must build up in an enclosed area to have a negative effect on other surfaces.

If you play an instrument regularly outgassing and celluloid degradation are far less likely. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[lindensensei]

Yeah, that's about right, I'd say.

[lhamilton1]

I found that my pick kept hitting the side of the pickguard on my Rigel A+ Deluxe so I took it off and haven't used it since. Works fine that way.

Linda