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View Full Version : Pick Guards.........good or bad?



bbaker2050
Jun-05-2015, 9:21am
I've never played a mandolin with a pick guard. Do you all like them or not? Thanks!

avaldes
Jun-05-2015, 9:34am
I think with where the strings are relative to the top on a carved instrument, the pick does not come close to the top in normal playing, so the pick guard in not needed to protect the top. I understand some players use the pick guard to anchor the pinky, but I think that's probably a restrictive technique. I also think that an instrument without a pick guard looks cleaner. Just an opinion.

barry
Jun-05-2015, 9:45am
I like them, but don't need them. My fingers don't touch the top when I play. My knuckles do occasionally brush the pickguard. I prefer to know it's there. Just an optional "depth gauge".

Bill Baldridge
Jun-05-2015, 9:52am
I have mandolins with and without. I like them as it keeps me from digging into the strings, as Barry wrote, "an optional depth gauge."

JeffD
Jun-05-2015, 10:01am
If the mandolin came with, I keep it. If it did not have one, I refrain from adding one. They make little difference. My preference is slightly towards having the pickguard, because they look so cool.

Paulindrome
Jun-05-2015, 10:28am
I have a question to add to this: Do pick guards affect the tone at all? I would expect them to, since they're usually right above part of an f-hole.

Bill Baldridge
Jun-05-2015, 10:30am
Pick guards have no effect on tone or volume.

Eric C.
Jun-05-2015, 10:33am
Pickguards are not just for "pinky planting" I don't plant my pinky when playing, but i do occasionally get the "flailing fingers" when playing. My mandolin has considerable wear on the top of the mandolin due to this. A pickguard would've prevented this.

Ray(T)
Jun-05-2015, 11:15am
I tend to use them as a guide (fingrs brushing but not planted) and find one helps to keep my right hand in the correct place so I prefer a mandolin with one.

You'll find that some people who use them who say everyone should and some who don't that no'one should but I'm firmly in the "if it helps - do it" camp.

Atlanta Mando Mike
Jun-05-2015, 11:29am
I think they are a great design element but they've never had a practical use to me. I love the way they look though.

mandroid
Jun-05-2015, 11:39am
FAQ , If it matters to You , it will..

Playing Classical Italian and Other Classical era Music
The tremolo and solo-Duo technique has different needs ,

than trading Blows with the Banjo player in Bluegrass bands ..

Mark Wilson
Jun-05-2015, 12:09pm
I kinda like one now that I have one. Before that I prefered the cleaner look without.

I had a 'floating finger rest' style installed to protect the satin top from my pinkie. I don't think I would have installed the full sized one if it was only option

Feels right to have it but it's not something I would add if I didn't have the need for it.

Mark Wilson
Jun-05-2015, 12:18pm
Also with the finger rest - if you decide you don't want anymore it it would be really simple to uninstall and maybe not tell it was ever there.

Joey Anchors
Jun-05-2015, 12:46pm
I like them on A-styles. F-style mandolins look better with out them IMO.

Drew Egerton
Jun-05-2015, 12:56pm
I personally hate the look of them and wouldn't buy a mandolin with one unless it was a killer deal, but that's me.

Tobin
Jun-05-2015, 1:17pm
I like mine. I use it more as a finger rest, and lightly brush my fingers over it. I think it can help with technique and pick angle. Like many things, it's a tool with a purpose. Some will want it and use it, some won't. But I do think it helps the value of a mandolin to have it. It's easily removed when not needed. But difficult to add if it was never equipped with one.

sblock
Jun-05-2015, 1:19pm
I personally hate the look of them and wouldn't buy a mandolin with one unless it was a killer deal, but that's me.

This seems to me like a very silly position to take, given that the pickguard/fingerrest on most A- and F-models is so easily removed! Furthermore, it's hard to imagine any circumstances where it would "kill" a deal by indicating your desire to remove the pickguard. We're all entitled to hold an opinion, but this expression of antipathy seems over the top. :confused:

Dick Hutchings
Jun-05-2015, 1:46pm
I personally like the look but if it's installed with the angle bracket, well, that's going to leave a hole. I can see pilotdrews position on this.

Bertram Henze
Jun-05-2015, 1:46pm
I have a question to add to this: Do pick guards affect the tone at all? I would expect them to, since they're usually right above part of an f-hole.

It's a common myth that sound comes out of the sound holes.

Dick Hutchings
Jun-05-2015, 1:52pm
What's the purpose of side ports then?

Bertram Henze
Jun-05-2015, 2:07pm
What's the purpose of side ports then?

There has been a thread on sideports and their function here not long ago; if I remember correctly, the upshot of it all was that some players hear a difference and some don't. The changes are not dramatic in any case. If there were, an open back banjo would punish its player more than the audience...

leotsou
Jun-05-2015, 3:03pm
If there were, an open back banjo would punish its player more than the audience...

As a banjo player, I resemble that remark....haha

Paulindrome
Jun-05-2015, 4:46pm
It's a common myth that sound comes out of the sound holes.

Oh, for real? Then what are they there for?

allenhopkins
Jun-05-2015, 4:54pm
Oh, for real? Then what are they there for?

They are there to prevent the body of an instrument from being a closed box, which would cause the un-vented air inside it to compress and un-compress, dampening the vibrations of the top, back and sides. With a "vented" top this is less of an issue.

Although it's correct that the instrument's sound doesn't "come out of the sound holes," their size, shape and placement do significantly affect the sound of the instrument, both in volume and quality. And the instrument's sound varies by whether it's sampled just in front of the sound hole, or elsewhere. Most guitarists are aware of the more "boomy" sound when a microphone is placed right in front of the sound hole, as compared to a less bassy sound when the mic is near the bridge, or in front of the upper bout.

Plus, sound holes make many repairs easier -- a "side" benefit, even if they're not on the side of the instrument...

LongBlackVeil
Jun-05-2015, 5:00pm
Oh, for real? Then what are they there for?

A mandolin will stay make sound with no holes at all, it's been done. However, it's very muddy with less projection, a sound hole changes the resonant frequency of the top though. The top is where you get most of your sound production. Generally, a smaller hole (or no hole) will give you a more bassy sound, bigger holes, more high end.

Think about a speaker box with no hole, you'll hear the sound, but it's not ideal

I'd be suprised if someone didn't hear the difference with a sound port on the side, I've tried guitars with sound ports and covers, you can definitely tell the difference. It's not enough to change the tone really, but you get more feedback for sure.

Bertram Henze
Jun-06-2015, 12:15am
Instrument bodies have holes in order to form a Helmholtz resonator (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/555255/sound/64002/The-Helmholtz-resonator), i.e. a cavity which resonates at one preferred pitch with a less prominent spectrum around it. Helmholtz resonators are used in a variety of applications outside music as well, e.g. in exhaust silencers.
For this, it does not matter much exactly where these holes are or what shape they are. When you play, the whole top vibrates and radiates the sound to the air, regardless of what objects are in front of it (your playing hand is there all the time, for that matter), and unless you place a solid concrete wall between your instrument and the audience, it's in fact difficult to deflect the sound away, especially with anything smaller than the typical resonance wavelength (which is about as big as the whole body). A pickguard doesn't stand a chance.

Holes in the side can change the mechanical properties of the body so as to make the sides vibrate more and thus change the directional characteristics of sound radiation - then you might hear more as a player, but it's not like installing a monitor speaker, as some imagine.

lenf12
Jun-06-2015, 8:39am
Here's a case where lack of a pick guard would be a deal killer for me. Pick guards, good!!

134926

Len B.
Clearwater, FL

Theo W.
Jun-06-2015, 8:44am
I think banjos should have pick guards which block the player from the strings.

As for mandolins? I like 'em without. :grin:

Bill Baldridge
Jun-06-2015, 8:46am
Here's a case where lack of a pick guard would be a deal killer for me. Pick guards,!!

134926

Len B.
Clearwater, FL

Good enough for that particular picker, good enough for me.

lenf12
Jun-06-2015, 9:18am
Different strokes, Bill.

Len B.
Clearwater, FL

lenf12
Jun-06-2015, 9:47am
I believe the Dawg went back to using a pick guard after many years of devaluing his mandolins. Good enough for him, good enough for me.

Len B.
Clearwater, FL

J.Albert
Jun-06-2015, 3:54pm
avaldes wrote above:
[[ I think with where the strings are relative to the top on a carved instrument, the pick does not come close to the top in normal playing, so the pick guard in not needed to protect the top ]]

A picture is worth a thousand words:
134975

AlanN
Jun-06-2015, 4:19pm
or this'un here

Mark Wilson
Jun-06-2015, 5:02pm
or this'un hereHow do you wear the finish up under the strings?

AlanN
Jun-06-2015, 6:45pm
Sadly, the man who could answer that ain't around no more.

LongBlackVeil
Jun-06-2015, 7:03pm
To each his own but I personally love the finger wear on the body, and I have a thing for scroll wear. Looks great to me. It's symbolic of all the hours of play on those instruments. I don't actually produce much wear on my mandolins though

Bertram Henze
Jun-07-2015, 12:13am
How do you wear the finish up under the strings?

...or below the bridge. A pickguard would not have helped in this case.

LongBlackVeil
Jun-07-2015, 9:40am
...or below the bridge. A pickguard would not have helped in this case.

I actually think a pick guard would help, I THINK that wear under the strings is due to the player curling their fingers under the e string. I do it to sometimes, the pick guard doesn't let that happen

mandroid
Jun-07-2015, 2:36pm
I Added them when the mandolin did not have one.. with the exception of a Couple , low bridge flat Tops

Bill Clements
Jun-07-2015, 3:53pm
For me, there is aesthetic value visually in having a pick guard.
Here's one that Doug Edwards made from striped ebony macassar for my 13" scale Big Muddy with matching armrest. I couldn't be happier and highly recommend HCS to everyone here.
Thanks Doug!

MysTiK PiKn
Jun-07-2015, 6:33pm
For me, there is aesthetic value visually in having a pick guard.
Here's one that Doug Edwards made from striped ebony macassar for my 13" scale Big Muddy with matching armrest. I couldn't be happier and highly recommend HCS to everyone here.
Thanks Doug!
Yup! I like that. Dressed for show! FB, AR, PG, & B all in flat-light black ebony. Excellent. Form and function.

MysTiK PiKn
Jun-07-2015, 7:23pm
Times have changed.

About 100+ years ago, mandos were like an open canvas for inlaid art.

135028

Jim
Jun-07-2015, 7:29pm
I tend to use them as a guide (fingrs brushing but not planted) and find one helps to keep my right hand in the correct place so I prefer a mandolin with one.
Like others here, I don't plant my pinky on a pick guard. However I do brush it lightly with my finger tips when playing tremolo. I have considered adding one to an F style I own that doesn't have pick guard. Pretty sure my pick doesn't get anywhere near the top on an arch top Mandolin.

Emmett Marshall
Jun-08-2015, 12:46pm
I had Steve at "Cumberland Acoustic" install his "abbreviated" pick guard on my KM1500. I love it. After a short time of playing, I noticed that the pick guard was accumulating very minor scuff marks from my pick. I'm pretty sure that most, if not all, the scuffing occurs when I'm strumming hard. I think adding the pick guard has added more years of life to the mandolin in my case. Acoustically speaking, I wonder what's going on now that my pick is scuffing celluloid instead of the wood top of the mandolin? I don't hear any difference, but there has to be a difference.

When I do plant my pinky, I have found that the pick guard also helps in concentrating/focusing the energy of my fingers that hold the pick - an improvement over planting my pinky on the top of the mandolin. I also like the feeling of knowing that my pinky isn't damping the sound of the mandolin top.

Finally - I like the "line of sight" effect it has on my right hand in general. Something happens "visually" that translates itself to the action of my right hand. The guard acts like a guide in helping me to keep my pick angle where it should be. I know this sounds "vague," but I'm sure others have experienced this also and could probably articulate it better than me.

AlanN
Jun-09-2015, 4:49pm
Here's one Charlie D. made for me, out of a special material. Gorgeous to look at. I don't use it.

Dick Hutchings
Jun-09-2015, 4:57pm
That's a shame. You can send it to me. I'll put right on my mando and enjoy it.

AlanN
Jun-09-2015, 6:21pm
I may come to resurrect its use, who knows. One thing I do know is I'll never part with it, it has keen provenance.

Eddie Sheehy
Jun-09-2015, 9:49pm
On my mando said they're just decoration but some folks consider a mando without one incomplete. I keep them on just for the. Resale value.

Dick Hutchings
Jun-10-2015, 5:33am
So... Your'e not going to send it to me?:crying: