Tone guard raves

[Laird]

Holy cow! Just got my tone guard today from Janet Davis (after reading about it on this site), and I feel like I've got a new mando. What great sound! Thanks for the various plugs along the way. Well worth the money!

[woodwizard]

Cool... I think they are a wonderful invention. I've had mine for close to four years now.

[Nick Triesch]

I think they should make guitar tone guards and put them on pre war Martins! Think how much better they could sound! Nick

[mandopete]

Pre-war tone-gard....hmmm.

There's a snarky comment in there somewhere, but I'm just too tired to try to think of it.

:)

[mandozilla]

How do you measure or quantify the difference in volume? Or in tone? How can it be proved whether or not it really works?

Why couldn't you just use screen door springs wrapped around the mandolin body to hold the instrument away from your stomach?

Some people need to justify their investment so naturally they're going to say good things about it. :grin:

~o):popcorn:




DISCLAIMER: my post here is just a joke :))...no flames intended...see Tonerite threads...I'm sure the Toneguard works as advertised.

[250sc]

I have a tonegard on my 000 Martin guitar. Works great as does the one on my Collings mando. I dont have to justify the cost by deludeing myself. Read the threads. The vast majority of people agree with me and we're not just fooling ourselfs.

Mandozilla, You don't know what your talking about.

[jim_n_virginia]

How do you measure or quantify the difference in volume? Or in tone? How can it be proved whether or not it really works?


The proof is in your ears. You can actually hear the difference. Now whether you LIKE that difference is up to the individual.



Why couldn't you just use screen door springs wrapped around the mandolin body to hold the instrument away from your stomach?

You could but it would probably scratch your instrument and wouldn't look as nice.


Some people need to justify their investment so naturally they're going to say good things about it. :grin:

Sometimes true but by that same token there are always also those who will not like something just by the very fact that everybody else does. :grin:

Seriously though, I have met two people who either did not like the TG. One did not like the sound a ToneGard gave their mandolin and the other heard no difference because he held his mandolin out away from his body when he played, kind of an awkward stance to me but thats the way he played.

It's not for everyone but I would venture to say if is safe to say that probably more than 95% of people who try them like them. That's a pretty good percentage when you think about it. :mandosmiley:

[JaybirdNC]

I recorded with and without the Tone Gard--clearly louder with it, by a good margin. It's not so much a tone enhancer as a volume enhancer. Whatever tone you have will definitely be louder. So worth it that I have them on all three of my mandolins.

[jim_n_virginia]

Mandozilla, You don't know what your talking about.

Yeah he does he's just having some fun! LOL!

Hence the .... :popcorn:

[Scotti Adams]

I think they should make guitar tone guards and put them on pre war Martins! Think how much better they could sound! Nick

They are made. I contacted Tony P. a few years back and he made one for my dads '41 Martin Herringbone.

[Tim2723]

I'm one of those 5% who doesn't care for it. I'm not just being contrary or trolling, but I think the sound you get with the instrument against your belly is part of the mandolin's natural sound and has been for a very long time. But Tone Gaurds, like picks and strings and mandolins themselves, are personal choices.

Congrats to Laird on his choice and congrats to Tony on a successful and popular product!

[woodwizard]

DISCLAIMER: my post here is just a joke :))...no flames intended...see Tonerite threads...I'm sure the Toneguard works as advertised.

Ha Ha :)) :grin: Actually the proof is in the ears of the beholder. Try it... you'll love it. The mando's that sound good without them can sound better with them or the picker is already holding the mando to where it is not touching the ole' belly. IMHO ~o)

[Fretbear]

The problem with them is that they make you aware of the dampening that occurs to the back of your flattop guitar as well; it is easier when you play sitting down to hold the guitar a little away from your body, but when you play on a strap it gets dampened just like the mandolin.

[Nick Triesch]

All kidding a side, I know that a tone guard can make many mandolins sound better. But my point is that if you have a mandolin like my friends Gibson Doyle Lawson that is the loudest mandolin I have ever heard, you sometimes just do not need a toneguard. Half the fun of having a really good mandolin is just hearing how wonderful it sounds all by itself. I have played Nuggetts and a few Apitius mandolins and even a Weber bitteroot that had huge sound. Why put on one of those puppys if you do not need too? I know their sound would be even more huge but do you really want your cool mando to sound like an upright bass? But to be fair...my Weber Fern could use a Toneguard. If I owned a 95 Nuggett....no way! Nick

[lovethemf5s]

I was in Mandolin Brothers one time and they had two new Collings MF5s on the wall. One of them wasn't as loud as the other so they put a tone-gard on it. This was proof for me that these things really do work.

[Nick Triesch]

Wow! a new $7200 MF5 that did not sound as good as the other one. Why would anyone ever buy that? Nick

[woodwizard]

If you like em use em if you don't loose em. :)

[tango_grass]

I've tried to pick up 2 of them off the classifieds in the past few days, and both times somehow I've been too slow!!

[Laird]

I appreciate the joshing and love the screen door image!

You know, I was already enjoying the sound of my 515 very much. No complaints. Then I spotted mention of a Toneguard on a cafe discussion and searched other posts about it. As suggested by someone here, I tried holding my mando away from my body while I played toward a nearby wall, then normally, then away, and the difference was remarkable. So I ordered one.

Now, having played the heck out of my mando over the last day, I'm realizing it's not JUST more volue I'm getting. What was getting lost in the damping effect of my belly was a whole range of lower-end tones. With the guard on, the mando has a richer, fuller sound.

It's not for everybody, and that's just fine. But it's sure enough for me (at least on this mando!

[Farmjazz]

I bought one after hearing the difference it made on a friend's el cheap-o mandolin. It improved the volume and tone on my Kentucky KM675 as well. The only thing I didn't like about it was that it kept grabbing and pinching my right nipple. Ouch! It got so bad that I had to place a band-aid around the spring arm slot on the upper side. All is well now. But I still have to explain this if anyone asks why I have a band aid on my mandolin.

[bobby bill]

Half the fun of having a really good mandolin is just hearing how wonderful it sounds all by itself.

So you don't use that artificial tone-enhancer called a pick? (Insert silly face here.)

Kidding aside, when I got mine I was astounded by the change in sound. As mentioned, it is not just volume but color as well. I kept it on the mandolin (1911 Gibson A) when I put it away in its case as it seemed unanimous that it would fit without a problem. A couple of weeks later I started to get the slightest fret buzz but I didn't think much about it. Later I started playing a fairly recent Gibson F5G and put the tone gard on it and kept it on it in the case. A couple of weeks later I started getting the slightest fret buzz. The latter mandolin had an adjustable bridge and I raised it and took the tone gard off. No more problems. Is it possible that the tight fit in the cases (different cases for each although I couldn't tell you the brand right now) could cause a slight sinkage just enough to create a buzz? Or is it just coincidence? I hate to put it on and take it off every time I play so I've been playing without it lately.

From what I have read, I'm the only person this has happened to so I really cannot say it is related to the tone gard.

[250sc]

Humidity changes are normally the cause of my string hight changes.

[Steve Perry]

I bought one after hearing the difference it made on a friend's el cheap-o mandolin. It improved the volume and tone on my Kentucky KM675 as well. The only thing I didn't like about it was that it kept grabbing and pinching my right nipple. Ouch! It got so bad that I had to place a band-aid around the spring arm slot on the upper side. All is well now. But I still have to explain this if anyone asks why I have a band aid on my mandolin.

Oh the perils of playin' nekkid!...:grin:

[Chris Keth]

Oh the perils of playin' nekkid!...:grin:

It's dangerous! I keep the spring cavity cover on my strat for reasons unmentionable.

[JeffD]

I don't have a tone guard. 90% of the time I play sitting down, and have the mandolin a good several inches away from my belly. If I played a lot standing up I might be tempted to get one however, because when I hug my mandolin while playing, I can hear the damping effect.

And like has been mentioned - if it was damping across the whole frequency spectrum evenly one might be tempted to say ok, its just lower volume. But I suspect it damps the lower frequencies more, which changes the way the instrument sounds.

In any case its not an issue for me unless I start playing standing up a lot more.

[MikeEdgerton]

Keep in mind that it's a family forum please.