Mandolin Tone Guard Videos

[Soupy1957]

Here's the difference WITHOUT and WITH (Part I and Part II respectively) a Tone Guard on a mandolin......


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[Mike Bunting]

I definately hear more bark in the second video with the Tonegard.

[Charley wild]

Me too!:)):))

[Bill Snyder]

I have always thought that tonegards make some sense. Keep the instrument from being muffled against your body and get more sound. Makes sense.
I still thinks it sounds reasonable but these two videos wouldn't convince me.

[Duane Graves]

Hey, Soupy....you got it barkin' now....good tone gard....down boy....(in all seriousness though there is a marked difference thanks for the vids).....

Capo;)

[Douglas McMullin]

I'm am not hearing a big difference in these particular demonstrations, but as a TG owner I can say that there is no doubt in my mind of the benefit. Certainly the same benefit can be had by holding the instrument at an angle from the body and keeping the mando back off your belly, but I do love the freedom of movement the TG affords one without sacrificing tone or volume.

[epicentre]

;)........Has that dry "woof" we all love!!

No doubt it makes it louder.

I just bought the Taylor Tone Enhancer, and like it.

The spring doesn't get caught in your shirt, or skin; nor does it leave grease marks on same.

It does not curse your first born unto the 7th generation.

It just keeps the mandolin off yer belly and lets it be louder.

$40. up here in Kanukistan. Well worth the price.

Woof Woof.

:grin:

[Tim2723]

Thank for makng the vids, Soupy. I can hear the difference, but I have to admit my mind hasn't changed. It louder, sure, but to me it sounds like when you run your fingers across the strings of a guitar hanging on the music store wall. Part of the sound for me is the muffled effect. It's how the instrument has been held and played since its invention. I appreciate your effort, but it's just not for me.

Then again, except for practice I play through an amp. If I want loud, I turn the knob.

Thanks again, and good job wih the vids!

[jim_n_virginia]

Soupy I got an armrest a while back to go with my ToneGard and it even sounds better.

[Soupy1957]

Jim_in_Virginia: Look close, at the end of the second video.......you'll see an armrest there.
When I played back the two videos more or less simultaneously, "I" could hear the difference. More low end.

-Soupy1957

[300win]

I can understand the concept of having a toneguard, but in my case I just use the natural tonegaurd I have which is my big ol' Coors light belly. I wear my mandolin strap over shoulder and head, and my mandolin rests right on the highest point of Coors mountain, so there really not alot of contact there, and also when I play the mandolin is continually bouncing off the apex, thus making it suspended in air, {free floating, if you understand }. I would imagine therte are others on the cafe that have a similar mountain range that they can also use as a built-in Toneguard. When I sit and play I hold my mandolin at a slight angle away from my body, because whenever I do sit, Coors mountain does gain some elevation, thus hindering the toneguard effect.

[greg boyd]

Hi,

The best demonstration I ever had about tone-gards was several years ago when the tone-gard was a brand new item.

At the time, we didn't carry it in our store, being afraid to stock something that might only be 'a gimmick'.

David Grisman was in town for a show and stopped by our store to look around.

I saw him take his Loar out of the case with a tone-gard attached.

I just asked him, 'hey... are those really good, or are they sort of a gimmick?'

He gave me a withering look that implied he wouldn't use anything that wasn't 'real'...
And then proceeded to demonstrate it 2 1/2 feet from my head with only a few words.
'With it On' - then chopped and played single string
'With it Off' - then chopped and played single string
WOAH - if you've never stood close in the immediate proximity of Grisman playing one of his Loars, I have to tell you that it is very much a true event of resonance, tone, presence... and also power...
You could easily and unmistakedly hear a huge difference in the overall resonance and presence when the mandolin was played with tone-gard attached.

Next day we ordered tone-gards, became a dealer... and I think we have been the largest dealer since soon after that day.

[SternART]

Interesting Greg, I had to laugh at the thought of David doing the demo for you....but here is the rest of the story.....I had told David for a year or two that the ToneGards were the real deal, I was early on in discovering them.......but he never tried one, in fact he, like you......was skeptical...... David isn't easily convinced.....and after all he has a world class mandolin. So, finally one day he put mine on Crusher and did the experiment you describe. He immediately called in his son, Samson for another test, and asked his opinion. It was obvious, and like you say "a huge difference in the overall resonance and presence." And the rest is history...... Now he has Tony Pires make him special ones which have a Dawg in the design. He has told me another benefit that I don't experience as an amateur player......telling me that he can also hear himself better while on stage. I've been an ambassador for the ToneGards for years, turning several other pros onto the sonic benefits. I have one on every instrument.

[Tbone]

At rockygrass, I saw a toneguard with a big flowerpot design, not just the typical spider web.

Anybody know where I can get one of the flowerpot guards?

Thanks.

[Mike Bunting]

You ask Tony P to make you one.

[Soupy1957]

I LIKE being "typical".......lolol

[Gerard Dick]

I would endorse the TG even if it did nothing for the sound. BTW it does a bunch, but even in the absence of that, it is also excellent protection against button and buckle rash.

[jim_n_virginia]

Jim_in_Virginia: Look close, at the end of the second video.......you'll see an armrest there.
When I played back the two videos more or less simultaneously, "I" could hear the difference. More low end.

-Soupy1957

Ahh I see it now... your blends in more with your mandolin than mine. I can definitely hear a difference. But now how much of that is ToneGard or the armrest? :mandosmiley:

[man dough nollij]

Those vids are proof positive that the ToneGard is a bad thing. The dogs hated it! :)

[Soupy1957]

Jim_in_Virginia: With regard to the armrest: I had it on for both videos, so I would say that the tone changes you hear are the direct effect of the Tone Guard, ..........BUT...........having said that, certainly the fact that my right forearm is NOT laying on the body, because the armrest is there, IS a help to the tone. Still, you CAN hear the lower tones come out more, when the Tone Guard is in place.

I just ordered another M6SW Jethro Burns, so I'll try the same experiment on THAT mando, when IT comes in.

Man dough: the dogs ALWAYS hate my playing.......lol.

-Soupy1957

[Jason Kessler]

Great demo. Thanks, Soup.

[robertson]

Hi,

The best demonstration I ever had about tone-gards was several years ago when the tone-gard was a brand new item.

At the time, we didn't carry it in our store, being afraid to stock something that might only be 'a gimmick'.

David Grisman was in town for a show and stopped by our store to look around.

I saw him take his Loar out of the case with a tone-gard attached.

I just asked him, 'hey... are those really good, or are they sort of a gimmick?'

He gave me a withering look that implied he wouldn't use anything that wasn't 'real'...
And then proceeded to demonstrate it 2 1/2 feet from my head with only a few words.
'With it On' - then chopped and played single string
'With it Off' - then chopped and played single string
WOAH - if you've never stood close in the immediate proximity of Grisman playing one of his Loars, I have to tell you that it is very much a true event of resonance, tone, presence... and also power...
You could easily and unmistakedly hear a huge difference in the overall resonance and presence when the mandolin was played with tone-gard attached.

Next day we ordered tone-gards, became a dealer... and I think we have been the largest dealer since soon after that day.

that is a cool story! would have loved to been there...

[kelvin]

Hey Soupy,
I use tone guards myself and like your demo.......I think we can pretty much agree that the tone guards to what they are advertised to do......I think you hear more of a change when you use tone-rites also...if I ever get a camera and learn out to post I would like to do the same with a tone-rite

Kelvin

[Duane Graves]

Hi, once again Soupy......just to say I received my tone gard yesterday and put it on with immediate results. It's worth its price in gold for sure. All the best....

--Capo ~o)

[Soupy1957]

I liked the Tone Gard so much, that I ordered another one for my new Washburn......(and another armrest, btw).

I also have gone back to the rubber string dampners (the round ones) ........came "stock" on my Michael Kelly that I had. The leather strips work fine, but I don't particularly enjoy the winding process of the strips. Much easier to slip the little rubber "wheels" in place. Takes less time.

[mandopete]

Yeah, I love the tone gard too, but it sounds kinda "woofy" in the video.

:whistling:

[Soupy1957]

Here's a pic of the two mando's I own, with the Ton-Gard's installed.......just "for the record" (Armrests are on each, as well).

http://i411.photobucket.com/albums/pp195/Soupy1957/ToneGard2.jpg

-Soupy1957

[Jim Broyles]

Jim_in_Virginia: Look close, at the end of the second video.......you'll see an armrest there.
When I played back the two videos more or less simultaneously, "I" could hear the difference. More low end.

-Soupy1957
Exactly. That's what fattens the tone and increases the volume. But you should spell the product's name correctly, if your aim is to advocate. You wouldn't spell your car's name Geep, and this is a Tone-Gard - No "u", one hyphen.

[Mike Bunting]

C'mon, how long does it ake to put on those little strips. Do you put them on and take them off every time you play? You sure love your gadgets don't you :)

[Rob Gerety]

I'm keping my hed dn.

[Soupy1957]

You're right of course.......I'm still getting used to spelling the product correctly: "Tone Gard." You'll at least note that I got it right in the text, even IF the title of the posting was spelled wrong. Don't I get HALF credit or something? (lol).

As for the "little strips," I have nothing against them. They work fine. It's just that when I get done a typical re-stringing session (which is more of a pain on a mandolin than it is on guitar, as you know), it's so much faster to flip in 4 rubber dampners than to weave a strip. (It's just a "level of patience thing......nothing against the strips at all).



-Soupy1957

[Benski]

Obviously, the TG helps you play dawg music:mandosmiley:

[Soupy1957]

Benski........the "TG" as you call it, helps me play PERIOD!!
-Soupy1957