Removing a Pickguard from a 1921 H4 Mandola?

[Jason Stein]

Hello,

I am hoping for some advice on how to remove the pickguard from a 1921 H4 mandola.

There is a loose pin going into the bridge. The pin going into the neck seems fine. The bracket on the side is loose as well. The pickguard rattles since it is loose and it would be good to know how to secure the pickguard back onto the mandola as well.

Your help is much appreciated.

- Jason

[rcc56]

If you want to remove the guard because the clamp is loose and rattling, just remove the clamp, glue a piece of thick piece of felt on the clamp where it meets the back, another piece under the plastic bracket the clamp screws into, put it back together, and leave the guard alone. The clamp is a cam clamp. Rotate the lever to release the clamping tension.


If you must remove the guard:

1. Mark the bridge position, loosen the strings, and slide the bridge out of the way.
2. Place a piece of cardboard or wood veneer under the pickguard to protect the top in case you slip.
3. Loosen the clamp.
4. Sometimes it is tough to get the guard out because the pins going into the fingerboard are frozen tight. I try and get one spot loose enough so I can insert a small wedge between guard and fingerboard, wiggle it loose, slide the wedge to the next tight spot, wiggle some more, etc. Sometimes I have to use 2 wedges or ships to get the job done.

The pins can pop out of the fingerboard with a vengeance, so be EXTRA careful.

If the guard is stubborn, take it to a luthier who has removed a few of these before. It's really easy to put a deep scratch into the top if you don't know what you're doing.

[Jason Stein]

I will try the first suggestion - I don't want to take a chance damaging either the mandola or the guard.

Thank you for your help!

[rcc56]

That's good. These guards are sometimes tough to remove.

When you remove the clamp, you will see that there is a brass piece on the back side of it. If this piece is intact, it will have a hook on one end of it that fits into another piece with three notches. Make sure that this brass piece is hooked in. From your picture, it looks like this piece needs to be adjusted, or the hook might be broken off.

If the clamp is way too long, try to gently lift the hook and fit it into the next notch. If the hook is broken off, see if you can find a jeweler or watch repairman who can replace the brass piece.

[MarkELynch]

If the goal is just to secure the guard I would recommend not trying to remove the pins from the side of the fingerboard because you risk breaking the guard. Better to let a professional remove it if other repairs that require it’s removal are needed in the future.

As suggested already, place some self adhesive felt on the clamp’s contact point and move the brass spring on the back of the clamp to the appropriate hole to adjust its length. As you rotate the cam lever in line with the clamp the felt lined clamp should grip the top and back of your mandola snugly, if not, move the brass spring to a different hole or adjust the thickness of the felt pads.

Normally there is a hole in the bridge to accept the point on the pickguard L-bracket, that hole should be felt lined and the point should be positioned inside the felt lined hole.

In your case however (and on my H4 as well) the bridge on your mandola was changed to an adjustable type, it originally had a one piece bridge with the felt lined hole like above. Around 1921 when the adjustable bridge became available it was sold as an accessory for earlier instruments like yours and mine. The later pickguard for the adjustable bridge do not have the L-bracket, they are free floating. I’ve seen several instruments where the adjustable bridge had a small dimple drilled into the base to accept the point on the L-bracket. If you position it carefully you can mark the location. I’ve also seen others where the point on the L-bracket was just wedged between the base and adjustable top of the bridge.

Here is a closeup of the clamp and the brass spring.



Mark

[mrmando]

Thanks for the tip -- the clamp on my A4 could probably use the felt treatment.