Ideas to get a replacement pick guard for Pava #14

[Nick Gellie]

I have a great Pava #14.

If you have a look at the photo it did have a pick guard attached with worm screws.



I am looking to get a replacement for it? Any idea who might have made it. I would like to get a replacement or find the original? I know this mandolin might have had a few owners.

So here is hoping!

[texaspaul]

Have you tried Tom Ellis' shop?

[Mark Wilson]

The one on my Pava came from the Ellis shop. Came with a hole alignment jig for installing.
TBh tho - I had one made locally for another mandolin and it looks the same to me

[Nick Gellie]

Thanks TexasPaul and Mark

I will ask the Ellis shop if they can supply a replacement. I would to be able to use the holes if possible.

Pity it did not have the supplied pick guard.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Nick - If Pava used a drill jig to drill the holes, & the spacing is un-changed,then a pick-guard with a pre-drilled bracket should fit.
If the spacing has changed,then a guard with an un-drilled bracket is what you need along with a bit of careful marking out & drilling of the bracket. A strip of masking tape placed over the hole positions & a wax crayon will give you a 'rubbing' of the hole positions which you can transfer to the bracket,
Ivan

[Nick Gellie]

The holes look they were drilled for some kind and of grub screws.

[dschonbrun]

I would send it to Pava and ask her to make you a replacement guard. That way, you'll get something that is perfectly fitted, and she can select the color that is an exact match.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Nick - The original guard was most likely fixed using standard woodscrews similar to truss rod screws but a tad longer,as was the guard on my Lebeda mandolin. As long as you let the thread on the screw find it's own way,you'll be fine. The neck wood is so hard,it's like fitting a metal bolt to a nut - just don't let the screw thread bind in the hole or you'll strip the thread in there.
I always put the screw into the hole & turn it anti-clockwise until i feel the screw 'sit' properly,then i tighten it up. I've done it a few times with my Lebeda guard & the screw thread in the neck wood is still fine,
Ivan

[Nick Gellie]

I just received an email from Cathy Pelosi at Ellis mandolins. Pava mandolins do not come with pick guards. So mine had a custom made pick guard made somewhere else.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Nick - e-mail Tom Ellis & ask if he could supply one - however,with tax etc.,i'd expect it to be on the expensive side of things. That's the main reason that my Weber "Fern" isn't sporting a nice Faux T/shell one !. 'Any' guard imported from the US these days after the postal rate price hike a few years back would be pretty expensive. Cumberland Acoustics make a beautiful pickguard but the import cost is too high for me.

A guard similar to the one from my Lebeda wouldn't be too hard to make. A flat Ebony guard with a brass mounting bracket glued to it with what looks like epoxy,& mounted using 2 of the 3 screw holes. If you want it edge-bound,then it's a tad more difficult,unless you can find a luthier to make one for you. When fitted with the 2 wood screws,it's rock solid,
Ivan

[Nick Gellie]

Cathy is checking with Tom to see if he made a pick guard for it. I have a suspicion that he had his hands on it in the graduation of my Pava.

Yes I am looking at alternatives. I need it to have a set of grub screws and it needs to be a bit shorter than 5 1/4" which is the standard length for a pick guard.

[Canoedad]

Pavas can come with pick guards if so ordered. At my request, Dennis at the Mandolin Store ordered my number 46 with one. It is an Ellis pick guard and I love it.

As someone above mentioned, I'd send number 14 back home to be properly fitted with one. You won't regret it.

[Scott L]

Nick,

I am the first owner of this mandolin, and I can tell you that it definitely did not come with a pick guard and I did not put one on it during my ownership. I bought this beautiful Pava new from the Music Emporium. I sold the mandolin through the Cafe classifieds less than 2 years ago. Unfortunately, I can't remember who I sold it to. I do recall seeing the mandolin up for sale here in the classifieds less than a year after I sold it. I then later saw it for sale again at what must have been the time you purchased it. I'm therefore guessing that there have been 2 owners between the time that you and I have owned it. It would be nice if one of those owners would chime in to provide some info about the pick guard that was installed on it. It's a shame that those holes were drilled for a pick guard, but that one of the sellers didn't provide the guard to the next buyer. Good luck and enjoy your Pava. I sure miss it, but decided to move it along when I picked up another very nice mandolin. I subsequently sold that mandolin and am now on Steve Sorensen's build list for one of his 2-point Sprites.

[Nick Gellie]

Hi Scott, Thanks for all the information you provided. That was very useful. I am pretty sure it was the second owner who bought it from you installed the pick guard. The third owner sold it to me without the pick guard. It did have an Allen tailpiece installed along with a pick guard.

I always sells any instruments as they came to me. So if they have a pick guard on them, they get sold with a pick guard. This raises an interesting ethical issue that we all need to be mindful of. Otherwise we are left with holes which we then try and match up to retrofitting other available pick guards. Because it is a great mandolin I would like to put a pick guard on it mainly for the looks and to complete the picture.

BTW Canoedad what sort of mounting pins or screws were used for your Pava pick guard?

[Canoedad]

Canoedad what sort of mounting pins or screws were used for your Pava pick guard?

Nick, I don't know. There is no visible hardware or screws attaching it. Pins?

[Ivan Kelsall]

Nick - One way out of this would be to ask Tom Ellis to provide you with one of his guards without any fixings - just the guard flat top & bottom. You could easily make a fixing bracket similar to the one on my Lebeda guard. Small brass / aluminium / steel angle is widely available from model shops. Brass would be more rigid than aluminium though. Make a mtg.bracket & transfer the holes spacing over to it,drill the holes & use small wood screws to attach it. You can attach the bracket to the guard with strong epoxide & if you drill the bracket like the one on my Lebeda is drilled,the epoxy pops up through the holes & acts like 'epoxy rivets' - VERY strong. That way,you can position the bracket to suit your mandolin,
Ivan

[Nick Gellie]

Yes Ivan, I agree. I was thinking the same thing. I could ask Doug Edwards to see if he could do one. I was thinking of red tortoise shell with triple bindings to match those on my Pava. I could then shape and attach it using the holes there already by the methods you outlined previously

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Nick - Good idea re. Doug Edwards. He might be able to tailor make one for you at a lower cost as well. Doug's well know for his high quality products.
Here's an idea re.what sort of Brass angle can be bought :- https://www.wonderlandmodels.com/pro...ass-angle-1mm/

https://www.wonderlandmodels.com/pro...ass-angle-2mm/
Ivan