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Thread: Template/ tracing for Snakehead A Pickguard

  1. #1
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    Default Template/ tracing for Snakehead A Pickguard

    Hello y'all,
    I have a '24 A jr. that I am looking to make a period-correct pickguard for. The original is long gone, and aside from finding some overpriced (and likely crumbling) teens and 20's pg's on the internet, I am coming up short in finding a replacement.

    Does anyone have a pdf, (or even a tracing) of one that I can use to reproduce?

    Why buy one when you can spend hours of unpaid labor to make your own!

  2. #2
    The Amateur Mandolinist Mark Gunter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Template/ tracing for Snakehead A Pickguard

    Can be tricky unless someone has a pattern as you have requested. What I’ve had to do in the past with old guitars is search for the best straight ahead photo and use that to make my own pattern in the appropriate size. Can be done by cropping images, printing in various sizes, etc. You can get really close that way.
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    Default Re: Template/ tracing for Snakehead A Pickguard

    Daryl Wolfe makes repro pickguards and has hardware. That is where I purchased mine.

    http://www.f5journal.com/reproductions.html

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    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Template/ tracing for Snakehead A Pickguard

    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Mead View Post
    Daryl Wolfe makes repro pickguards and has hardware. That is where I purchased mine.

    http://www.f5journal.com/reproductions.html
    He already said he wants to make his own.

    I would guess the most difficult part would be making or finding the mounting hardware for the pickguard. I believe that 20's Gibson A's all have the same shape pickguards (please correct me if I am wrong about that). I can certainly trace my '24 A-4's pickguard. However there are at least two different mounting brackets. One the clamp thinger and one that screws into the side of the mandolin. My 23 snakehead has the screw-in one and my 24 has the bracket.

    This example from the archive might work. Click on the photo to get a larger one to work with. http://www.mandolinarchive.com/gibson/serial/75093 I uploaded it here.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Default Re: Template/ tracing for Snakehead A Pickguard

    They're not hard to make if you have basic shop skills and a few good tools.
    The pickguard for a snakehead will be the same shape as any late teens A model. If you can't find one to trace, pm me and I'll send you a tracing.

    1. A mounting system can be made of a threaded brass rod which goes into a mounting block glued to the bottom of the guard, and extends through a hole drilled into a support block which sits on the rim of the mandolin.

    2. The rod is secured to the rim support block with a hex nut on one side, and an acorn nut on the other side.

    3. The rim support block can then be secured to the mandolin either with a viola chinrest clamp [a 1910 style arrangement], or it can be screwed into the edge of the mandolin [the arrangement used on most Gibsons from c. 1923 to the present].

    4. The underside of the edge of the guard that butts against the fingerboard is reinforced with an additional strip of pickguard material 7/16" to 1/2" wide. This stiffens the guard and provides a surface through which pins or nails run to secure the guard into the fingerboard.

    The support blocks can be made from a few layers of pickguard material laminated together. Brass rod and the acorn nut are available from Ace Hardware. You will need a tap and die to thread the rod and thread the hole in the under-the-guard mounting block. The c. 1920 Gibsons used a 5-40 thread, but it might be easier to use a 6-32 thread to accomodate the brass rod and acorn nut available at Ace.
    Last edited by rcc56; May-31-2023 at 5:52pm.

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  8. #6
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Template/ tracing for Snakehead A Pickguard

    It is interesting that IIRC my old 24 A-jr had the bracket attachement but my 23A-2 has the screw-in one. I wonder if there was any rhyme or reason to this. I guess you should be able to tell (assuming you care) if there is a screw hole on the side of the mandolin or not.
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    Default Re: Template/ tracing for Snakehead A Pickguard

    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Garber View Post
    It is interesting that IIRC my old 24 A-jr had the bracket attachement but my 23A-2 has the screw-in one. I wonder if there was any rhyme or reason to this.
    Nope. That's just the way they operated in the old days. There was always overlap when they made a transition from an old style part to a newer style. Bridges, pickguards, tuners, inlays, and even the transition from the 3 point body shape to the 2 point.

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    Default Re: Template/ tracing for Snakehead A Pickguard

    Thank you all for your responses, I feel pretty confident in the mounting hardware department, I am planning on scrounging a violin chin-rest clamp and fabricating from there. Jim- I appreciate the share of that photo, I think you are totally right that with the right printer enlargements, that could get me plenty close... I've messed around with this for other instrument projects.

    It seems like it would be a good service to the mandolin world for someone to trace or draw one of these up to scale (including placement of support block and extra lamination for fingerboard attachment) and make it available in a shareable file, I know I am not the only one that would be stoked on having that at my fingertips. Heck, even just putting a loose pick-guard on the photocopier!

    As a general note, I have noticed as I play more of these old A's that there are subtle differences in pg shape over time- some seem to curve more around the bridge, while others, like some A-4 pick-guards seem to follow the edge of the fingerboard and cut in a bit towards the sound-hole from the end of the fretboard extension. So one size doesn't exactly fit all, but for my purposes with my little a Jr., the simpler the better.

  11. #9
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Template/ tracing for Snakehead A Pickguard

    There are mandolin plans with full size outlines of the pickguards available from several sources including Stewmac and I believe the GAL. A few of those products were created by members of the Cafe and honestly they've done a service to the community by putting in the effort to create the drawings.
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    Default Re: Template/ tracing for Snakehead A Pickguard

    Quote Originally Posted by MikeEdgerton View Post
    There are mandolin plans with full size outlines of the pickguards available from several sources including Stewmac and I believe the GAL. A few of those products were created by members of the Cafe and honestly they've done a service to the community by putting in the effort to create the drawings.
    Thanks for this Mike! I found Condino's snakehead plan (https://luth.org/instrument-plans/mandolin-family/) and it is well drawn and thoughtfully presented, totally worth purchasing to get PG drawing/support GAL.

    Bonus, it'll double as a nice poster for my shop space...

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