April 7, 2007

Hi folks,

Has anyone ever tried a mandolin "Tone Guard" on the back of your mandolin?

It's supposed to allow the back woods to resonate more freely and, thus, give better tone and volume.

I think some big name professional players use them.

Any comments?

God bless,
"louisiana"

I have one and use one when playing live, and they work great. Just a word of advice... if you have a newly made varnished mandolin, the tone guard will mark the finish. I found this out first hand. It's not catastrophic, but enough to be annoying, and it happened after only about 30 minutes. The good news is that the lacquer finished MT2 I have has not been affected at all, and that is my primary gigging instrument and it has seen hours and hours with the tone guard.

Hey Lousiana,

There have been dozens of threads about the Tone Guard on the Mandolin Café. Go to www.mandolincafe.com and search for the topic. Mando Café is a must for any mando player. Lots of info and friendly people. I've never tried a Tone Guard but most people seem to love it.

Some people love them, and they do work as described. I tried one for a bit but found it uncomfortable. You can basically get the same sonic results without tone guard by holding your mandolin out from your body at a slight angle.

Seth

I use one on my MT and I love it.

I tried one.

You could try playing one from a music store slat wall hanger, that way nothing touches the mando except your left fingers and the pick

But how practical is that? Anything like these gizmos (especially the ones that can hurt the finish) are kind of missing the point IMHO.

I think finding the right instrument and developing sound techniques will get your tone much further.

They kind of remind me of the Esteban all in one capo thing you can put on a guitar and "play any chord in no time at all".

Well, not that bad, but kind of in that category of things.

I'm sure this will tee someone off, not my intention, just my opinion.

Plenty of folks like tone guards, and plenty of folks don't care for them. The choice is as subjective as selecting an instrument.

Two side notes:

Most people find that the Toneguard helps to protect the finish on the back of the mandolin. I have had one on my MT since it was new (2+ years), and there is not a single mark on my mando.

Also as far as technique goes; one can get the same effect by playing the mando at and angle from the body, thus keeping the back of the instrument mostly free and clear to vibrate. I find that doing so impairs other more important technique like keeping my pick hand off the instrument. I like being able to keep my mando fairly flat to my body, but like many things that is subjective and probably depends on numerous factors (body size, type, technique, mandolin shape, etc).

I purchased a tone-guard and I also think it has a lot to do with a personal taste and style of playing. I haven’t used it long enough to see any negative effects to my MF.

My Tone-guard though does not fit in my f-style collings case. It’s recommended that the guard stay on at all times rather than removing it and replacing it (this will cause it break apparently). I’m taking my chances and using when I play live and standing.

Here's my test:

I picked the 5 mandolin players whose tone I admire and then determined who among them used a tone guard.

Answer=0

Thus, my mandolin is lighter and my wallet not so.

I did the same test:

David Grisman
Ricky Skaggs
Andy Statman
Mike Marshall

I was sold.

Don't forget John Reischman.