So I went out to Montana AGAIN last week, this time for a wedding. We did reunions of both my old bands-the honky tonk/western swing band and the jazz trio. Since I don't currently have an electrified mandolin, Greg Boyd was kind enough to loan me the Rigel that he has on his web site. I've always disliked pickguards because they rattle around and get in the way, but this one had a smaller sized one that was just attached to the fingerboard extention. Now I'm a "fingerplanter" from way back, and I really liked this pickguard! It really helped me get good tremolo on the bass strings, and made the mando seem really easy to play. I guess it's more of a finger rest than a pickguard, but I'm going to get one installed on my next raised fingerboard mandolin. Right now I only have a 1914 Gibson A, and I don't see how a pickguard like that would work.
By the way, that Rigel was pretty nice. I got alot of flack from my friends over it. One friend came up to me and said "You know, you could have borrowed my Yellowstone...friends don't let friends play Rigels!" But I thought it was a pretty decent instrument.

I had a pickguard made for my Rigel Nat A.  It's just like the one from the Delux A, cantilevered off the neck.  The necks on Rigels are high off the top and I was arching my wrist too much and messing up the tendons on the back of my right hand.  The pickguard helped that.  Also, I'm not a planter but I've developed into a pinky brusher.  Helps to keep from digging in too much.