What's the most intelligent guitar accessory you have ever seen?

[nitram]

I'm going with a humidification system like D'addario or the like that fit into the guitar's soundhole.To me it's something that gives peace of mind-especially up here in Canada where the winter is cold and the inside air is dry.

[FrankHudson]

Yes it has to clip on tuners for me. My ear's not good, and the anxiety of performance, particularly in a loud green room, made things impossible for me.

[waveform]

Cool thread topic, great idea. I would have to say a transducer pickup system with mic blend. Well one that worked actually.

String winder, Im almost having to go with that, ha.

[thingthatisdone]

Originally Posted by Todd Tipton

I'll try to redeem myself from that last post of mine. Off the top of my head, I gotta say a string winder.

String winder? Really? Ugh, screw those things! The string winder is not an intelligent design. 30 seconds to hand wind a string beats several minutes of buffing out swirls left on the headstock. Sorry, just a sore spot after a buying a new guitar with such swirls.

To answer question, capo! The humidity packs are also a great get it and forget it thing for winter.

[Tico]

Me, of course.

[newfx11]

As mentioned the clip-on tuner is great. I started with an old-school Cort tuner, the type with the needle. Then I went to digital Korg tuners, and now I have a TC Electronic Polytune Clip. I love it. I was a bit skeptical at first, and for some reason I was afraid the material would stick to the headstock but it doesn't. LEDs are bright, easy to read and you can strum all the strings at once to tune them all if you want.

I also recently found a humidifier system that works with your smart phone which looks great. I'm not sure if that's overkill for me but I'm really interested in it. I can't remember who makes it.

[The Bard Rocks]

Intelli? Of course - it is the first Intellitouch tuner I got. I could use it in a noisy room and it worked! Wow, was that ever something. I still use the same one, going on 30 years. A battery lasts several years with those things. And they are still under warranty.

New stuff: how about the Grover locking tuners? No more winding around and around the post.

[Tony Done]

Capo. I'm currently having lotsa fun using mine for drop D, 022222.

String winders and clip-on tuners are also good

[email4eric]

I don't know if it would be too far removed to be considered a guitar accessory but I'd vote for my SoundSeat hands-down by a mile and a half!

[Wade Hampton]

The John Pearse armrest. Here's a photo of John himself explaining its use and the rationale behind it:

˙˙˙

Here's a link to the video where he explains it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZQIZ06uRX4

Unlike many, perhaps most aftermarket guitar gadgets, John Pearse armrests do precisely what they're designed to do: they lift the players forearm off the guitar top, allow the top to vibrate 20% more, increase both tone and projection, and incidentally help protect the finish on the guitar top from sweat and bug repellent such as DEET, which can and will have a nasty chemical reaction with nitrocellulose lacquer.

Full disclosure: I am an artist endorser for John Pearse strings, which I use on all of my instruments including mandolins, banjos and mountain dulcimers, as well as guitars, and am also an endorser for John Pearse accessories, which includes the armrests. I have Pearse armrests on all of my flattop guitars, but it's not because I have to use them, it's because I want to use them. They work. It's that simple.

The truth is I was using John Pearse strings and armrests on all my guitars long before John decided to make me an artist endorser, a good ten or twelve years at least. I'm a genuine enthusiast for them, and if I lost my artist endorser status tomorrow I'd continue to use them.

Other images of John Pearse armrests:












Doc Watson with a John Pearse armrest on his Gallagher guitar

Now, when I saw that "What's the dumbest guitar accessory you've ever seen?" thread I winced a little bit, knowing full well that sooner or later somebody would take a swipe at John Pearse armrests. And eventually somebody did, but it wasn't in a mean-spirited way, and it took until at least the second or third page of the thread for that to pop its ugly little head up.

If John was still living he'd be the first to tell you that the armrests aren't for everyone, though honestly it mystified him when some players chose to disdain them. But not everyone lays their forearm on the top when they play guitar, and of the millions of players who DO lay their arms down, most of them don't care about the effect it has on the tone.

Fair enough. You have to care enough about that aspect to want to do anything about it, that should go without saying.

The visual aesthetics are most definitely not for everyone, even among those who recognize the benefits that using an armrest brings. That's probably the biggest hurdle for most players.

Understood. There was a gentleman who posted about them probably a couple of decades ago on the old Usenet newsgroup RMMGA, who liked the armrests and thought they worked well, but described them as "orthopedic-looking."

Bingo. Perfect description. There are those who genuinely admire the visual aspect and fine wood accent that an armrest brings to the look of the guitar, but I couldn't describe myself as being among their number. To me it's a utilitarian addition that is so valuable from a functional standpoint that I'll put one on every flattop guitar that I use, but I don't add armrests for their looks. For me it's entirely about their function.

One of the things that NEVER fails to amuse me, though, is whenever there's a John Pearse armrest-bashing thread on here (and those show up on a fairly regular basis,) there will be those who castigate the armrests for being irredeemably dorky-looking. Which is fair enough.

But then many of them go on to neuter their own argument by recommending that people who want to avoid looking dorky but also protect their guitar tops

should cut off an athletic tube sock and wear it on their forearms!

Like, whoa, dude, now THAT's suave and debonair! That's, like, James Bond at the baccarat table level suave and debonair!

Under his tuxedo jacket James is wearing a cut-off tube sock on his forearm

And whenever I read someone recommending the use of a cut-off tube sock on the player's forearm to prevent or reduce perspiration damage, the question I always want to ask is:

"Excuse me, but have you ever been within six feet of a member of the opposite sex?"

Okay, okay, that's not fair. But it truly does crack me up whenever anyone sneers at the Pearse armrest but then turns around and recommends wearing mutilated athletic wear instead!

One last question: do those tube sock arm protectors sound better when they're brand new, or do you get a more refined tone when you use a sock that's been fermenting in your gym locker for the past six months?

Just curious....


Wade Hampton Miller

[00-28]

One last question: do those tube sock arm protectors sound better when they're brand new, or do you get a more refined tone when you use a sock that's been fermenting in your gym locker for the past six months?

Just curious....


Wade Hampton Miller

From experience, they sound best when washed with your son's 3 week old unwashed football practice uniforms that have been lost in your son's closet for 2 months. OH My! Kind of like the torrefication process.

........Mike

[Steadfastly]

I'll go with a good teacher. Many of us wouldn't be playing or we'd be playing a lot worse without them.

[sdelsolray]

A case....

[thingthatisdone]

I've never actually seen anyone use an armrest, but if I chose to use and then remove it, does it damage the look or finish of the guitar?

[Brucebubs]

Originally Posted by thingthatisdone

I've never actually seen anyone use an armrest, but if I chose to use and then remove it, does it damage the look or finish of the guitar?

A little bit sometimes ... but it buffs out.