Armrest question

[fitness1]

For reference - here's a pic of the underside.

The green area is the adhesive and the only part that sticks to the top.

[Wade Hampton]

Well, realizing that the armrests work on the tripod principle is not an original insight of mine; John Pearse was a good friend and a bit of a mentor to me. I had a custom acoustic baritone under construction for me, and the curvature of the armrest didn’t quite match the curvature of the guitar. I called and asked John if it would be alright for the builder to shorten the armrest just a little to make it fit better.

John said that as long as no more than about 3/4 of an inch was removed from its length it would be okay, but if any more than that came off it would threaten the armrest’s stability. That’s when he explained to me how it worked on the tripod principle. I had been using the armrests on all of my flattop guitars for years by that point, but it had never occurred to me to ask about how they worked.

John was a brilliant man who just had a knack for coming up with this sort of thing. He had sent me one of the prototypes of the armrests to try before they went into production, and over the years he sent me a lot of stuff like that - sometimes he’d warn me a little, and say: “There’s something on its way to you in the mail - I’d like to get your input on it.” Sometimes he wouldn’t warn me at all and these gizmos would just show up.

John could be very coy about that, and I know it amused him to surprise me and some other far flung friends around the world with the products of his fertile imagination. I think letting us figure out for ourselves what these gadgets were for was a large part of the fun for him.


Wade Hampton Miller

[dkstott]

I just installed a rosewood slim John Pearce armrest on my Cordoba C-12. I modified the shape just a little, because I wanted the fatter end to be a little bit slimmer. After that, I did some minor shaping of the exterior radius so that it matched the guitar more closely. I'm very happy with the outcome.

I've removed the armrests from several guitars in the past. It's definitely not easy or a quick process. Patience is a great virtue when removing one.

Dave

[Taylorneil]

I thought about trying one. I play seated and if I play for a long time, maybe an hour or so without a break, I sometimes find my forearm starts to develop pins and needles. I wondered if an armrest would help?

[Goodallboy]

I've made a pact with my guitar that I won't let an armrest and adhesive near it and it's agreed to not sound bad without one.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by nickv6

I'd appreciate comments on this. I'm wondering if I should fit an armrest to keep my forearm away from the soundboard. But when I look at them they seem to be just a piece of wood stuck to the soundboard.....so how does that help?
Any advice appreciated, or comments by anyone who has fitted one?
Nick

Hi Nick

I've never owned such a sensitively built instrument that resting my arm across the top edge while I play is going to kill the tone, or sustain. In fact that would be a pretty big drawback to have an instrument that fragile.

I have had a friend who it was cutting off his circulation as he got older, and an armrest solved that issue.

[LadysSolo]

I have them on my mandolins - I didn't want them until I bought a used mandolin that came with one, and it significantly increased my comfort, so I am a believer for mandolin. I have none on any of my guitars. I am not in favor of adhesive on the tops of my guitars.

[RalphH]

Originally Posted by nickv6

I'd appreciate comments on this. I'm wondering if I should fit an armrest to keep my forearm away from the soundboard. But when I look at them they seem to be just a piece of wood stuck to the soundboard.....so how does that help?
Any advice appreciated, or comments by anyone who has fitted one?
Nick

If you want to see what difference it'll make just lift your arm off the top - it's not a very comfortable way to play for a long time but it'll give you an idea of the maximum possible difference it'll give you in terms of tone. It does affect tone, but to my ears it's "a little different" not "a little better", and my dred doesn't need to get any thicker so I'd never bother personally.

[rickcrna]

Funny....I rarely, if ever have seen a pro stage musician playing a guitar with an armrest. If they were as beneficial to the sound output as others here proclaim one would think you would see armrests used with regularity.

Just a thought...

Rick

[Black-n-Nan]

Originally Posted by Taylorneil

I thought about trying one. I play seated and if I play for a long time, maybe an hour or so without a break, I sometimes find my forearm starts to develop pins and needles. I wondered if an armrest would help?

That was one of the reason I installed mine. Yes it helps. Another reason is that guitar top is always clean. I used to wipe the top every time after playing before.

[Shadowfox]

As some have said, the smaller the guitar top, the bigger the difference. I put one on my Furch GA, and it certainly was part of the tone quest I had. It also is comfier. I think an armrest, strings, and picks are the three easiest things to adjust our tone.

[fitness1]

Originally Posted by rickcrna

Funny....I rarely, if ever have seen a pro stage musician playing a guitar with an armrest. If they were as beneficial to the sound output as others here proclaim one would think you would see armrests used with regularity.

Just a thought...

Rick

Most "pro stage musicians" are standing with their guitar on a strap up against their belly, so they probably reducing the tone and volume 20% or so already. They are also using internal electronics to amplify their guitar, so what is coming out of the soundhole is secondary. Some of those who sit and play used them - the late, great Doc Watson is one that comes to mind.

It's a much bigger benefit to those of us who play acoustically, or, like myself, when I do perform, use 60-70% of my signal from an external condenser mic.

And, of course, many probably just don't know about the product.

[fitness1]

Originally Posted by Taylorneil

I thought about trying one. I play seated and if I play for a long time, maybe an hour or so without a break, I sometimes find my forearm starts to develop pins and needles. I wondered if an armrest would help?

I think it would help the most if you sanded the outside edge of it so the slope was more angled. In other words, get rid of the sharp edge.

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by Taylorneil

I thought about trying one. I play seated and if I play for a long time, maybe an hour or so without a break, I sometimes find my forearm starts to develop pins and needles. I wondered if an armrest would help?

It should. The edge of the armrest where you lay your arm against it is definitely more rounded than the 90 degree angle of the edge of the guitar.

A few years ago there was a married couple who contacted me because they’d read my posts and told me that they were going to come visit Alaska, and asked if they could come by my house and play some music. I said “Of course,” and so we held a music party potluck in their honor. Some of my picking buddies came over, too, and we had a rollicking good time.

The husband had brought his Martin but his wife wasn’t traveling with an instrument, so I loaned her a guitar to use for the evening. I think it was a Mossman dreadnought that I owned at the time, and although she was rather petite a dreadnought was what she normally played at home, so she was delighted with the Mossman.

Naturally, since it was a personal instrument of mine (as opposed to a guitar I’d picked up as trading stock) I had put a John Pearse armrest on it.

They both knew what the Pearse armrests are but had never encountered one in real life before, much less played any guitars equipped with one. But at the end of the evening, when they were getting ready to go, she told me that she’d really liked it because it was REALLY comfortable. The edge of the guitar’s top wasn’t digging into her forearm like it normally did.

She told me that she planned to order one for her guitar when she got home.

Anyway, none of us who like and use John Pearse armrests are under ANY illusions that the armrests are for everyone. They’re not. Some folks hate the way they look, and other folks have other reasons for disliking the very idea.

Which is fine.

But I use them on all of my flattop guitars because they do exactly what they’re designed to do: they lift the player’s forearm off the top and allow it to vibrate to its fullest possible extent. They also protect the top from perspiration damage and provide a comfortable rounded edge to place your arm against.

But the primary reason I use them is simple: tone, tone, tone. They have a beneficial impact on the sound of the instruments they’re mounted on. That’s my reason for using them: nothing more, nothing less.

Hope that makes sense.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Ncbandit]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

But the primary reason I use them is simple: tone, tone, tone.

Wade Hampton Miller

+1 on this comment. To me an armrest is more important than a pickguard.