John Pearse armrest

[stevety]

I have the armrest on most of my guitars including my huss and Dalton .they are so much more comfortable on the arm i do think they give more volume to guitars.I just put one on my koa gs mini and it is so much more comfortable it dose not dig into my arm and i can really tell there is more volume .they are not for everyone but they sure help my 70 year old arm.I do not care about looks whatever makes it more comfortable to play for me.i know that it will cause some finish issues on some guitars but i plan on leaving them on my guitars . And when i sell them that's the way they will be sold.

[fazool]

A long time ago I noticed that my guitar sounded muted when my arm rested on the top.

Many years later I got back into guitar playing (now we have The Internet) and I found out about JP armrests. I tried one and loved how it prevented that from happening.

I've become a big fan and have one on all my acoustics.

[BoneDigger]

I have several. I like them quite a lot. My only issue is that if I place them in the correct location based on curvature, my arm is almost behind the armrest when I play. I looked at an old Doc Watson picture with his and noticed the same. Aside from that, I like them a lot.

[Stevien]

Yep, I'm sold on them as well. They do let the top resonate better, but I mostly use them for comfort. My arm circulation gets cut off without them! Very comfortable indeed!
Steve

[Steadfastly]

When I first heard of them, I went and played and noticed that the sustain was a lot longer when I lifted my arm off the top so I ordered one from China off eBay. It works great. Sorry Mr. Pearse but it was substantially less expensive.

[L20A]

Put one on my Guild D-55 a few years ago.
I like it even though it doesn't fit very well.
I took it off because it needed to be moved back to better make contact with my arm.

The glue blistered the nitro finish where it made contact on the guitar. I put it back on but a couple of inched farther back. It fits even worse there but this is where it need to be.

If I could do it over, I would not use one because of the damage it caused.

This is a Pearse rest.

[jpd]

Originally Posted by L20A

Put one on my Guild D-55 a few years ago.
I like it even though it doesn't fit very well.
I took it off because it needed to be moved back to better make contact with my arm.

The glue blistered the nitro finish where it made contact on the guitar. I put it back on but a couple of inched farther back. It fits even worse there but this is where it need to be.

If I could do it over, I would not use one because of the damage it caused.

I found that certain Nitro finishes will be damaged by the tape(non-catalyzed).Ate right thru to the finish on my custom 0-15. Most of my Pearse arm rests are on poly finishes.

[Wade Hampton]

Your unfortunate experience with the Pearse armrest damaging the finish is virtually unique, L20-A, at least so far as I have ever seen or heard. I have those armrests on every flattop guitar I own, and have removed them from guitars I’ve sold or traded off - some of the armrests I own have been on three guitars.

The only time that an armrest has damaged a guitar’s finish is when I had a custom made guitar that had been sprayed with what turned out to be a defective batch of lacquer. The finish on that guitar never did cure and harden completely, and when I removed the armrest prior to sending the guitar back to the builder as a trade-in on another instrument, there was an impression of the armrest lip in the lacquer.

But that wasn’t caused by the armrest, but by the lacquer never completely curing.

Since you’ve mentioned it before I know you’re entirely convinced that it was the armrest adhesive that caused the damage to the finish on your guitar, but having placed and removed literally dozens of John Pearse armrests on every sort of guitar finish in current use, I’m equally convinced that there had to be some other factors involved that you’re either not recognizing or acknowledging. The reason John Pearse realized that he could make his armrests a viable consumer product in the first place is that the adhesive strip he chose to attach the armrests to guitars is a completely non-reactive material.

Again, I think it’s unfortunate what happened to your guitar finish, but if the armrest adhesive was to blame I would have had the same experience at least three dozen times by now. That has not happened.


Wade Hampton Miller

[jpd]

[QUOTE=Wade Hampton;5705008]

The only time that an armrest has damaged a guitar’s finish is when I had a custom made guitar that had been sprayed with what turned out to be a defective batch of lacquer. The finish on that guitar never did cure and harden completely, and when I removed the armrest prior to sending the guitar back to the builder as a trade-in on another instrument, there was an impression of the armrest lip in the lacquer.

But that wasn’t caused by the armrest, but by the lacquer never completely curing.


BINGO!

[markrj]

I have a JP but have never installed it. I didn't want to cover up the awesome Abalone on my LV-10. So I purchased an Andreas Abel armrest.

https://www.stringsbymail.com/andrea...tar-11771.html

I love it. I can position it perfectly and move from guitar to guitar as needed.

It actually fits in the accessory compartment of the case too.

[thegreatgumbino]

From another thread:

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

You, as an artist endorser for them I really do try to bring up these issues every time they come up. But not everyone can or will read my posts.

*snip*

Wade Hampton Miller

(Note: I edited the majority of this post shown by the *snip*. In fairness, the entirety of the thread is posted in the next reply)

[thegreatgumbino]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

Your unfortunate experience with the Pearse armrest damaging the finish is virtually unique, L20-A, at least so far as I have ever seen or heard. I have those armrests on every flattop guitar I own, and have removed them from guitars I’ve sold or traded off - some of the armrests I own have been on three guitars.

The only time that an armrest has damaged a guitar’s finish is when I had a custom made guitar that had been sprayed with what turned out to be a defective batch of lacquer. The finish on that guitar never did cure and harden completely, and when I removed the armrest prior to sending the guitar back to the builder as a trade-in on another instrument, there was an impression of the armrest lip in the lacquer.

But that wasn’t caused by the armrest, but by the lacquer never completely curing.

Since you’ve mentioned it before I know you’re entirely convinced that it was the armrest adhesive that caused the damage to the finish on your guitar, but having placed and removed literally dozens of John Pearse armrests on every sort of guitar finish in current use, I’m equally convinced that there had to be some other factors involved that you’re either not recognizing or acknowledging. The reason John Pearse realized that he could make his armrests a viable consumer product in the first place is that the adhesive strip he chose to attach the armrests to guitars is a completely non-reactive material.

Again, I think it’s unfortunate what happened to your guitar finish, but if the armrest adhesive was to blame I would have had the same experience at least three dozen times by now. That has not happened.


Wade Hampton Miller

I think you're being flippant, Wade. This is a known issue that has been expressed by several folks on the boards. The fact that you keep dismissing people's experience with this is ridiculous and insulting.

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

And that's true. While I've removed many armrests from guitars I've decided to sell or trade off, it takes both care and patience to do it properly.

Well, I do make a point to cover this in my posts. Go back and re-read what I've written in the myriad John Pearse armrest threads if you doubt me on this.

You, as an artist endorser for them I really do try to bring up these issues every time they come up. But not everyone can or will read my posts.

Which is fair enough.

As for getting the Breezy Ridge/John Pearse website updated, I've never had much luck nudging them about that. As my dear old grey-haired Pappy used to say:

"Tain't your put-in, boy!"

Anyway, Gumbino, I think all your points are valid. But the fortunate reality is that most people who use and, when needed, remove John Pearse armrests have had good results.

Hope this helps.

Wade Hampton Miller

From another thread:

Originally Posted by thegreatgumbino

You're correct that it's like an indentation. Thanks for the advice about letting it go for a bit, Todd. Probably a smart approach. Very disappointed, obviously. Hopefully my post will help others make an informed decision before installing one. I read mostly glowing reviews about them and that they didn't cause any issues when removed when researching it before installation.

I installed my armrest 15 months after the build date, so the nitrocellulose was cured. I was mortified when I saw it because I never read a single comment about this happening when searching about them on the AGF. Of course after further research on the AGF, a few folks posted about having the same results upon removal.

I contacted Breezy Ridge Instruments via email to express my frustration, not expecting anything to come of it. Ended up having a great conversation with the owner, Mary Faith. She was very understanding and said she'd research the pics with a luthier friend and get back to me. Her "luthier friend" ended up being none other than Ren Ferguson, who called me to discuss the issue. Ren confirmed that he'd seen this happen before and that the 3M adhesive does not play nice with the nitrocellulose finish. He also said it was possible to buff it out where at least 80-90% of the indentation was gone.

The long and the short of it is this. If you want to add a JP armrest to your guitar, do so knowing that there is the potential for damage. Your best bet is to plan on it being a "permanent" fixture of the guitar that will never be removed. If you decide not to keep the guitar, you will be better off selling it with the armrest as is.

I still stand by my comment that Breezy Ridge Instruments needs to update their website to state 1) do not install on a guitar newer than 6 months old and 2) do not EVER plan on removing from the instrument or it may damage the finish.

I also believe that every time a new JP Armrest thread pops up, everyone that has read about these damages in threads such as this owes it to the original poster to point out the potential finish damage issues. That's what the collective knowledge of a guitar forum is for. Turning a blind eye to this because you love the product isn't being truthful.

[Wade Hampton]

Gumbino, I'm sorry you think I'm being flippant or, worse, untruthful. I have absolutely no intention of being either.

The simple fact is that I have, truly, applied and removed MANY John Pearse armrests from my instruments, most of which have been finished in nitrocellulose lacquer. I have never once witnessed what you are insinuating must be a common experience.

It is not a common experience.

I agree that it wouldn't hurt if the John Pearse/Breezy Ridge website emphasized that armrests shouldn't be applied to guitars with nitrocellulose lacquer finishes that haven't fully cured yet. John himself was certainly emphatic about that in his conversations with me every time the subject came up. He said to never put one on a guitar that was less than six months old, or to put one on an antique guitar with a compromised or crackled finish, either.

While you rather glibly implied that I'm being dishonest in my posts on this subject, presumably because I'm a master criminal with too much to hide, even a cursory glance though what I've written about Pearse armrests will show that I have always been very straightforward about some of these limitations. I have encountered some of them over the years.

What I have NOT encountered has been any sort of chemical reaction between nitrocellulose lacquer and the adhesive strip. If I had, I would have been mentioning it all along.

You know, I'm not some cynical opportunist malevolently pushing these armrests on unsuspecting innocents because it warms my wicked heart to see them place their guitars in danger. I have Pearse armrests on all of my guitars because they do exactly what they're supposed to do from both tonal and comfort standpoints. I string all my instruments with John Pearse strings not because I'm in the pay of "the sinister John Pearse String/Breezy Ridge industrial cabal," but because I genuinely think they're the best-sounding strings available.

I have to say that I deeply resent your accusation that I'm somehow trying to cover up anything, and the implied accusation of personal dishonesty that goes along with it. If I am nothing else, I am completely sincere in everything I post on this forum.

And now I am going to walk away from the computer keyboard.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Akousticplyr]

I've had one for many years. When I sent my 1999 710 to the Taylor factory for their total refresh package and extensive repairs to the top (i beat my guitars up playing live!), they graciously re-mounted the armrest for me.

Definite improvement on the sustain of my dreadnought.

[JeffreyAK]

I have two, on both my harp guitars, and I'm really happy with them.

They did come with the disclaimer, "The John Pearse Armrest is designed as a permanent addition to the guitar--as is a pick guard or a bridge. Although it should only be removed by a competent repair person, attachment should not be undertaken lightly."