John Pearse armrest

[Watt]

Originally Posted by HOF dad

On another note.........
This is the first I've seen or heard of the Abel arm rests.
I must say I'm almost ready to pull the trigger.
Thanks for the info.

I use an Abel on a guitar with a French polish finish. Aesthetically, the Abel's industrial appearance is probably offensive to those who view their guitars as objects of art, but it works great. And because it can be easily removed, I can still admire the guitar, free of the offensive appliance, when it is hanging in the guitar gallery. That is, I could if I had a guitar gallery.

Back on topic, I have also used the Pearse armrest on several guitars and removed a few. I never experienced any damage, but they can be a bear to remove if the standard adhesive tape is used.

[thegreatgumbino]

Originally Posted by MikeMcKee

I am a fan. I have a JP arm rest on virtually all my acoustics. Over the years I've probably had 20 or so, and removed many of them. Here is what I've found:

Taylors...absolutely no issue with the finish
Martins...finish issue on 3 out of 5
Santa Cruz...finish issue on 4 out of 4
Waterloo...finish issue on 2 out of 2
Other nitro finish pieces about 50/50 if there was an issue or not

The issues ran from simple tan line to orange peel effect to actual reaction to the nitro. In every case I had my guitar tech "fix" them which consisted of a simple buff, a wet sand and buff, to a nitro fill, wet sand and buff. There was never permanent damage, but there certainly have been issues.

I also have an Abel that I use off and on. Works great. BUT, I left it on 3 or 4 days on a nitro finished guitar, and the rubber on the Abel DID react with the finish. As long as I remove it after playing I've never had another issue.

That's great real world feedback, Mike. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

[thegreatgumbino]

[QUOTE=Steadfastly;5705839]You, you, you cwimimal you.



Nice.


I simply want people to be aware of the potential damage. I understand most people in this thread are aware of the pros/cons, but what about the newbie that is stumbling into these threads and lack this knowledge?

[Steadfastly]

[QUOTE=thegreatgumbino;5705859]

Originally Posted by Steadfastly

You, you, you cwimimal you.



Nice.


I simply want people to be aware of the potential damage. I understand most people in this thread are aware of the pros/cons, but what about the newbie that is stumbling into these threads and lack this knowledge?

That, Gumbino, is an excellent point. I have seen where newbies have been led astray by so called experts pushing them to buy something way over the top with something they don't need. Then the opposite, talk them out of something that will be helpful. When we post, we should all keep this in mind and qualify any posts that we think may get misconstrued by those with less experience.

[varmonter]

I think they certainly have the potential to damage the finish.
I think given time and uv rays it will discolor at a different rate.
But I like mine.

[gitarro]

O

Originally Posted by MikeMcKee

I am a fan. I have a JP arm rest on virtually all my acoustics. Over the years I've probably had 20 or so, and removed many of them. Here is what I've found:

Taylors...absolutely no issue with the finish
Martins...finish issue on 3 out of 5
Santa Cruz...finish issue on 4 out of 4
Waterloo...finish issue on 2 out of 2
Other nitro finish pieces about 50/50 if there was an issue or not

The issues ran from simple tan line to orange peel effect to actual reaction to the nitro. In every case I had my guitar tech "fix" them which consisted of a simple buff, a wet sand and buff, to a nitro fill, wet sand and buff. There was never permanent damage, but there certainly have been issues.

I also have an Abel that I use off and on. Works great. BUT, I left it on 3 or 4 days on a nitro finished guitar, and the rubber on the Abel DID react with the finish. As long as I remove it after playing I've never had another issue.

Thanks Mike for sharing that. I always put my guitars back into their cases as soon as i finish playing so i have to remove the abel anyway, but that is good to know.

[L20A]

Thank you Wade for your thoughts about the arm rest.
You hit on a possible issue with my guitar.

My Guild D-55 is a 2005 model that I bought used in 2008.
I noticed from the first day of ownership that the neck of the guitar would feel sticky after playing the guitar for 15 minutes or so.
I brought this issue up on the Guild Guitar Forum and others there said that some of the Guilds built at that time were slow in drying the nitro finish.

It was 10 years after the guitar was built that I put the arm rest on it.
I suppose that the finish has never completely cured in this time.
Either way, the finish did sustain damage from using the arm rest on it.

I like the idea of the rest but I don't think that I would have put it on a guitar with a nitro finish had I been aware of the possible risks.

[email4eric]

I put them on nitro finished guitars only. I do so because I don't like the nitro sticky feel in the crook of the arm or the dulling of the finish from skin exposure. My otherwise sticky nitro guitars now feel great! I really have no worry about finish marring as I have no intention of ever removing them!

Win - Win!

[tomcstokes59]

Originally Posted by martingitdave

This is exactly what I do. I have a less aggressive roll of 3M tape and I use 3 small squares on the corners and center. It holds fine. Easy to remove. The tan line, however, is not easy to remove. :-)

Can you be more specific as to "less aggressive roll of 3M tape"?
Thanks

[rgregg48]

I have removed those type of armrests before. I apply a thin layer of Napha or lighter fluid along the tape line wait and start to carefully lift adding more Napha as needed. Then using a hair dryer to apply heat carefully pry the tape off slowly. Then with a rag and additional napha to clean the rest of the glue residue. I don't know how this would work on French polish or oil-based finishes but it works fine on Nitro. So far no damage but perhaps I've been lucky

[NotALuth]

Originally Posted by rgregg48

I have removed those type of armrests before. I apply a thin layer of Napha or lighter fluid along the tape line wait and start to carefully lift adding more Napha as needed. Then using a hair dryer to apply heat carefully pry the tape off slowly. Then with a rag and additional napha to clean the rest of the glue residue. I don't know how this would work on French polish or oil-based finishes but it works fine on Nitro. So far no damage but perhaps I've been lucky

Thanks for that!

It is clear from this thread that Wade has not had issues when removing these JP armrests. but that other contributors (e.g. thegreatgumbino/ Mike McKee) have had more varied results.

Considering rgregg48’s post I’m wondering whether maybe we can all learn something helpful about removing JP armrests?

Wade - it might be useful if you could also describe the technique you use to successfully remove the armrests. Do you always do it the same way? What level of force do you find necessary? Is it a peeling, or a prising, a twisting or straight-pull action? Do you use any tools? Are their any environmental conditions which would make you leave the job for another day? etc.

I hope everyone takes this in the spirit I intend it. There is no criticism of anyone or their actions intended (or hopefully implied). I’m just trying to elicit something positive from this.

Best wishes to all,
Clive

[MikeMcKee]

The issue really isn’t with removing them. I use naphtha and a flat pick as Wade suggests. Never an issue there. The issue is that the adhesive reacts with some finishes and when the armrest is off there can be evidence of that. When this has happened to me, my tech easily fixed things with a little wet sanding and buffing.

[Wade Hampton]

Clive wrote:

Originally Posted by NotALuth

Wade - it might be useful if you could also describe the technique you use to successfully remove the armrests. Do you always do it the same way? What level of force do you find necessary? Is it a peeling, or a prising, a twisting or straight-pull action? Do you use any tools? Are their any environmental conditions which would make you leave the job for another day? etc.

Clive, what I do is wedge flatpicks between the adhesive strip and the guitar top, slowly wiggling them in. I start with one, and when I get that first pick maybe halfway or a third of its length under the adhesive strip, I wedge in another pick beside it.

Occasionally I have to use a third and even fourth pick, as well, but at least nine times out of ten simply adding the second pick and wiggling it forward is enough to break the surface tension of the adhesive strip and the armrest pops right off, with no damage to the guitar.

I don't use any force or twist the armrest or anything like that. Once I read a post by someone who advocated using dental floss to cut through the adhesive strip, I tried that precisely once. My Lord, what a mess that left! Shredded adhesive gunk left behind that took a long, LONG time to remove using generous amounts of lighter fluid and elbow grease. The method I recommend is faster and much cleaner.

After I read some of the posts in this and other threads about cases of finish damage, I called and spoke to Mary Faith at Breezy Ridge, John Pearse's former wife and co-founder of the company. I was personally dubious that the adhesive strip could cause finish damage of the type described, because I have never once seen that or even heard of it until a few months ago on this forum.

Mary Faith told me that there have been a handful of instances where there was some finish damage, mostly with Gibson guitars, for some reason. She reiterated that the Breezy Ridge company position is that the armrests are meant to be added as a permanent addition to the guitar, not as temporary items that can be put on and pulled off as needed. Even though I personally have done precisely that on many occasions, that's not what the armrests are intended for, she said.

Thinking back on it, I realized that the ease with which I've removed and reused the armrests has led me to encourage others to do the same thing. But based on the conversation I had with Mary Faith and some of the backlash I've experienced on this forum, I've changed my position on this.

Which is now: yes, I've removed and reused John Pearse armrests many times, but apparently they can in rare instances damage the finish on some guitars, particularly Gibsons, for some reason. So if you want to remove an armrest, it's at your own risk. It's intended as a permanent armrest, not a temporary one.

Hope that makes sense.


Wade Hampton Miller

[ahorsewithnonam]

IMG_4339.jpg

Love them!!!!

[NotALuth]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

Clive, what I do is wedge flatpicks between the adhesive strip and the guitar top, slowly wiggling them in. I start with one, and when I get that first pick maybe halfway or a third of its length under the adhesive strip, I wedge in another pick beside it...........

Wade Hampton Miller

Originally Posted by MikeMcKee

The issue really isn’t with removing them. I use naphtha and a flat pick as Wade suggests. Never an issue there. The issue is that the adhesive reacts with some finishes and when the armrest is off there can be evidence of that. When this has happened to me, my tech easily fixed things with a little wet sanding and buffing.

Wade/Mike,
Sincere thanks to both of you for sharing your experience. Mike, part of the reason I asked was the thought that, potentially, variations in the method of removal may have been, at least partly, responsible for the extent of visible damage witnessed.

Regards,
Clive.