John Pearse armrest

[vespa180]

I recently bought a Larrivée D-03, beautiful guitar. On the website of John Pearse (www.jpstrings.com) I read about his armrest that is claimed to give more volume, sound and projection ("the true voice of the guitar"). It prevents you from resting your arm on the soundboard or the edge of the guitar. The weight of your arm is said to reduce the volume and sound quality of the guitar and after some experimenting I agree with that statement. It does make a difference. John Pearse's claim is that the armrest relieves the pressure off the soundboard and edge of the guitar. My comment on that is that the armrest still rests on the edge of the guitar and wouldn't that still influence the sound?

Does anyone have experience with this armrest?

André.

[ronmac]

Hi Andre,

I have used the armrest and find that it does what it claims to do. The armrest is attached at the very edge of the body and keeps your forearm from dampening the top of the soundboard.

[vespa180]

Hello Ron,

thanks for your quick response. Hope I'll get some more answers. In the meantime I've been browsing through this forum and learned a great deal about these armrests. I haven't yet decided to buy one. As I see it there are at least two advantages: in general a (slightly?) better sound and projection and more comfort while playing. Disadvantage is the sun tan when you want to sell the guitar without the armrest. I think that doesn't count for me, because this Larrivee will most certainly join me into the coffin (more or less).

I take it that the armrest is so shallow that it fits into the standard Larrivée guitar case.

André.

[ronmac]

There should be no problem with it fitting into the case. It doesn't project any higher off the soundboard than the bridge.

[Redeemed]

Disadvantage is the sun tan when you want to sell the guitar without the armrest.

Hey Andre, welcome to the forum!

I've entertained the thought of installing a pearse armrest on one of my guitars as well... and like you, I just can't get over the thought of a tan-line forming on the beautiful spruce top.  Now, if JP would come out with a clear version, possibly made out of lexan, I'd be all over that like white on rice!


-dan

[vespa180]

Hi Dan & Ron,

thanks for your welcome. Little by little I am leaning towards the thought that trying one out is worth while. Right now I have downloaded the different armrests off the John Pearse site and I find myself scisorring away like in kindergarten. Do you have the definite answer as to which one fits the D-03 dreadnought best?

André.

[bhika]

I was thinking of putting an armrest on my L-10 but am concerned with the extra width it adds to the guitar. L-10s are now almost as deep as a dread and I don't know how my shoulder would take it.

[Ratishna]

There are JP armrest discussions on nearly every acoustic guitar forum out there.  Most agree that the concept works, and many use them, but there are issues that make some want to remove them.

E. Shoaf

[fitness1]

a few months ago I picked up a OM-09 from a forum member that had the junior slimline version installed.  Previously I hadn't owned or played an instrument with the Pearse armrest.  One suprise benefit was I like the way it changes the angle of attack slightly on my right hand.....I get a more downward angle.    I firmly believe the biggest change in tonal qualities will be derived with smaller bodied guitars with softer wood tops (Cedar, Englemann)  I have subsequently installed the slimline junior on my 512 and Lucida, with discernable results......there won't be one going on my custom OM, though......too pretty and I don't want to cover up the ab purf I paid extra for ^_^ ^_^

[fitness1]

oh, and there is no problem with depth (closing the case) on my OM-09.....

[joxter]

After testing my arm position and finding that I was dampening the top of my OM-03, I got an Ebony Pearse JR. for it.  I am happy with it.  A lot of guitarists use them.  Including David Bromberg.  It fits in the case fine.

I read posts that claimed they removed them after years and had no tan lines.  I did not read any posts claiming there was a tan line but I certainly did not read every post out there on the subject.  A lot of posters "figured" there would be a tan line so they weren't going to use one.

[fitness1]

just guessing here, but I think the tanline may be more of an issue with the full sized ones.  IMO there is no reason to buy anything but the slimline junior, it only takes a little bit of wood to keep your arm off the top. :GRN>

[Trent in WA]

just guessing here, but I think the tanline may be more of an issue with the full sized ones.  IMO there is no reason to buy anything but the slimline junior, it only takes a little bit of wood to keep your arm off the top. :GRN>

It depends on where your arm crosses.  For ergonomic purposes, while it only takes a small amount of wood to keep your arm off the top, you don't want to create a "stress riser" for your arm if you can avoid it.

I installed a standard ebony armrest on my OM-3R a couple of weeks ago and love it.  It works as advertised.  As a lapsed fiddler I'm used to seeing chunks of wood affixed to the edge of instruments, so aesthetically I quite like the way the armrest looks.  I've never heard of anybody developing a "tan line" with the armrest.  They're great accessories.

[Denis]

I've never heard of anybody developing a "tan line" with the armrest.  They're great accessories.

It's not the person that would develop a tan line, it's the top of the guitar.  A spruce top will, with time, get darker and if you say took your pickguard off after six months or a year, you see "tan lines"

Look at the pictures at the bottom of this page:

http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier/Technique/Guitar/Pickguards/PeelGuard/peelguard.html

[Trent in WA]

It's not the person that would develop a tan line, it's the top of the guitar.  A spruce top will, with time, get darker and if you say took your pickguard off after six months or a year, you see "tan lines"

Look at the pictures at the bottom of this page:

http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier/Technique/Guitar/Pickguards/PeelGuard/peelguard.html

Oops!  (or "D'uh").  I shoulda had more coffee before I posted--I was talking about the guitar, not the player.  When I was researching the armrest prior to buying it, I noted that the question came up on some other forums and none of the long-term users reported any issues with tanlines.

[didymus21]

Expect a tan line.  I've seen them on used guitars quite a bit.  There was on on Shoreline music just a few months back, and I've come across a few on Ebay.

[Blue in VT]

Has anyone ever tried one of these on a parlor guitar? 

just curious...I know the small body probably makes it unecessary but I guess your arm is till touching the top and therefore damping it to some extent.  I really want to know cause the used parlor I'm waiting on has a decent sized chip just where my arm will rest and I was hoping this might be a way to disguise it and make it more comfortable and sound better at the same time.

cheers,

Blue

[fitness1]

I've never owned a parlor, but from my experience, the smaller the body, the more useful the armrest is.....the percentage of the top surface you are damping by not having one is greater percentage wise.

[ronmac]

I've never owned a parlor, but from my experience, the smaller the body, the more useful the armrest is.....the percentage of the top surface you are damping by not having one is greater percentage wise.

What Todd says makes sense.

[Blue in VT]

Thats true...When it gets here I will have to try to find one that fits...hopefully it will hide my blemish and sound better too... :GRN>

Blue