Mandolin Armrest...Who Uses One

[Nalapombu]

Hey all,

I see pics of several mandos with armrests on them. Do they wrok pretty well and can you tell a difference in the tone when you have it on or does it provide little benefit?
Who makes the one you use? I have seen the one from Siren and it looks a lot bigger than most of the ones I have seen. Who else makes armrests for mandos?
Thanks

Nala

[Jonathan James]

gregboyd.com carries a couple kinds under the "Mandolin Accessories" section. I think Janet Davis, Elderly, and FQMS also have some...

[John Flynn]

I have a Siren. It is OK. It does the job and stays on. It doesn't fit as well as I would like and it is a bear to get on securely the first time. I do find that if it helps you keep your hand/arm off the main vibrating area of the top, you get more volume and better tone. Two other armrests I am looking at are the King Brown and the John Pearse. Both are interesting designs.

[BluegrassPhilfromFrance]

Mike Marshall was in France at the end of november for the "Festival des mandolines de Lunel" and I asked him about the fitting of his Loar, with both the armrest AND the soundguard. He was really enthusiastic about it and I can understand easily the need of those for the music he plays and the way he plays it (sitted and really playing around with the different positions of his body towards the instrument) I'm not too sure it is as helpful if you're playing bluegrass music, standing-up ... But it's just the way I feel about it http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif

[oakland]

I use a King Brown "over the tailpiece" arm rest. I find it much more comfortable than resting my arm on the edge of the mandolin and the back corner of the tailpiece. I no longer have the corner of the tailpiece digging into my arm, and it improves my hand position for picking. In my case the effect on tone was secondary to the other benefits.

[nobleheart]

I use a cumberland from elderly, and it increased the volume and certainly increased the comfort level when playing.

[Stillpicking]

I have 2 of my mandos with the Siren and they work great, actually I like the size and shape of them better than some of the others I looked at but everyone has their own opinon. I am sold on armrests in general for comfort and improving my arm position and also reducing the arm muffling to the top. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[TeleMark]

Has anyone had experience with the integrated tailpiece/armrest made by Weber?

Elderly link (http://www.elderly.com/accessories/items/WTA-TRAD-F-NKL.htm)

I'm thinking about this for my new Breedlove, as the body edges are pretty sharp.

TeleMark

[Avi Ziv]

I use the siren and it's good. I love the new arm position, wrist angle, and the tone. However, the fit to my mandolin is not perfect. I have a Flatiron A5 Artist. The armrest does not follow the mandolin outside curve perfectly but that's a minor annoyance. What bothers me a bit more is that,in order to get a good fit, I have to slide the armrest almost all the in. This puts the vertical metal rods (screws) very close to the body of the mandolin. I worry that in time, those rods would start rubbing against the mandolin and scratch it. Maybe I just have to be careful. Anyway - the benefits outweigh the problems right now.

Avi

[jmkatcher]

I had a King Brown on my Gallatin and thought it was useful, especially in keeping the finish intact. The matte finish on that instrument was very prone to being shined up by contact. Initially I thought I noticed a volume difference as well.

[mandroid]

a positive benefit. I got one for the Lebeda [f5 jazzica,] top recurve made the bound edge feel rather a sharpened acute agular edge, (not A cute one)

[steve in tampa]

I use the Cumberland. Smaller, so put it in the right spot!

[ira]

siren- reasonable price, comfortable, easy to put on and adjust, has really helped my playing through new arm position and added to the sound/volume/tone of the mando
imho.
ira

[Nate]

Steve from Cumberland Acoustic is soon to be shipping me a custom-built armrest to fit my 2-1/4" thick Tacoma mando. I can't really answer the rest of the question until I try it out.

-Nate

[jim simpson]

I have made 2 for each of my F5's. I used the viola chin-rest for the hardware (about $8.00 at local shop) and scrap ebony from local wood supply shop. I copied the Siren shape. I decided to try something different on the second one. I sanded the chinrest flat and glued my ebony piece on top. This was easier and worked fine. I need to make one for my recent A aquisition

[LeonEvans]

I've used the Siren arm rest on two mandolins. They work great and look good. I got them through Janet Davis Music along with tone gards and the difference in tone is dramatic. Down side is that with both the arm rest and tone gard added the mandolin gets heavy. Since I also baly banjo, this isn't a big problem.

Leon

[steve V. johnson]

I use a John Pearse 'ebony junior' armrest on a '36 Kalamazoo A-model, and it makes it very comfortable to hold the mando in many situations. I have JP armrests on many of my instruments, mainly for comfort, but JP claims that, as the armrests mount to the edge, the binding, of the instruments, that they free the top to resonate as it was designed. On my instruments (bouzoukis, octave mandolins and guitars, along with the Kalamazoo), the JPAs have not made a difference in the sound of every one, but have definitely improved some of them.

stv

[Ken Sager]

I have two Siren armrests. They come with a warning that they can scratch the finish if mounted too close to the sides. The holes in the carpenter jacks can dig into your finish. DAMHIK... I've also found them not to fit the shape of the mandolin very well. I had a friend grind one some to fit the shape, as well as to decrease the surface contact. I like the adjustments, as it moves more of the arm rest mass toward the end block. With some fine tuning the Sirens are fine. Take his caution seriously, though.

Best,
Ken

[jasona]

I just received and installed an armrest from Elderly. I think its a Cumberland. Anyway, I just love the comfort, the arm position, and the ease on my wrist in this new position. And the tone seems more open too (but that could be me hoping to hear an improvement).

Now I need to work on "Bluegrass up the Neck" and get my skills up there too http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[straight-a]

I use the Siren. Can't beat an armrest for comfort.

[bmac]

I have a Portugese mandolin with a built-in armrest on the tailpiece. It is a very comfortable solution if you normally rest your forearm on the tailpiece and I have wondered why this style tailpiece is not used on American made mandolins. I also have a Mid-Mo and the standard style tailpiece can dig in a bit after a few hours of playing.

[Lee]

For those who noted their armrest doesn't match the contour of your mandolin, check out the SoundtoEarth site. They have instructions to custom fit an armrest to your instrument.

[siren_20]

The Siren armests that Steve Smith makes are great...as are his mandolins! You can see/order them here:
http://www.sirenstringworks.com/accessories.html
I noted as much improvement in sound when I put one of these on as I did when I put a Tone Gard on. Also, the Siren is pretty thick (dunno about the other ones available) so it raises the forearm to a very comfortable angle.

[Jonathan James]

Janet Davis Music Co. (www.janetdavismusic.com) sells the Siren-brand armrests for $35 + shipping; the Siren site (www.sirenstringworks.com) charges $50+ $5 shipping. FYI.

[goldtopper]

I use an King Brown on my, well, King Brown!
Well made, functional and good looking.

[duuuude]

Just got mine on yesterday and had to drop a line a thank everyone for their inputs on this, or else I may never have tried one. Don't know if it's the getting the arm off the top or the slightly different angle of attack for the right hand, but man did this thing make my mando sound out along with giving me a more linear sweep across the strings with the pick. I must have not been paying enough attention to my right hand position before, but now it seems the notes are just a tad easier to find and sound clearer. YMMV, of course, but for the price it's quite an improvemnet in my case.
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[Pete Martin]

Does anyone have any experience with the Weber tailpiece and older Gibson A mandos? I have a 24 A2 I'd like to put one of these on, but don't want to redrill the holes for the tailpiece. Does anyone know if it will fit?