Arm rest a good aid for begginers?

[Ray(T)]

I should add that I've never even seen one for sale in the UK.

(If you listen to James Taylor's "Sweet Baby James", the words seem to suggest that the "Berkshires" were transported to New England some time ago.)

[Mike Arakelian]

I have arm rests on both of my mandolins and Like them. They keep my arm in a comfortable position and also protect the finish on my mandolins.

[Bluegrasscal_87]

I agree with Mike. I got a McClung armrest shortly after I purchased my Loar and it was big help. It keeps your arm comfortably in position. It really helped me with positioning my arms more "over" the strings without laying on them.

[KoalaBear]

So Americans have a love of the superfluous? Seems to me that you're being a bit condescending and snobbish here, not to mention over-generalizing. It's pretty ironic, too, since 5 of the 6 mandolins you own (by Gibson, Eastman, and Weber) are based on American -- and not traditional British! -- instrument designs, directly traceable to the innovations of Orville Gibson, Lloyd Loar, and others. Those scrolls on the F5's are superfluous, too. And the same goes for the curlicues on the headstocks. In my opinion, and the opinion of many fellow mandolinists, armrests are functional, and not superfluous. I offer you this photo :



Oh -- it's worth mentioning that many Italian bowlbacks from the late 1800's also had armrests integrated into them. There is nothing newfangled or New World about those, and nothing superfluous about them, either.

Bravo.My armrest for my Silverangel made by Spencer from US will here in Berkeley N.S.W 2morro.

Tani.

p.s brilliant device for playing the mandolin supporting the right elbow while aiding technique and proper attack on the strings.

[Monte Barnett]

Dave H said:

“Americans seem to have a great love of attaching superfluous things to their instruments, in 50 years of playing with a lot of other mandolin players, I've never seen an armrest on a mandolin here in the UK.”

In Reply: Perhaps it’s simply an indication that the UK isn’t as aware or in favor of them as the rest of the world seems to be. Granted, most of the makers are in the US, but users appear to be pretty "global".

Ray(T) said:

“I should add that I've never even seen one for sale in the UK.
(If you listen to James Taylor's "Sweet Baby James", the words seem to suggest that the "Berkshires" were transported to New England some time ago.)”

In Reply: Certainly you know that the “Berkshires” he sings of are the Berkshire Mountains named for the home county of the Royal Governor http://the-berkshires.com/ ??

Armrest content: I ordered my Weber Octave F with the Weber tailpiece/armrest, and I’ve never really been happy with it; even less so since surgery. With the instrument held comfortably on my leg/lap, my forearm rests just slightly off the armrest’s end, causing me to snag my sleeve or sort of gouge my arm. I’m in the process of ordering the standard Weber tailpiece, and replacing the armrest with either a McClung or one I make myself.

BTW - I read a conversation about armrests on mandolin.org.uk from Nov 2007. Forum moderator Dave Hanson didn’t like ‘em then, and still doesn’t like ‘em. At least you’re consistent, Dave!

[Beanzy]

My 1922 Calace has an armrest which I like.

I don’t really lean on it much though as the mandolin is in line with my arm with the neck well out from my body, so it’s really just keeping the sleeve off the strings.
For the same reason I never bothered getting one on my Davidson, the arm just doesn’t lean on the mandolin with my playing position, the mandolin rests on the forearm. If I played with the neck across my body like a mini guitar, then the edge would rise up and dig in to the arm, so an armrest there would make good sense then.

[Ray(T)]

Ray(T) said:

“I should add that I've never even seen one for sale in the UK.
(If you listen to James Taylor's "Sweet Baby James", the words seem to suggest that the "Berkshires" were transported to New England some time ago.)”

In Reply: Certainly you know that the “Berkshires” he sings of are the Berkshire Mountains named for the home county of the Royal Governor http://the-berkshires.com/ ??

Yes, those would be the ones. He also mentions Stockbridge which confirms it. ........ and Stockbridge, as we all know, is most famous for being the site of the original "Alice's Restaurant"; although the last time I was there it had been renamed and was closed!

[sblock]

Yes, those would be the ones. He also mentions Stockbridge which confirms it. ........ and Stockbridge, as we all know, is most famous for being the site of the original "Alice's Restaurant"; although the last time I was there it had been renamed and was closed!

Yes, the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts (a southern continuation of the Adirondacks, from which we get 'Adi' spruce for mandolins!) were named for Berkshire County, England, in the 1700's, back when we were ruled by England. And this place was named before the end of the Great Vowel Shift in England. So Americans called them the "birk-shirs" back then, and we still do! The same goes for Berkeley, CA, named for Bishop George Berkeley, the Oxford philosopher. We pronounce this city name as "birk-ly." Today (but not back then), the British pronounce these words as "bark-shirs" and "bark-ly."

I was a college student in England back in the 1970's, at Oxford. I almost coughed up my pint of bitter when I heard a fellow student singing the lyrics of Sweet Baby James as "...and the Barkshires seemed moonlit on account of that frosting..." Aaaagh!!

[Sayer]

I got my McClung armrest put on and have used it for a few days- I have to say I really like it! Dont have the edge of my mando diggin into my arm, Seems to keep my forearm off the top Plus it really looks great. Doug is great to Deal with, ordered from him monday, he shipped the same day! Thanks Doug !

[mandroid]

Arm position aide ? IDK,
I got mine due to sharp edge of binding, uncomfortably, cutting into my firearm..

[RodCH]

I have only been playing about 2.5 years. I have a McClung armrest on all three of my American style mandolins. Would not do without one. On European style mandolins I have never seen one that would fit, so you just have to do without.