Nifty Arm Rest

**ryru14** · Dec-03-2005, 9:42pm

I just ordered myself a King Brown Handcrafts arm/back rest combo with the over the tailpiece option in maple to go on my blond Mancus Martini f-5 copy. I'll post pickture and post a reveiw when it gets here.

**ira** · Dec-04-2005, 12:33am

i have a siren, but whichever you order, you can't go wrong, it adds such comfort to playing, and truly something to the resonance of the mando as well. enjoy!

**Ira Chavis** · Dec-04-2005, 5:49pm

Steve from Cumberland Acoutics built me this custom armrest
for my 1920 Gibson A3

He used ivorid binding on the face which closely matches the A3's white ivory face. #The body of the #arm rest is maple which is subte and rreally looks good. #This armrest is way cool!

**BlueMountain** · Dec-04-2005, 8:12pm

These are all nice looking armrests. There's a guy selling armrests on eBay for about $22--a decent price. The nice thing about them is that they have single feet, rather than two joined feet, so they work well with a tone guard. The bad part is the they are not properly shaped for a mandolin, so they look ugly, and the finish on the wood is very disappointing. I'm tempted to get an ebony violin chinrest and see what I can do with it.

**Bill Snyder** · Dec-04-2005, 9:00pm

With the violin chin rest you will probably have to get longer barrel nuts. Might go for a viola chin rest instead.

**Lane Pryce** · Dec-05-2005, 3:06pm

I have one of the Kingbrown over the tailpiece arm rests in ebony. It was pricey for what it is but the design is perfect for my arm placement. When the varnish is hard enough on my Kelley A5 I'll put the armrest on it just because it looks cool! Lp

**otterly2k** · Dec-05-2005, 3:13pm

Check out this all wood armrest that Brian Dean made for a mandola he built... he used matching woods, and a mechanism that somehow does not require the metal clamp hardware.

**PaulD** · Dec-05-2005, 3:31pm

Karen, that is one nifty arm rest... do you have a bigger picture of it somewhere? It looks like an idea I had but couldn't quite work out in my head. It may be on Brian's Website, but he's got so many incredible pics there that it might take me awhile to find it!

Paul Doubek

**otterly2k** · Dec-05-2005, 3:54pm

Paul-
Brian has dedicated most of his picture space to newer stuff, so I don't think there's another one of that on the site... however, I bet if you email him, he has more and could send 'em.

On his "options" page, he has these listed at about $150 USD, but I don't know if those prices are up-to-date.

I asked once, and he explained that the mechanism has to do with a sliding wedge shaped piece of wood...but more than that, we'll have to hear from the man directly.

**PaulD** · Dec-05-2005, 4:15pm

Thanks Karen... maybe I'll drop him a line. From the way you describe it, it sounds a lot like what I had in mind... I was thinking along the lines of sliding dovetails. His execution looks a lot nicer than what I had sketched out; mine was looking a little clunky. I like the way the flamed maple mimics the sides of your 'dola and the top and back mimic the binding. Beautiful.

pd

**otterly2k** · Dec-05-2005, 4:40pm

Just to be clear... it's not MY 'dola, though I wish it was...and I agree that the thing is beautiful. IMHO an elegant meeting of form and function.

**PaulD** · Dec-05-2005, 5:16pm

Originally Posted by

it's not MY 'dola

OOPS! I see that.

I wish I were in the market for something like that... I'll be doing well if I can afford some of the Xmas presents my family wants (my 9 yr old daughter wants a baby Taylor sized guitar and a 1/2 size fiddle, another loved one needs a bluegrass mando). I'd love to oblige them all and satisfy my own MAS.

pd

**Bill Snyder** · Dec-11-2005, 11:27pm

Here is one I built today installed on my International Violin Co. kit from this past summer.

**ryru14** · Dec-21-2005, 7:51am

My King Brown came in yesterday. My Mandolin has never sounded better. I'll post picks as soon as I can get the darn new camera to work. An added bonus with this back-rest armrest combo is that it makes me hold my mando in the proper position instead of bein lazy and resting it on my gut.

**ryru14** · Dec-23-2005, 9:30am

Here are some pictures of the King Brown arm and back rest combo. Sorry for the quality they are off of my camera.

**ryru14** · Dec-23-2005, 9:31am

wide angle front

**ryru14** · Dec-23-2005, 9:33am

wide angle back

**ryru14** · Dec-23-2005, 9:34am

close up back

**ryru14** · Dec-23-2005, 9:36am

side view

**TimPiazza** · Dec-24-2005, 4:57pm

If you'd like to see the humble beginnings of the mandolin armrest, you can see the very first one, here.

Tim's mandolin armrest

The design is large and crude, because at the time I wasn't sure how it would work and where my arm needed to be. Keep in mind that this is the very first one, made more than six years ago, and the designs that followed from various builders and craftspeople are certainly more refined and finished. I posted a link to my design on the Comando mail list, and the rest is history.

Cheers,

Tim

**fmspinc** · Dec-26-2005, 8:12pm

Here's my Dudenbostel arm rest, this has accomplished just what I wanted - got my arm off the top. And that's a James tail piece, which I love. Mandolin is a Stinnett.

Frank

Thread: Nifty Arm Rest

Thread Tools

Similar Threads

Arm rest on om

New arm rest

arm rest

Arm rest for Mid-mo

Arm Rest

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions