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Make an armrest nearly invisible

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DetlefMichel
Posted 2019-03-13 11:41 AM (#547343)
Subject: Make an armrest nearly invisible



Joined:
May 2011
Posts: 751

Location: Muenster/Germany

I always use armrests on my guitars, because of the sound improvements. But they are made of ebony and black and -ugly. I tried to work on an JP armrest for my Adamas guitar to make it more or less invisible.

First step was to copy the rim of the guitar:

Then fill the cut with gold colour, the white line will be the last step

I found a good matching laquer for the edge:

 

Gold and red sparkles:

Colour test with "brown red":

Add red laquer and sparkles, little too much, was too shaky...

Add the white line

Add semi gloss spray varnish:

Final colour test, better than black.

 

 

 

And here´s the result:

 

 

 

 



Edited by DetlefMichel 2019-03-13 11:54 AM
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Old Man Arthur
Posted 2019-03-13 2:22 PM (#547346 - in reply to #547343)
Subject: Re: Make an armrest nearly invisible



Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 10777

Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR
Really, really, Nice!
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leonardmccoy
Posted 2019-03-13 3:10 PM (#547347 - in reply to #547343)
Subject: Re: Make an armrest nearly invisible



Joined:
December 2015
Posts: 287

Location: Katmandu
How's the sound improved with an armrest?
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red-twins
Posted 2019-03-13 4:18 PM (#547349 - in reply to #547343)
Subject: Re: Make an armrest nearly invisible



Joined:
February 2013
Posts: 176

Location: Cologne/Germany
Super Detlef. Fine works!
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DanSavage
Posted 2019-03-13 5:42 PM (#547350 - in reply to #547343)
Subject: Re: Make an armrest nearly invisible



Joined:
June 2012
Posts: 2303

Location: Lake Forest, CA
Nicely done.
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Jonmark Stone
Posted 2019-03-13 5:43 PM (#547351 - in reply to #547350)
Subject: Re: Make an armrest nearly invisible


Joined:
May 2008
Posts: 1553

Location: Indiana
Art.
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2wheeldrummer
Posted 2019-03-13 6:00 PM (#547353 - in reply to #547343)
Subject: Re: Make an armrest nearly invisible



Joined:
February 2014
Posts: 699

Location: moline,illinois
Beautiful,you do amazing detail work


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arumako
Posted 2019-03-14 12:22 AM (#547357 - in reply to #547343)
Subject: Re: Make an armrest nearly invisible



Joined:
October 2012
Posts: 1018

Location: Yokohama, Japan
WOW, DetlefMichel! That is amazing work! Do you carve all the details freehand? It looks like you manually color-match as well. Thanks for sharing...Incredible!
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DetlefMichel
Posted 2019-03-14 7:06 AM (#547358 - in reply to #547357)
Subject: Re: Make an armrest nearly invisible



Joined:
May 2011
Posts: 751

Location: Muenster/Germany
Thank you for your interest and your kind commendations;-)
@leonardmccoy: play a bass string and then touch the top aroud the area where normally your forearm rests on the guitar, and you will find that the sound is instantly damped. If you use an armrest the guitar top will always move freely and thus will produce a much brighter sound. Many high-end guitars today have armrests. This one is a John Pearse Armrest which is mounted with double adhesive tape on the edge of the body, on other guitar I use luthier-made armrests.All that because I 99% play acoustic guitars with no amplification.
@arumako:I worked freehand, it shall only be a simulation of the top edge, for me it´s precise enough and I find that making things like this is great fun. I found the red colour on a RAL colour-chart and this one seemed the best compromise. Red colours always change strangely when you look at different angles and with different lighting.
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Patch
Posted 2019-03-14 8:59 AM (#547361 - in reply to #547343)
Subject: RE: Make an armrest nearly invisible



Joined:
May 2006
Posts: 4221

Location: Steeler Nation, Hudson Valley Contingent

If that's free-hand, I'd hate to see you do something more precise! I feel inferior enough as it is.

Really excellent work Detlef! Calendar-worthy, if I may say so....

And I imagine that the dampening effect you mention without an armrest is even more pronounced on a suspension mount system, so the effort is double worth it: You improved the sound of an Adamas (No small feat in itself!), and you had some fun in the process. It's the very definition of a win-win!

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standing
Posted 2019-03-15 11:41 AM (#547386 - in reply to #547343)
Subject: Re: Make an armrest nearly invisible



Joined:
December 2008
Posts: 1453

Location: Texas
Wow, that’s some impressive craftsmanship!

Not only does it blend-in perfectly to be nearly “invisible” as intended, if anyone does notice it, it matches so well that it looks like the guitar came that way.

Very well done!
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DetlefMichel
Posted 2019-03-20 11:24 AM (#547422 - in reply to #547343)
Subject: Re: Make an armrest nearly invisible



Joined:
May 2011
Posts: 751

Location: Muenster/Germany
@patch: You can not improve the sound of a guitar with an armrest, but you can preserve it.
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Patch
Posted 2019-03-20 1:42 PM (#547424 - in reply to #547422)
Subject: Re: Make an armrest nearly invisible



Joined:
May 2006
Posts: 4221

Location: Steeler Nation, Hudson Valley Contingent

DetlefMichel - 2019-03-20 12:24 PM @patch: You can not improve the sound of a guitar with an armrest, but you can preserve it.

A fair distinction to make!

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Mr. Ovation
Posted 2019-03-20 3:24 PM (#547426 - in reply to #547343)
Subject: Re: Make an armrest nearly invisible


Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7210

Location: The Great Pacific Northwest
This is very cool... but I guess I have long arms.. no part of my arm actually touches the guitar when playing. Now if I can only stop palm-muting out of habit when I'm playing an acoustic
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Tom The Piddler
Posted 2019-03-21 12:17 PM (#547432 - in reply to #547343)
Subject: Re: Make an armrest nearly invisible



Joined:
March 2019
Posts: 26

Location: Cass County, Texas
DetlefMichel, beautiful work. You are a "true" artisan and craftsman for sure.



Edited by Tom The Piddler 2019-03-21 12:19 PM
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alpep
Posted 2019-03-21 2:40 PM (#547435 - in reply to #547343)
Subject: Re: Make an armrest nearly invisible


Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10581

Location: NJ
nice work
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DarenSavage
Posted 2019-03-21 7:31 PM (#547439 - in reply to #547343)
Subject: Re: Make an armrest nearly invisible


Joined:
December 2016
Posts: 128

Youza! Very steady hand on the high-speed.
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