We're pleased to re-introduce our readership to the craftsmanship of north Texas woodsmith, Doug Edwards who we stumbled on to over three years ago. His McClung Armrests have been in very high demand since, and we were fortunate enough to get in line for a custom piece for our Clark JM mandolin last year, our fourth personal rest. Needless to say, we are thrilled with the aesthetics and no surprise, functionality. Now, we've acquired our fifth...

His unique concept in armrest design, these are angled, much like the angle of the strings from the tailpiece to the bridge. The result is better hand position, control, and comfort. He uses a variety of woods, dyes, and shapes/sizes so most are unique in appearance, but all have the same function. He can make them Right or Left Handed, in a myriad of woods and with custom inlay as you can see pictured below:

Last year's custom inlay:

Click for close-up

Edwards has since added instrument stands to his offerings, and more recently custom luthiery, as he now has several mandolins under his belt. We're thrilled to have him aboard as a sponsor! You might run across some of his rests in the Mandolin Cafe Classifieds. We highly recommend these for comfort and ergonomic control.

Previous article: McClung Armrest
Website: Hill Country Stringworks

Posted by Ted at December 16, 2011 5:07 AM