Archtop tailpiece mount for 1/4″ output jacks

Ugh, drilling holes in old acoustic archtops, right?

Unfortunately, for adding an output jack there are not a lot of good solutions. In the past, I have super-glued them under pickguards, which works fine for the casual cross-legged sit-‘n’-play but it isn’t the most stable thing when you’re standing. So what can be done?

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Project: DeArmond “Monkey-on-a-stick” Reproduction

The short version…

I love DeArmond archtop pickups! DeArmond “Monkey-on-a-stick” pressure rod mounting brackets are my preferred removable way to mount them, but nobody reissues them. So I made one from scratch with the help 3D printing. They are available at my online store.

I also do reproduction control boxes now: tone/volume, and volume-only. And I also sell replacement compatible top plates and thumbscrews for original vintage monkey-on-a-stick. See my store.

Video demo:

 

Reproduction monkey on a stick

Gold version of my reproduction sticks, looking real handsome on this ’47 Epiphone Blackstone with a rare vintage gold RC1000 pickup

Some background…

Back in the good old ’30s and ’40s it was unthinkable to put holes in that pretty handmade archtop of yours. After all, who knew if this silly fad of guitar “electrification” was going to last? And what if you wanted to pass that pristine acoustic archtop on to your grandchildren? Trad jazz and swing was surely due to make a comeback in about 75 years.

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