Vega-style Banjo Armrest

I ordered this for my Deering Goodtime, but the hooks on the banjo were not quite long enough to attach it. This is one of the recent Goodtimes banjos, so maybe the hooks are different? Anyway, attached it with a couple of small nylon twist ties and it is fine otherwise.

I had no problem attaching the Vega-Style Armrest to my 11" open-back banjo rim. By attaching it in the "high" position, I am able to keep both my arm and my sleeve off the head of the banjo. The resulting improvement in tone and volume is both audible and satisfying. This armrest works the same as the Old-Time wire armrest, one of which I also bought and successfully installed on another banjo. Choose which armrest you like the looks of better. They both produce the same desirable result, and either is a worthwhile addition to any banjo.

I purchased this to install on a Deering Goodtime banjo. It was easy to install and looks good on the banjo.

Arguably, I didn't really need this because my banjo has a synthetic head but it is a nice addition to my Rogue open-backed 5-string banjo. I don't know why it doesn't already come with one but no matter, you can get one at Stew-Mac. Took a couple of minutes to install.

I was a little worried at first because on my banjo the spacing on the hooks is uneven at that section of the drum. But, there was no problem, it fit right in perfectly with no modifications to the rest or the banjo.

As a bluegrass player I have always used the Mastertone style armrest in the past and will continue to in the future. However, the Vega style armrest fits better on the last banjo I built because the styling is more representative of the parlor banjos made by various other makers of the past. The higher armrest puts the hand at a different picking angle and is very comfortable to use. It makes for a nice change.

I actually used this part on my Reverend Flatroc to smooth out the rough edge that guitar has where you rest your arm. It worked very well but does need some adjustment to fit well. The part is fairly easy to manipulate and it looks like it belongs on the guitar.

I'm still waiting to see how the nickel plating holds up but I'm very pleased at the results and inexpensive to boot!

This worked great on my Deering Goodtime. It took about 5 minutes to install and looks and works great.

Excellent choice--simple and effective.