Building Guitarist's Foot Rest

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Bruce Weldy
Posts: 8301
Joined: Fri Nov 27, 2009 11:37 am
Location: New Braunfels, TX

Building Guitarist's Foot Rest

#1 Post by Bruce Weldy »

Ok.....have a solo acoustic gig coming up in a week. Rarely, rarely, rarely ever do those, so I pulled out the Martin and played on it one afternoon. Felt like a struggle after playing electric on a short-scale neck forever....

So, I drug out the Maton that I bought a couple of years ago after playing one on a cruise ship (that's a whole other story). They are built down in Grant's territory and are just now starting to show up in the states. Anyway, it felt amazing to play - so it's gonna' be the one.

Took it to the garage for about three days in a row to play it through my a single speaker on a pole to get a feel for what I'd be doing. I have a great Roc-n-Soc full height stool with a footrest and a back. It's amazing, but I found that I was playing with my foot propped up on the shelf under my work table and when I moved it back to the footrest, it wasn't as good.

So, I started looking online for those foot rests that you see the classical guys use. Most of what I found looked cheap and weren't nearly as high as I wanted. After a little more looking, I found a guy who had built one.....well, you know what comes next.

There weren't any plans, so I just kinda mapped it out in my head, then did a few drawings after measuring my gigantic foot....I knew the real struggle would be getting the proper pivot on the scissor legs on each side - I was right....

I was going to go grab some Red Oak from HD to build this, then remembered that my late Brother-in-law had given me a few Cherry boards many years ago.....at least I think they are Cherry, that's what he said, and they look like Cherry. So, I drug one out and started measuring out the parts and cutting.

Here's the cut pieces.....
IMG_3067.JPG
That was the easy part.....a whole bunch of time and head-scratching went on between the first picture and this one where the holes are drilled, the pivot points are set, edges are rounded over, and the sanding it done.
IMG_3069.JPG
I did a little test on some scrap of TruOil like I used on my new Tele neck and some Wipe-On Poly. Letting 'em dry to see which one I like. They look about the same wet. Might go with some of the TruOil, then some poly....don't know at this point.

I'll post more pics when it's time to put it together...

6 - T39 3012LF
4 - OT12 2512
1 - T24
1 - SLA Pro
2 - XF210


"A system with a few knobs set up by someone who knows what they are doing is always better than one with a lot of knobs set up by someone who doesn't."

Dale Hammer
Posts: 112
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2012 1:30 pm
Location: Topeka, Kansas

Re: Building Guitarist's Foot Rest

#2 Post by Dale Hammer »

Nice project!

Bruce Weldy
Posts: 8301
Joined: Fri Nov 27, 2009 11:37 am
Location: New Braunfels, TX

Re: Building Guitarist's Foot Rest

#3 Post by Bruce Weldy »

Slapped a bunch of Poly on it yesterday and went out to finish it up this morning... Four screws and three dowels makes for an easy assembly. I didn't even put any glue on the dowels. They are a really tight compression fit, so I just left it......much easier to take apart should I need to. Wasn't too sure about just using screws, but it shouldn't have much weight on it. There are washers between the wood joints where the screws are to keep the legs from rubbing.

Haven't put it to use yet, but I think it's going to be much better than store-bought as it is wider and is taller.

At the tallest.....
IMG_3072.JPG
At the shortest.....
IMG_3073.JPG
All folded up.....and ready to travel.....
IMG_3076.JPG
Glamour shot for the tabloids.....
IMG_3077.JPG

6 - T39 3012LF
4 - OT12 2512
1 - T24
1 - SLA Pro
2 - XF210


"A system with a few knobs set up by someone who knows what they are doing is always better than one with a lot of knobs set up by someone who doesn't."

Grant Bunter
Posts: 6915
Joined: Mon Nov 28, 2011 11:12 am
Location: Ilfracombe Queensland Australia
Contact:

Re: Building Guitarist's Foot Rest

#4 Post by Grant Bunter »

Clever!
Built:
DR 250: x 2 melded array, 2x CD horn, March 2012 plans.
T39's: 4 x 20" KL3010LF , 2 x 28" 3012LF.
WH8: x 6 with melded array wired series/parallel.
Bunter's Audio and Lighting "like"s would be most appreciated...

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Charles Jenkinson
Posts: 1125
Joined: Sat Aug 06, 2011 3:25 pm
Location: Manchester, UK

Re: Building Guitarist's Foot Rest

#5 Post by Charles Jenkinson »

Pretty serious Bruce! :clap:

I'd be interested to see/hear the results post gig if there'd be any footage.

Maton guitars remind me of The Wiggles.
2xJ12L (3012HO) switchable/melded
2xT30

Words&graphics - Audio&Acoustics - Hardware&DSP; 3 different paradigms.

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