as some of you may recall about a year ago I decided to vinyl wrap my Mullen SD12 G2 ( viewtopic.php?t=344361&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0). After finishing the job I was bummed that my arm pad obscured my favorite part of the pattern, the bright section in front of the keyhead.
I decided to someday trim down the arm pad length so I could uncover that part of the vinyl wrap. Then a few months ago I restored and vinyl wrapped a 70's BMI ( viewtopic.php?p=2847335&highlight=#2847335 ). One of the things I liked about it was the arm pad width was much smaller than my Mullen (probably about half the size) and still felt comfortable. I have chronic tendinitis and have to be very careful with the ergonomics of my arms when I play so an arm pad is an absolute must have. Anyway, besides planning to reduce the length of my arm pad I also planned to reduce the width so I could see even more of the vinyl wrap.
Well, someday was yesterday

Since I was reducing both the length and width of the arm pad, I was able to reuse the black covering without having to staple over edges that had been stapled over originally. I was able to trim them off so I basically had a new piece of black material to work with. The ends of course are the biggest challenge to get right...but I figured out a way to trim out much of the extra edge material and fold them tight and as flat as possible. Also, when I shortened the BMI arm pad, it was filled with an unsecured foam strip that was very difficult to reshape properly. The Mullen, on the other hand had the foam glued to the wooden base. Like everything else about my Mullen, it made it much easier to work on! The arm pad turned out great and I'm really happy to have so much more of the vinyl wrap showing.
The next step of the project? You may notice the hole in the newly uncovered part of the deck by the keyhead. That was where the 3rd screw secured the edge of the original arm pad. There are also other areas of the vinyl that were "imprinted" by the staples and underside of the original arm pad and are now visible with a smaller pad. Also when I originally did the vinyl wrap, I used separate pieces for the arm pad deck and the back panel. The next step is to re-order the original vinyl wrap, seal the hole from the 3rd screw and replace the deck and back panel with a single new vinyl piece. Since I'm ordering the exact same dimensions and style of vinyl from the same vendor, it should match up perfectly to the sections I'm not replacing. Should be fun

I didn't think to take pix of the very beginning of the project so it picks up from after I'd completely removed the black cover and cut the arm pad to it's new size. First is a couple shots of the original arm pad before I began the resizing for reference.







I'll be sure to update this thread when I get the replacement vinyl and redo the pad and back surface. Likely sometime in the next 2 or 3 months. Meanwhile if anyone is thinking of trying this on their own PSG, PM me as I'm happy to get into the details and help however I can
