Herman Miller Aeron and guitar playing?

[Ulvhedin]

Probably posting in the wrong forum, but couldn't figure out where it should go.

Does anyone have any experience with the Aeron when it comes to playing guitar?
I see it all over the place in the nicer studios, and also among guitarists. But I wonder whether or not the armrests are in the way? They've got the side tilt, along with the raise/lower system, but it's still 19cm above the seat on the lowest, and the arms angles outwards by only about 2cm.

I would really love your input on this, and I'm also entertaining other suggestions on other chairs. I'm considering a HM chair due to the ergonomics and support, but I'd also love something that gives me a good playing experience.

 

[Thep]

Long-time Herman Miller Aeron owner checking in.

No issues for me personally, but I can see how it might depending on your playing style. I tend to set closer to the edge of the seat when I'm actually playing. However, you can easily drop the arm rests to near seat-level or remove them all-together.

(btw, highly recommend the headrest attachment)

 

[Ulvhedin]

Long-time Herman Miller Aeron owner checking in.

No issues for me personally, but I can see how it might depending on your playing style. I tend to set closer to the edge of the seat when I'm actually playing. However, you can easily drop the arm rests to near seat-level or remove them all-together.

(btw, highly recommend the headrest attachment)

Oh alright, cool! I take it you have the Classic variant, then? The Remastered one has adjustment levers for the armrests, and are apparently quite hard to remove from the chair without causing some sort of damage.
I do tend to scoop a little bit forward myself (especially for trad position). Although due to some minor back issues I prefer to have some back support at all times.
I'm getting more and more intrigued by this thing lol

 

[Thep]

I had the original screw type adjust and the newer lever type now. I think they're a big improvement over the screw adjust, but I've never tried to remove the arm rests on the lever type. With the ability to drop them so low and out of the way, there's not really much need to anyway.

 

[Jonathan20022]

The sides of the seat aren't conducive to classical playing, they're a hard plastic and curve upwards into your thighs if you don't grab the C - Sizing. Even then I've still not been massively comfortable on one myself, for everyday use in an office space or for using while on the computer they are fantastic chairs.

I've had a fabric weave Secretlabs Titan for about 2 years now and I absolutely love it, the seat isn't some plush material and it's actually pretty firm. Great lumbar support control, and the seat itself has soft arching edges so if you have a wide classical stance they don't jab at you. The arms don't pull back away from the sides of the chair but at their lowest setting my elbow never touches the armrests during actual play.

I've sat in an Aeron at a workspace as well as at a buddy's place, and an Embrace as well. Herman makes great chairs, but they are not all purpose everyday activity sitting in my opinion.

 

[GraemeH]

I play guitar in my Aeron, but I'm not sitting right back in it like I am if I'm sitting working. I'm scooted forward and perched on the edge with the chair angled around under me slightly, so the guitar isn't hitting the right arm rest, it's in front of it. The left arm rest goes low enough to not interfere with the neck/fretting hand. Sitting on the edge like that kinda forces me to sit up straight since there's no interaction with the back-rest so I don't slouch like I do normally. So that might actually be better posture?
I don't play classical so I can't speak to that.

Nice chairs though, started my job that used them like 13 years ago and got one at home, so I've been using them that long. Fine for 12 hour working sessions at a desk. Never pay full price - there are always plenty perfect condition ones at well under half price for sale from companies downsizing/moving/going out of business etc.

 

[spudmunkey]

I always wished they could have come with an upholstered seat. I've worked in the office furniture industry for the last 10 years, and my favorite chairs were an upholstered seat, and mesh back. I've never liked a mesh seat for more than a few minutes, especially cheap ones, because they lack a soft "water fall edge" on the front of the seat, so you're more likely to have your thighs resting on a hard bar rather than supported by the mesh. But even the higher end ones are not my jam. I'd take an Allsteel Aquity or a Teknion/Okamura Contessa over an Aeron any day of the week because they have upholstered seats (well, it's optional on the Contessa, anyway). But, I can't speak to the arms and how that might affect guitar playing...

I'll note that nearly all of my chair experience is in "contract" furniture, meaning pretty much anything I'm familiar with is not sold in any stores or through a website...only sold to companies or at least through commercial dealers.

 

[Ataraxia2320]

Cant talk for the Aeron but I have a Mirra 2.

I found that when the arms are fully down and to the side its mostly fine, but its not perfect. Depending on how you sit your input jack could still be hitting off the arm rest sometimes.

At the end of the day you just need to balance your priorities. My back is priority for me and the gaming/bucket and office chairs werent cutting the mustard. Since I've switched to the herman miller my back is in pain significantly less often, but the trade off is that I need to watch how I am holding the guitar.

Other chairs to look at would be Kirnaps. They are made in Sweden, and I'm 99% sure there is one that has arm rests you can fold back. There is also steelcase (not sure about availability and pricing in Norway). I would have actually preferred both of these but got an insane deal on a fully loaded Mirra.

 

[Sermo Lupi]

Oh alright, cool! I take it you have the Classic variant, then? The Remastered one has adjustment levers for the armrests, and are apparently quite hard to remove from the chair without causing some sort of damage.

I have a pair of Aerons. Both are the older style with the fully adjustable arms; one has lever arms and the other has wheel-adjustable arms. You are correct that the lever arms can't be removed. However, the wheel-adjustable arms can't be removed without disassembling the chair back, so it's not really any more configurable from an everyday perspective.

People get pretty weird about the whole office chair thing. I'm not much for the cork-sniffing side of it. The reason why Aerons are popular is that Herman Miller is the premiere high-end office furniture brand and the Aeron is an excellent, classic design. Most importantly, this means ex-Office Aerons are available at an affordable price point (e.g. $200-$400) in just about any major city.

Yeah, you could probably find something more suited to guitar-playing if you went the studio-focused route. Anything with arms that can be rotated vertically to align with the chair back will be better. But I'm not dropping $1000+ on a new office chair when I can get an Aeron that is as good or better, quality-wise, for a fifth of that.

To answer your OP, I just scoot forward on the seat pan a bit, angle myself toward the left side of the chair, and rotate the right arm outward. I'm 6'0" and there's still enough room to do this comfortably despite the side slope of the seat pan and the limited side-to-side adjustability of the Aeron arms.

 

[LordHar]

I also use a Herman Miller Aeron chair, the 'B" size I think, and it has been the best purchased item in my studio by far. My guitar sits in the classical position and there is no problem for me.

 

[Andromalia]

I'd recommend a humanscale liberty over an aeron every day of the week. Mostly because, I've used one 8+ hours every day of the week for 10 years and it was still serviceable. The armrests can be raised and won't be an issue.

 

[jaysidd]

I found a site that exclusively marketing office chairs for studio and guitar players with fully tiltable armrest. Not sure about the quality but look legit.
https://wavebone.com/products/voyager-ii™?variant=39670175072346

 

[jaysidd]

 

[Opion]

View attachment 117833

This is exactly what I've been looking for. I might have to consider getting this, thanks for sharing this link.

 

[soul_lip_mike]

I bought this chair. It’s pretty comfy. The arms moving out of the way is great for playing. The headrest is too far forward though and really not comfortable. Probably Going to ditch the headrest…other than that I’d say I like it. It comes in two pieces and very easy to assemble. I was using a secretlab gamer chair before but the lack of any ability to fold the arms is why I decided to switch.