Where to tie the strap on an a style?

[Capt. E]

Some tie the strap to the headstock just above the nut (it gets in my way).

Some tie it to the headstock just above the first pair of tuners (that's what I have been doing)

Some have a strap button installed at the base of the neck

Now I saw a photo showing the strap tied around the base of the neck running under the elevated fretboard. (see below the recent photo posted in the "overalls" thread by pjama.) That would give you a position similar to a strap button without drilling a hole. Any problems with this method?

[sgarrity]

I've done them all. Try them and see which one you like best. There is no detriment to any of them.

[GVD]

I've tried them all and found under the elevated fretboard works best for me YMMV.

GVD

[squirrelabama]

on my vintage A's I tie or attach the strap end to the second E string tuner (thanks Steven!) It works really well, and provides excellent support for the neck, relieving your picking arm/hand of the minor weight involved with keeping the neck at playing level. Some folks even do this with their F styles for that very reason. The tuner is more than strong enough to support the weight too. And most importantly, I don't have to drill any new holes in my vintage mando! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[Matt Hutchinson]

I've tried them all and found under the elevated fretboard works best for me YMMV.

GVD
Yep, works best for me too. No need to add a strap button. I never got on with a strap attached to the headstock, always gets in the way of my gorilla sized hands!

[squirrelabama]

I should have also added that unlike tying the strap directly to the headstock, the method I outlined above does not get in the way nearly as much.... it's almost out of the way.... worth a try, and easy to undo!! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Mattg]

Another vote for around the base of the neck, under the elevated fretboard. I do two that way.

[Tom Sanderson]

[QUOTE] the strap tied around the base of the neck running under the elevated fretboard.

In my 30 plus years of playing mandolin, I've found that this method is the best

[woodwizard]

Yes ... My vote too ... for around the base of the neck, under the elevated fretboard. If it doesn't have a strap button I would not install one especially on a vintage instrument. If you like the strap button feel this is the way to go.

[mandopete]

Where to tie the strap on an a style?

Can't be done, you'll just have to sit down.

[Dave Cohen]

Here is another way to strap an A. A 1/4" o.d. brass sleeve is pressed into a 1/4" dia. hole. String a piece of leather strip or shoelace through the hole, tie it into a loop, and attach your f-style strap to the loop. If a scroll is a $2000 strap hanger, then this could be called a $50 strap hanger.

http://www.Cohenmando.com

[Capt. E]

The tube is pretty interesting... I tried around the base and under the fretboard and it works great. Feels like it would with a strap button without having to drill the hole. Only thing is the look of it. A strap button would be cleaner.

[Dave Cohen]

What caused me to try the tube was the positions available for strap buttons. You can either put them on the neck heel, or on the back plate at the heel button. In either place, the button can get in the way. The tube doesn't get in the way; it is trimmed flush with the surfaces of back plate and the fretboard extender on the top plate side. At 1/4" o.d., the tube is hardly noticeable except in a closeup photo such as the one above. An additional benefit is that when one is not using a strap, there is nothing sticking out of the mandolin.

http://www.Cohenmando.com

[jim_n_virginia]

+1 tying around and under elevated fretboard.

[Martin Jonas]

+1 tying around and under elevated fretboard.
Assumes of course that you have an elevated fingerboard, which vintage Gibsons don't.

Martin

[John Flynn]

I think it depends on your playing and your preferences. I use a button on the heel, but my fretboard is not elevated; I don't play up the neck a lot, so the button getting in the way is not a factor; and I just don't like strapping to the headstock. But everyone is different.

[MikeEdgerton]

I tie the strap around the body on my Flatiron A and it doesn't have an elevated fingerboard. Works just ducky.

[Dragonflyeye]

"on my vintage A's I tie or attach the strap end to the second E string tuner (thanks Steven!)"

And thanks to you, Squirrelabama! I tried this (along with all the other non-button suggestions in this string) and this works by far the best for me. I don't even think about the strap any longer and it's been bugging me since I took the instrument up a year ago.

[Elliot Luber]

I find tying it around the middle of the headstock (over first set of tuners) works the best.

[billhay4]

Tie a piece of rawhide lace around the instrument under the fingerboard extension. You use rawhide to eliminate any scratches. Attach the strap the the lace.
Advice a la Peter Martin. It gives the best balance for the instrument and involves no intrusion.
Bill

[Jude Reinhardt]

Like Squirrelabama I fasten the end of my strap to the first or second E string tuner button.

Jude

[Ray(T)]

I have no problem with a strap on the head of my vintage Gibson "A" which, as Martin says, doesn't have an elevated fingerboard. My new Kimble "A" came with a button already fitted on the heel so I didn't need to worry about whether to fit one.
Ray

[WindinBoy]

I'm going to out a button on the heel. Wonder if I should go straight center or put it on the top though, what do you thinK? Top of the heel obviously:grin:

[jasona]

Button the heel for me. Works great!
http://mandolincafe.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=33&pictureid=252

[Capt. E]

I keep thinking of putting a heel button on my Japanese "Shiro". Wouldn't want to do that on my Weber, a lanyard around the body under the fretboard works just fine. If you make a loop on the end, you can pass the strap through it and remove it easily...no tieing required.

[Brad Weiss]

I tie the strap around the body on my Flatiron A and it doesn't have an elevated fingerboard. Works just ducky.

??? How? I'd like to see it for my A4.

[Ray(T)]

Bottom - just as Jasona's photo - but I'd leave the fireguard off!

(Don't forget to drill a small pilot hole first or you'll likely split the heel.)

Ray

[John Flynn]

I saw a great local Scottish band yesterday, named "Duddybreeks," which supposedly means "old trousers" in Highland Scots Gaelic. The rhythm player, Ken McSwan, used a Trillium octave mandolin that had one of those metal sleeves somewhat similar to the one pictured in Dave Cohen's post, but this one was pressed into the neck heel itself, going side-to-side, bass-to-treble, and it was a larger diameter than one pictured, probably 1/2". Trillium's have a massive neck heel that is flat on both sides, so there is plenty of room to install such a thing. McSwan was able to run his full strap-end through the hole and bring the end around the back of the heel to attach to attach back to the descending part of the strap. It struck me as a good solution.