Straps for Vintage Mandolins

[mswilks]

Hi,

I'm new to this board (but I frequent a couple other guitar boards) and am looking to get some advice on straps for vintage mandolins ... presumably those which tie under the strings on the peghead and then loop under the tailpiece (due to the lack of strap buttons).

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Michael Gowell]

You can never go wrong with a slim strip of leather. A bootlace is so classic it can go on anything.
Wider single strips are available in everything from hard finish (saddle leather) to soft (deer & kangaroo.) I like a simple one-color flat braid too. IMHO the big stuff and the colored stuff just look inappropriate on a vintage instrument, sortalike a pimped-out Model T.

[OregonMike]

I play A's and have used a bootlace, an old silk neck tie with a button hole in it (hard to beat) but then I discovered Sully's Straps and the vintage leather he uses and get more comments on his straps then I do on my mandolin.

http://www.sullysstraps.com/index_files/page0002.html

[OregonMike]

Hey, Maine Michael - I just spent Thanksgiving on Gerrish Island Lane in Kittery Point. Next time I'll come over and we can pick a few!

[MikeEdgerton]

Take a look at the pictures in this (http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30705&highlight=strap+button) thread. It might give you some ideas.

[mswilks]

Hey guys, thanks much. I'll check that thread. And I completely agree that simple // basic leather is better on vintage stuff.

[allenhopkins]

For my 19th-century mandolins and guitars I just buy several feet of leather lacing at a craft store, and tie it around the headstock just above the nut, and around the tailpiece (or the guitar end pin).

For banjos, I often get a cloth strip and tie it around the brackets.

I don't see many pictures of players from that era using mandolin straps; most of the pics seem to show them sitting down. However, I find straps useful even when seated, just to aid in properly positioning the instrument.

[Michael Gowell]

Oregon Mike - you travelled across the country for Thanksgiving on my one-block-long lane? Cool.
Do give a heads up before your next trip - we have at least 2 other board members within 5 miles of my house...we could have a gettogether & mando tasting.

[mandroid]

Cloud TP with a tunnel, I use a spring cordlock as an adjustable stopper knot on the cordage - strap

another cordlock for the loop around the headstock.

[pops1]

I tie around the first tuner so it stays farther out of the way when playing doesn't get in the way to tune and never gets in the way of my hand. And of course a slim piece of leather.