Volute strap button ?

[Astro]

Has anyone had a mandolin with the strap button applied to the back of the headstock in the area of the volute?

I dont like tying a shoestring under my strings behind the nut as it gets in the way. I dont like to pass it behind the tuner pegs as it gets in the way and puts pressure on the posts.

I dont like the idea of the button at the neck/body joint for reasons of balance. But I've never tried one there. With the stap attached at the neck though I get a well balanced position.

How come folks dont mount the button on the back side of the headstock just behind and under the nut? seems to me that would work best but I dont want to try it without real world advice. Anyone try it ?

[Jim]

I could be wrong but it seems an area fo pretty high stress.

[Ivan Kelsall]

I fitted a button at the body/neck joint on this one,my 'once owned' Weber Beartooth.The mandolin hangs straight down with no hint of turning whatsoever. I'd steer well clear of trying to fit a strap button in the area that you're thinking of.As Jim above says,it's in an area of fairly high stress,plus,there's usually already a loss of wood in that area due to the truss rod cavity.Use this method (1st pic.). It's a widely used one a needs no screws,causes no damage & works well,
Ivan
9333093329

[almeriastrings]

I could be wrong but it seems an area fo pretty high stress.

+2 on that.

Not a good idea at all.

[Gerry Hastie]

The heel on the treble side is a pretty good place. I have seen some players get a strap with a loop as for an F style scroll and loop this round the body and under where the fingerboard extends over the body. That looks neat but I've no experience to using it this way for balance. Overall message seems to be - don't screw anything into the back of the headstock.

[Astro]

Thanks all. Yeah I guess if it were a good place to hang it then plenty of others would already be doing it long ago.

Just from the strap perspective it would be a great spot though. I would think the button could screw in distal to the truss rod cavity. The headstock must be pretty beefy as it already has 8 tuner posts going all the way through and pulling more than its weight in tension, albeit in a direction it was designed for.

Dont worry, I think you all give good advice (which is why I asked here) and I'm not going to attempt it.

I think I'll just put up with the clumsy shoestring running under strings behind the nut because I hate fighting the neck dive of the body fixated positions.

[Jim]

On A styles I put my strap button in the area Ivan shows on his post #3.

[Astro]

Does the head dive down ?

[Dale Ludewig]

I put my strap buttons on A models right where Ivan shows in post #3 also. It's out of the way and the mandolin doesn't twist. Nor is it head heavy.

[mandroid]

To not alter my A50, I loop the strap around the headstock, amongst the tuners
[4 of them on either side of the strap]

[John Flynn]

I'm sure some will be horrified by this, but I guess this is the week for it! I've been hooking my strap end on the last treble tuner and it works fine. Doesn't seem to hurt the tuners or the neck. Pops right on, holds securely and pops right off. Doesn't impinge on the gears, doesn't interfere with tuning, doesn't get in the way and it completely keeps the headstock from dipping. I will admit I don't play standing a lot, though.

[Astro]

You needed a better warning for that graphic photo.

I didn't have time to divert my eyes.

[Dave Hanson]

What's a ' volute ' ? I've got several mandolins and still can't find a volute.

Dave H

[John Flynn]

What's a ' volute ' ? I've got several mandolins and still can't find a volute.

Dave H

From a website called "Guitar Slang," although this applies to mandolins also: "Volute is an extra mass of wood left on the backside of the neck where it joins to the headstock. This extra wood helps to beef up this area, as this was the weakest part of the neck and the most common place for a break to occur."

I think of it as little "hump" that where the back of the neck transitions into the headstock. Not all fretted stringed instruments have them. I have to two mandolins and an OM without volutes and one mandolin with. In the picture on post #11, you can see the volute on my Rigel if you look closely. The volute makes wide "V" where the neck meets the headstock.

[Ron McMillan]

I had the strap button installed on the treble side of the heel on my Mix A4. It works beautifully, and I wouldn't go any other way on an A instrument.

ron

[Dave Hanson]

According to the dictionary ' volute ' refers to spiral scrolls in stonework, not musical instruments, I suppose someone hijacked it cos it sounds good.

Dave H

[almeriastrings]

The term has been in use in lutherie for several hundred years. It is used also in violin making. It has been applied to classical guitars for 200 years, at least.