I had my strap fitted at the headstock but did not like it. It felt unbalanced to me compared to my guitars. I decided to fit a strap button on the neck heel as I have on my guitars. I bought a nice wooden button from Stew-Mac (see photos).
Here are few comments on the installation. Hopefully info will be useful to others who want to install a strap button.
Checklist:
1. I used hand drill for the pilot hole for the wood screw. Refer to Breedlove and Artisan diagrams for screw hole location. It needs to be 1/2inch from the body.
2. I used a half oval M3.5 x 25 mm screw. I used a spare Schaller screw (black screw) from a strap lock. The screw that is supplied with your button is likely to be too long. The Stew Mac screw was #6 x 1 inch, which is equivalent to M3.5 x 30mm.
3. Measure depth of hole carefully. Put tape marker on drill if you need to.
4. Use a felt washer.
5. Put a tiny amount of candle wax on screw to help it screw in. Go slowly.
I ran into 1 problem where the varnish next to hole started to lift from the wood. I applied a few drops of super glue to halt the spread. Hopefully this has fixed this issue.
The installation is easy to do. Just go slowly and take your time.
I am happy with the end result. The mandolin is much more playable for me.
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