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Thread: A-style strap safety

  1. #1

    Default A-style strap safety

    Is it possible to damage a mandolin in any way if I were to tie my strap between the tuners? For a visual reference of what Im talking about (sorry for stealing the pic from a current classified ad):

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Could this damage the tuners at all?

    ...I knew I should have gotten an F.

  2. #2
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    Default Re: A-style strap safety

    I have tied my strap between the tuners to keep it away from the nut for several decades. I prefer A mandolins and have had no problems. I also prefer the balance of the strap there.
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  3. #3
    Scroll Lock Austin Bob's Avatar
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    Default Re: A-style strap safety

    I don't see how it could damage it under normal use. However if you pulled hard enough on the strap, I could see how the tuner shaft might bend, but I can't imagine that happening during regular usage.

    There's three main options for a strap on an A:

    • Attach it to the peghead somehow, like in the pic
    • Loop it under the fretboard extension, if there is one
    • Attach a strap button on the heel
    A quarter tone flat and a half a beat behind.

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    Default Re: A-style strap safety

    I doubt you'd damage the tuners but, depending on the material your strap is made of, it's possible that it might wear the finish on the edges. I've had a leather thong strap end on the heel end of a Collings mandola (beneath the fingerboard) for a year or so and, looking carefully, I can see where the leather is starting to wear the edges of the top.

    I won't mention a strap button on the heel as that will only encourage all the usual protagonists to join in

  6. #5

    Default Re: A-style strap safety

    Could looping it under the fretboard extension hurt the top at all?

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    Default Re: A-style strap safety

    Sell it and buy an F-style . . . problem solved.


    Editors Note: This is what is referred to as a 'joke' . . . not real advice.

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    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: A-style strap safety

    Quote Originally Posted by JerseyPicker View Post
    Could looping it under the fretboard extension hurt the top at all?
    No, not unless you use a very abrasive strap. I've done that for years. I actually prefer that method.

    https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/s...ton-no-problem
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  10. #8
    I may be old but I'm ugly billhay4's Avatar
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    Default Re: A-style strap safety

    Ditto to what Mike said. It also balances the instrument better.
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    Default Re: A-style strap safety

    So the leather thong on my Collings is the exception then?

  12. #10
    Registered User Martin Ohrt's Avatar
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    Default Re: A-style strap safety

    It seems so... I've had straps tied like that on my Furch for years and never had any Problems.
    Concerning tha balance: My Furch's head is heavier than its body, so it will tilt with the strap attached underneath the fretboard extension. But as soon as I place my arm in playing position it keeps the instrument in place. And mounting a toneguard might also help as it adds weight on the body side ;-)
    Mandolins: 1920s (?) Meinel & Herold Bowlback, 2006 Furch "Redwood MA-1" A5

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    Default Re: A-style strap safety

    Quote Originally Posted by Ray(T) View Post
    I won't mention a strap button on the heel as that will only encourage all the usual protagonists to join in
    I was a heel button hater until I bought an A5 with a button installed. It’s my prefered way to hang a strap on a non F now. Works for guitar and mandolin

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    Default Re: A-style strap safety

    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Wilson View Post
    I was a heel button hater until I bought an A5 with a button installed. It’s my prefered way to hang a strap on a non F now. Works for guitar and mandolin
    A heel hater...and from NC? My Word!

    I also dig strap buttons on an A model; the smaller, the better. It indeed hangs the mandolin in perfect balance (better than on a scroll). And this cat even did it on a F!
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

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    but that's just me Bertram Henze's Avatar
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    Default Re: A-style strap safety

    Quote Originally Posted by AlanN View Post
    I also dig strap buttons on an A model; the smaller, the better. It indeed hangs the mandolin in perfect balance (better than on a scroll). And this cat even did it on a F!
    I am partial to strap buttons on heels, and I would do that on an F style, too.
    the world is better off without bad ideas, good ideas are better off without the world

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    Default Re: A-style strap safety

    JP, your solution of between the G and E tuners is what my strap position has evolved to be. The mandolin is less steady the farther away the strap is tied, and steadier closer to the nut. i prefer just behind the nut but it's in the way of the fretting hand and the way your pic shows is a good trade off. i'm also not a fan of drilling into the heel, and i've passed up mandolins with a strap button there.

    Everyone has their own way of holding the mandolin, and tying to a scroll isn't as solid for me as in your pic. F mandolins are beautiful, but not as practical for me. Yes, i've been down the road with multoples of both the F and A, and prefer the A.

  19. #15
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    Default Re: A-style strap safety

    I like tying a thong around the heel under the fb extension, but on my Collings a button had been installed before I got it. Works fine. As far as wear goes, any film finish can be expected to wear over time, but some are more durable than others and we all know there are variations in finishes on mandolins: lacquer, spirit varnish, oil varnish, polyurethanes, etc. so the type of finish and thickness of the film will have an impact on whether leather wear will show and how quickly; also, if you are in a dusty environment where abrasives like dust can get under the leather that will have an impact as well.

    With me and my mandolin, there are other things that concern me way more than a bit of wear to the finish - like being able to make it sound good when I play. Very worrisome, that
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    Default Re: A-style strap safety

    Quote Originally Posted by Bertram Henze View Post
    I am partial to strap buttons on heels, and I would do that on an F style, too.
    I knew someone who actually did this (rip fireball freddy)..to a Loar signed Gibson!!....

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    Default Re: A-style strap safety

    Hmmmmmmmm........
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  23. #18
    but that's just me Bertram Henze's Avatar
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    Default Re: A-style strap safety

    Quote Originally Posted by Ray(T) View Post
    Hmmmmmmmm........
    That is one for the ugly scroll thread.
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    Default Re: A-style strap safety

    Quote Originally Posted by Ray(T) View Post
    Hmmmmmmmm........
    That is the all time strap hanger winner if there ever was one...

  26. #20
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    Default Re: A-style strap safety

    Here is Evan Marshall, one of the great mandolinists. Despite playing a Gilchrist F5C model, he attaches his strap to the peghead, not to the scroll. Granted, this is pretty unusual, and I have absolutely no idea why he prefers this orientation (maybe it's a balance issue? maybe it's for quicker on/off?), but you can see how he ties his strap to the headstock pretty clearly in the following photo. Click on it to enlarge it. And to the OP: NO, you do not seriously risk damaging your tuners or peghead doing it this way. And you can do it on virtually any model of mandolin: A, F, bowlback, flattop, etc.

    Click image for larger version. 

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  27. #21
    but that's just me Bertram Henze's Avatar
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    Default Re: A-style strap safety

    Quote Originally Posted by sblock View Post
    Here is Evan Marshall, one of the great mandolinists. Despite playing a Gilchrist F5C model, he attaches his strap to the peghead, not to the scroll.
    Well, technically the strap is attached to some scroll...
    the world is better off without bad ideas, good ideas are better off without the world

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  29. #22
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    Default Re: A-style strap safety

    Maybe he didn't want to spoil the look of the larger scroll with a strap? It is a posed photograph.

  30. #23
    but that's just me Bertram Henze's Avatar
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    Default Re: A-style strap safety

    Quote Originally Posted by Ray(T) View Post
    Maybe he didn't want to spoil the look of the larger scroll with a strap? It is a posed photograph.
    Not spoiling the look of the scroll would be my main reason for not attaching the strap to it. But spoiling the look of the headstock is not good either, IMHO. I mean, couldn't he have used a black strap lace instead, at least?
    the world is better off without bad ideas, good ideas are better off without the world

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    Default Re: A-style strap safety

    Click image for larger version. 

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ID:	166994 from the cover of "Bluegrass mandolin" by Jack Tottle...

  32. #25
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    Default Re: A-style strap safety

    Quote Originally Posted by Ray(T) View Post
    Maybe he didn't want to spoil the look of the larger scroll with a strap? It is a posed photograph.
    No, that's not it. As proof, here's Evan Marshall in an un-posed photo (in Billy Hill and the Hillbillies at Disneyland, in his old gig). That's just the way he likes to run his strap! He's done it that way for a very long time.

    Click image for larger version. 

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