A-style strap safety

[Ray(T)]

I stand corrected.

On that photo it looks to me that he was just taking a break from painting the backdrop!

[Bertram Henze]

I stand corrected.

On that photo it looks to me that he was just taking a break from painting the backdrop!

What's really impressing to me is the right forearm. I could never play in jacket and cufflinks.

[Ray(T)]

....and I wouldn't be seen dead in either a monkey suit or dungarees!

[Bertram Henze]

....and I wouldn't be seen dead in either a monkey suit or dungarees!

It's not the style I'm questioning. It's the cufflinks snagging the strings below the bridge.

[Polecat]

To my way of thinking, there is an advantage to attaching the strap to the headstock rather than the heel - it makes it much easier to hold the instrument so the back is free to vibrate. Obviously, a tone-gard will also deal with this, but I have stopped using mine, more or less as I like the range of tonal options being able to damp the back offers.

[JeffD]

If possible, I like attaching to the headstock underneath the strings just above the nut. I get scared for the tuners.

I am not the biggest fan of using the body scroll, if there is one. I seem to have trouble keeping the mandolin at the right angle.

If I let go of the mandolin, it should hang just the way i want it for playing. If not, my left hand is carrying some weight, and that inhibits me from freely moving my hand where it needs to go.

[MikeZito]

. . . or, just be like Jethro Burns during his Homer and Jethro days - don't use a strap at all!

[Bill Cameron]

The thing is, if you attach the strap to the peghead (on pretty much any fretted instrument I’ve tried), you can change the pitch of the note by downward pressure on the body, like you have a Tele B-bender installed. Granted, the weight of a mando isn’t usually enough to do that on its own, but it’s reason enough for me to prefer a heel button.

I do applaud Evan Marshall for creative use of that under-utilized resource, old bootlaces...harder to come by now in the era of no-lace Blundstones et al.

[fatt-dad]

to the OP: it's what I've done for decades.

f-d

[Charlie Bernstein]

You can tie them at the tuners or at the neck heel if there's a neck heel fretboard extension.

Either way, you'll have to untangle the strap string occasionally. Small price to pay.