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Thread: Strap installation question

  1. #1
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    Default Strap installation question

    Hi, just got my first mandolin today (MD505cc/n) and got my first strap yesterday (from souldier). My mandolin has a strap peg below the tailpiece so no problem there. I want to attach the other end behind the nut but the the piece at the end of the strap that would accomplish this is a closed loop not two pieces that I could slip behind the nut and tie. Are my options at this point?:

    1. Cut the loop and tie it and call it a day
    2. Wait until I change the strings and the slide the loop next to the nut
    3. Tie something additional, like a shoelace, to the loop and then tie that behind the nut.

    I kind of hate to cut the loop because I don't know if it will fray. I also emailed souldier to see what they say.

    Thanks.

    Rob

    Here is the style of strap I have:
    Click image for larger version. 

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  2. #2
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    Default Re: Strap installation question

    If you don't want to modify the strap it seems like the thing to do is tie something else around the mando and tie that the the loop on the strap. Maybe the Souldier folks have a more appropriate model that they can trade you. There's also a rig I've seen at the music store with the wrap-around strap and a quick-detach connector where the mating end ties onto your strap. (google D'Addario Accessories: Acoustic Quick Release Guitar Strap)

    A note about the shoelace - I used a leather bootlace for a while and while it worked fine, the brown dye from the bootlace leather left a red-ish streak where it lay across the ivoroid binding on the mando. As far as strap attachment points, for me something at the end of the neck drives me bonkers - it just doesn't feel right. The first thing I do is have my luthier put a button on the neck heel. Good luck!

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  4. #3
    Registered User Steve 2E's Avatar
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    Default Re: Strap installation question

    If you run the loop up under the strings at the nut you can put the other end of the strap through the loop.

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    Registered User Rich Benson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Strap installation question

    No need to cut it. Slide the end of the closed loop under the strings from the treble side to the bass side. Then pass the other end of the strap thru that loop and take up the slack. Hopefully you have more than one strap hole to attach at the end pin to help adjust the size. If not you could tie a knot in the loop to shorten it. I prefer the loop uncut.
    Rich
    2015 Passernig A5 #76
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  8. #5
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    Default Re: Strap installation question

    Quote Originally Posted by DoubleE View Post
    If you run the loop up under the strings at the nut you can put the other end of the strap through the loop.
    Quote Originally Posted by Rich Benson View Post
    No need to cut it. Slide the end of the closed loop under the strings from the treble side to the bass side. Then pass the other end of the strap thru that loop and take up the slack. Hopefully you have more than one strap hole to attach at the end pin to help adjust the size. If not you could tie a knot in the loop to shorten it. I prefer the loop uncut.
    Thanks guys for that suggestion! I’ve got it rigged up like this now, does that look right?

    Rob

    Click image for larger version. 

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  10. #7
    coprolite mandroid's Avatar
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    Post Re: Strap installation question

    Tie a knot in the loop and hang it over a tuner shaft ... for now,

    next string change you can use the loop around the headstock, among the tuners half way out..

    the 4 D and A strings passing over it.. ....

    basically, like the 5th post...





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  11. #8
    Confused... or?
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    Default Re: Strap installation question

    On mandolin especially -compared to guitar- it's good to keep the stap out beyond the nut and among the tuners, as some have suggested. Some mandolin fingerings aren't at all happy with the strap right there.

    Some will surely disagree, as I used to, but it's likely that simply throwing the loop around the headstock -tuners, strings, & all- will work perfectly well, with little chance of loop pressure pulling the strings out of tune. That thought was originally from Sully of "Sully's Straps" fame,
    - Ed

    "Then one day we weren't as young as before
    Our mistakes weren't quite so easy to undo
    But by all those roads, my friend, we've travelled down
    I'm a better man for just the knowin' of you."
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