Strap button

[dorenac]

I have a late teens Gibson A. It's been refinished, has top repairs, non-original bridge,and replacement pickguard. So, why am I being picky about installing a strap button? The question is, how much worse can installing a strap button on the heel effect(sp) the "value"?

[John Flynn]

If all that other stuff is non-original, I don't think the value would be affected by a well installed strap button. If it was a collector's item, all-original, it might be a different story. Even so, I knew a guy who was a super-traditional old-time player, who had an all-orginal snakehead A4. His "strap" was a bootlace that he attached to the heel with a common hardware store eye screw. He sold the A4 last year and got what he wanted for it, although I don't know how much that was. He is not one to part with such things cheaply, though.

[first string]

Can't tell you about value, but I would go ahead and do it if I were you. I'm sure many will disagree, but to me playability is the ultimate concern. Gibson made thousands of As, so there will always be museum pieces for future generations to examine (it doesn't sound like this was going to be one of them anyway). It's probably just a line we all need to set for ourselves between respecting originality and increasing functionality, etc. Would I refinish a vintage instrument as Gibson itself has been known to do? Definitely not. But scooping an extension, adding a strap button, and things of that nature, all seem to fall within the bounds of reasonable modifications. After all, even the most pricey of all instruments--the Strads--have largely all been modified, and much more dramatically at that than any Mando I know of (with the possible exception of Sam Bush's "Hoss"). If you feel good about it, do it. If you have reservations don't.

[MikeEdgerton]

If you feel good about it, do it. If you have reservations don't.

Wiser words were never spoken.

[Paul Kotapish]

Add the strap button. It's an easily reversed modification, your instrument isn't in original condition anyway, and instruments are for playing. You might feel better about it if you installed a button that has vintage look,like one of these.

[markishandsome]

An improperly installed strap button could split the head block. You could always tie one end of your strap around the peghead. But yours is a player's instrument, you should do whatever you think you need to in order to play it.

[OzMando]

I don't know what it's like with mando's but I cringe a little whenever I see a guitarist with the strap tied around the headstock. #I used to (because the guitar came without a neck strap button) do so and caught some neck twisting just in time that some fingerboard planing did the trick. #Maybe it was bad technique and maybe it's not an issue with mandolins but I assume a twisted neck would do more to harm the value of an instrument than adding a strap button (my guitar now has one). #Besides which, it's a much more comfortable way to attach a strap (for me anyway)

[MikeEdgerton]

The twisted neck thing has basically been shown as an old wive's tale. If your next twisted it wasn't because of the strap.

[Paul Kotapish]

The twisted neck thing has basically been shown as an old wive's tale. If your next twisted it wasn't because of the strap.

Yep, Frank Ford has debunked that notion long ago.

Tying the strap to the peghead won't harm the neck of your mando, but it sure is a clunky way to hold the instrument, and it makes changing strings more of a hassle.

Check out Franks website for more info and instructions on installing a strap pin properly:

http://frets.com/FRETSPa....n1.html

[acousticphd]

Add the strap button. It's an easily reversed modification, your instrument isn't in original condition anyway, and instruments are for playing.

I think that's good advice too. The question I would ask myself (if I were you) is, on a short-necked mandolin like the Gibson, where the heel is already located under the 7th-8th fret, is it going to bother you when your left hand is bumping into it? Although I play only A-style mandos (including an old Gibson A), I don't like a heel button myself for this reason.

[mandroid]

Stew Mac ebony buttons are supplied with and without dots, so will be subtle,
they also offer a kit to pre cut the threads in the wood , as they don't run a wood screw thru , to put a screwdriver on,
pre cutting the threads after drilling the pilot hole , means a lot less torque is needed to install the wooden button.
it's likely super-glued to the screw..
'
my '22 A has the strap around the peg head, though, it's in the middle , further out than just above the nut..