Slippage

  1. Sherry Cadenhead
    Sherry Cadenhead
    I didn't know exactly how to title this discussion. I still love the Weber, but have an issue with it. The bottom side tends to slip on my lap, toward my knees. Does anyone else have this problem, and more specifically, does anyone know of a solution; i.e., how to keep the instrument in place?
  2. HonketyHank
    HonketyHank
    Are you using a strap?
  3. Sherry Cadenhead
    Sherry Cadenhead
    Yes
  4. Sue Rieter
    Sue Rieter
    You need a non-slip pad. I didn't even know about such until MM suggested it on ArtistWorks. A kind mandolin friend sent me one. It's great. There's a thread
    https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/t...g-underlayment
  5. NDO
    NDO
    The rubberized shelf liners will work until you get something fancy. Or maybe buy a tone-gard which would add a point or two to add some purchase on your legs, and have the added bonus of improving the sound.
  6. Sherry Cadenhead
    Sherry Cadenhead
    Thanks for sharing that thread, Sue! I thought the last comment was interesting re: a toneguard.

    I can't imagine musicians taking any of the cloths/mats to a jam. Suppose they do?
  7. Sherry Cadenhead
    Sherry Cadenhead
    I just read through a thread on toneguards. Might ask Gerald what he thinks, although I may get what you have, Sue. I get the impression some people who use straps don't rest their instruments on their laps.
  8. Sue Rieter
    Sue Rieter
    I'd take my mat with me. It's pretty discreet, if you worry about stuff like that. I wouldn't. Be careful of the shelf liners. The one I looked at in the grocery store had a disclaimer about affecting some finishes. I like my mat alot. I was wearing fuzzy lounge pants last night when I took out my mandolin, and I sure needed it; the mando was slipping all around on my lap til I got it out

    I might not bring my foot rest to the jam, I'm not sure. MM mentions putting your foot up on your case.
  9. Sherry Cadenhead
    Sherry Cadenhead
    Sue, my foot rest goes everywhere my mandolin goes! Lol

    As to the mat, I'd be OK with taking it to a jam.
  10. NDO
    NDO
    I was playing at the brewery the other day (with my mando on its strap) and it slipped almost all the way to vertical in the middle of a song. It was trippy trying to make the chord shapes when out of position but I got through it okay
    The song must go on!
  11. Louise NM
    Louise NM
    Time to try a mandolin with points, Sherry! An F-style will fix you right up.
  12. HonketyHank
    HonketyHank
    Open back mandolin-banjo! Isn't it great to have choices?
  13. Sherry Cadenhead
    Sherry Cadenhead
    I do love the look of those points, Louise! Maybe you could send me your L&H - just to try, of course.

    Did you guys see that blonde Sorenson? Gorgeous.
  14. Louise NM
    Louise NM
    There have been some beauties. I thought the art deco one Graham MacDonald posted in the Builders section is gorgeous, and the Martin Style 6 in the classifieds is to die for.
  15. Sherry Cadenhead
    Sherry Cadenhead
    So many instruments, so little time.
  16. Sue Rieter
    Sue Rieter
    "So many instruments, so little time."
    This is my mantra lately. I'm looking hard at something else right now, too. I'll decide tomorrow, and you guys will be the first to know
  17. Sherry Cadenhead
    Sherry Cadenhead
    Sue, don't you need us to help you decide?
  18. Sue Rieter
    Sue Rieter
    Nah, it's not gonna happen. I waited too long, and someone else grabbed it
    It was a French "pochette" or travel type mandolin. Falls under you snooze, you lose.
  19. Sherry Cadenhead
    Sherry Cadenhead
    Those look right cute! Ever played one?
  20. Ellsdemon
    Ellsdemon
    Just curious, how loose is your strap? I you rest the mandolin mostly on your knee with a strap? I have mine set about the same height as Baron Collins on Mandolessons. https://www.mandolessons.com/ You see his mandolin is above the knee
  21. NDO
    NDO
    Mine seems longer... it rests on my thigh when I’m sitting, and if I raise my right foot by setting it on the bottom rung of a barstool it raises the mando slightly. But I wouldn’t argue with Baron!
  22. Mark Gunter
    Mark Gunter
    I set my straps so that they support the instrument even when sitting, though the mandolin still also touches my lap. Goal is to set the strap so that my instrument is in the same position whether sitting or standing, so that there’s less adjustment whether standing or sitting.
  23. JeffLearman
    JeffLearman
    I was going to say: shorten the strap! And hopefully it's a strap that doesn't slip on your shoulders. One of these months my mando will be finished and I'll find out. I've been wondering. With my uke I've learned to cradle it, but it's lighter and I'll be using a different playing style with the mando (more note picking rather than just chords.)

    With a classical guitar, one of the first things you learn (if you learn it right -- I learned this later) is how to sit and hold it so your left hand is totally free, and your right arm has lots of freedom too, while the guitar doesn't move a bit. Not possible with a mandolin! But at least mine is A style, which has to be a lot easier than bowl back.
  24. Sherry Cadenhead
    Sherry Cadenhead
    Otto and Jeff, I've thought of shortening my strap and will try that to see if it's a good solution. My Alvarez doesn't slip like the Weber. I don't know mandolin finishes, but suspect the two are very different.

    Mark, I haven't tried playing the Weber standing. Maybe I should.
  25. Ellsdemon
    Ellsdemon
    Jeff brings up a good point. If the mando is in the right position, your left hand should almost be able to let go and it will not move or "drop". The strap will help with this a great deal. If you left hand is free from really supporting it, you'll be able to not only play faster but better. When I say better, you'll be able to get your fingers where they are suppose to be and get a clean note positioned. If you're supporting it more, then it's hindering you and you can not move your hand as freely if you have a strap, in theory.

    This is a great video by Baron, Mandolessons, on strap only. It's about 4 minutes long and it's great info.
    https://www.mandolessons.com/lessons...to-a-mandolin/

    Mike Marshall talks about manolin positioning as well, and mostly plays it with the mando in his lap, but he has a F style which helps with the points. I do know he's a master and plays all styles of mandolin, but I always remember him talking about positioning with the F.

    I know I'm assuming your issue is the strap length, and I hope this doesn't sound rude, but I've never heard of the issue you're having and using a strap. That's why I'm thinking your mandolin is not in the right position and your strap might be set too long
  26. Sue Rieter
    Sue Rieter
    It might depend, too, on where your strap is attached. I had always attached my strap at the headstock, and had no issues with slippage. I'm taking Mike Marshall's ArtistWorks course, and he wants you to attach your strap at the heel (he says at the headstock will interfere with tuning) so I'm doing his way, for now, on my Strad-O-Lin. It was only after I moved the strap, and the center of gravity changed, that I started having issues with the instrument pivoting. MM also recommends the pad, as I mentioned above, which seems to solve the problem.

    Not sure at this point how I will attach the strap long term. I don't intend to install a strap button at the heel, though. I've got the strap running under the fretboard extension presently.
  27. JeffLearman
    JeffLearman
    Attaching the strap at the headstock centers the instrument in the wrong place. I want the instrument's body to be centered on my body, not the whole thing from end to end. I've had this issue when borrowing other peoples' guitars. No doubt some folks can make this work, but it always feels wrong to me to have the strap go to the headstock.

    On second thought, though, maybe a short instrument like a mandolin has less of an issue here.
  28. Mark Gunter
    Mark Gunter
    But everyone’s a bit different in their physique as well as personal preferences. Although I’ve been playing guitar for about 55 years, I changed my guitar position only about 7 years ago to the more classical stance, supported by left leg rather than right when sitting. Likewise with Mandolin, I chose to shorten my strap and strive for same position whether sitting or standing, and began to practice while standing at times and even walking at times. I prefer my strap on A style to be around the heel and under fretboard extension. This feels very similar to an F style with strap around the scroll.

    Those are my little mundane preferences and I feel they have their advantages, but we’re all a bit different. Just never fear making changes! Though changes take a while to get used to, the experiments can only broaden your experience and that’s generally a good thing on the journey of learning stuff.
  29. Louise NM
    Louise NM
    I find if I have the strap behind my right shoulder it makes the headstock want to swing out in front of me. (My right shoulder is quite "special," in a few not great ways, which may contribute.)

    In Caterina Lichtenberg's online lessons she says the instrument shouldn't move when you take your hands off it, balanced against your raised left leg and torso, aided by the non-slip stuff Sue referred to above. She also suggests that the fingerboard should run uphill, like a classical guitarist's would. Lichtenberg, of course, plays a German bowl back, a different animal than an Italian bb or any of those funny-looking flatback gizmos we Americans think qualify as mandolins.
  30. Sherry Cadenhead
    Sherry Cadenhead
    I plan to try shortening my strap and changing to a thinner strap. We're having a garage sale this weekend, so I'm busy preparing for that. Will do well to practice my usual hour after today, much less deal with the strap. After reading suggestions in this thread, I've been using a strip of non-slip shelf liner across my thighs. It seems to help, but I'm not crazy about it.
  31. Sue Rieter
    Sue Rieter
    I was given a larger piece of that mat that Caterina Lichtenberg recommends, and was advised to cut it in half and use half for each leg. It is much better than shelf liner. Sometimes I use one piece, sometimes two.
  32. Sherry Cadenhead
    Sherry Cadenhead
    Thanks for the clarification, Sue. I'll try that if the shorter strap doesn't do it for me.
Results 1 to 32 of 32