strap for bowl back mandolin ?

[kkmm]

I just bought a Suzuki bowl back mandolin, used from local CL. After putting on new strings and lower the nut action, it plays great and sounds pretty loud.
However, holding it for playing it tough, it always keep rotating to show the top board toward my face !!!
Is there any particular way to add a strap so I can play it in standing position ?

[avaldes]

Not a strap suggestion, but this thread might be useful
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...bber-or-Fabric

[kkmm]

Thanks for the useful tip. Yes, a non-slipping sheet would help.
An hour ago, I am just thinking about the idea of using something similar to the ToneGard made specifically for bowback, just to provide a flat support frame.

[Tim2723]

If you study old paintings of minstrels playing it standing up, you'll notice that their right arm usually comes up slightly from below the bowl. The position isn't the same as with the modern arch and flat back instruments. It's hard to describe. You sort of cradle the instrument in the crook of your arm. It was most often played seated, like the lute. There's no need to reinvent anything. It's been done for hundreds of years.

[mandroid]

Seems typically they are played seated , reading the music on the stand in front of them ..

[Ray(T)]

I'm told that putting a strap on a bowlback only comes second to putting a capo on one

Back in the dark and dismal days of the 1950s, you could buy a guitar strap which was basically a silk braid with tassels on each end. What happened to them I don't know but one might not look that bad on a bowlback.

[JeffD]

I am not big on straps in most cases, bowl back or not. I don't stand when I can sit.

I have rarely had to stand with a bowl back.

[Capt. E]

I have noticed that Dave Apollon did not use a strap playing his Gibson F-5!
Notice pictures of players of bowl backs and you will see the neck is held more vertically and the bowl is cradled in the lap with the right leg elevated. Many players use a foot stool just as a classical guitarist does...much the same idea. Perhaps it is an "old world" thing.

[allenhopkins]

I use a thin cord tied around the tailpiece and around the headstock just above the nut.

Supports the weight when playing standing (not that there's much weight); doesn't solve the "rotation" problem, but since I often plant my little finger on the top, I can use that pressure to regulate the mandolin's position.

[Ray(T)]

I have noticed that Dave Apollon did not use a strap playing his Gibson F-5!
Notice pictures of players of bowl backs and you will see the neck is held more vertically and the bowl is cradled in the lap with the right leg elevated. Many players use a foot stool just as a classical guitarist does...much the same idea. Perhaps it is an "old world" thing.

I don't think Red Rector used one either.

[Polecat]

I have no idea if it would work, but I thought of one of these.

[kkmm]

Hi Polecat,

I built one of these "classical guitar strap" (after posting the question) and tried on this bowl back.
It's kind of look weird and it wrap around the neck joint, not like a guitar where it wraps around the body to hold it.
Therefore, it does not really hold it properly unless I "glue" some little strap guide to keep it where it should be !!! (no, I have not glued anything yet, and don't really want to)

After 5 days playing the bowl back now, I kind of get it when playing sitting. If I stand, I put my right foot on the chair (or a bench), left leg still on the ground and play that way. It works for me. I also found that I need to plant my little finger on the top sound board (which is something I avoid flat back mandolin) and can play this bowl back much easier.

I am trying to put my right arm a little under the body to keep it straight. It will take quite a lot of practice as the pick angle is no longer the same. Yes, it's definitely different from playing a flat back mandolin. Kind of fun switching between these two kinds.

[SDE64]

[SDE64]

[David L]

My bowl back has a wide metal tailpiece cover with a convex curve. My forearm rests in it and holds the instrument.

[Foster Reed]

I just bought a Suzuki bowl back mandolin, used from local CL. After putting on new strings and lower the nut action, it plays great and sounds pretty loud.
However, holding it for playing it tough, it always keep rotating to show the top board toward my face !!!
Is there any particular way to add a strap so I can play it in standing position ?

Try to not worry about it and it will come to you, without a strap, sitting or standing, after a while. Imagine that you are dancing with a watermelon. Imagine that the great players of yore did not use straps - Dave Apollon, Jethro Burns, Bernardo Pace; and that many today don’t either…imagine that all those folk players from Italy over the centuries managed without straps. The bowl back will fit comfortably your arms if you give it some time.

[mandroid]

Ukuleles straps hold up from coming underneath and hooking into the round soundhole, the strap looping over your head...

might be useful /...

[Tavy]

Here's my take:

[mjbee]

If it was an Italian bowl back, I’d say spaghetti straps ….
(Sorry, it’s been one of those days …)

[Tavy]

If it was an Italian bowl back, I’d say spaghetti straps ….
(Sorry, it’s been one of those days …)

That only works if they're sustainably harvested from the correct spaghetti tree: . Just saying....

[Ray(T)]

Showing your age there Tavy!

[Tavy]

Showing your age there Tavy!

Yep! I'm afraid I do remember that being broadcast when I was a kid - I believed every word too!

[s11141827]

Actually it's more like holding a lute on a Strap