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Thread: Help..problem with strap and looking for ideas.

  1. #1
    Registered User Wayne Shelton's Avatar
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    Default Help..problem with strap and looking for ideas.

    I had an experience a while back that was pretty devastating. I Had my Red Diamond F style on my shoulder and bent over to pick up something on the desk. As I did so the headstock pointed downward and the strap came off the endpin sending the mandolin crashing to the floor. After I was revived from the shock of it all I found a broken headstock scroll and a few scratches on the top. It is repaired and the damage is barely visible, but I live in constant fear of it happening again. I am looking for ideas about how others have solved the problem of stretching that occurs over time enlarging the hole in the strap. Hate to keep buying new straps.

  2. #2
    coprolite mandroid's Avatar
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    Smile Re: Help..problem with strap and looking for ideas.

    People have offered back up options for the not relying on the tapered end button ..

    (& your strap hole issue) like tying a loop of boot lace leather around the tail piece,

    and adding a small hole in your strap to put the boot lace through and tying a knot in it,
    to not pull back through..




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    Registered User Lucas's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help..problem with strap and looking for ideas.

    Hi Wayne:

    Almost the same exact thing happened to me, so I know how you feel. There are many solutions out there but the cheapest and secure system that I found was the D'addario strap lock.

    https://www.amazon.com/DAddario-Acce...PTEYE9PQQ8XN7A

    Not fancy but does the job and the price is right.

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  5. #4

    Default Re: Help..problem with strap and looking for ideas.

    Check out Bailey straps. The connection points on my strap for my A style Collings has a leather cord with a leather slide that you can tighten or loosen to secure or remove from your strap buttons. They are very well made and quite attractive. http://thebaileystrap.com/

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    Default Re: Help..problem with strap and looking for ideas.

    Assuming the endpin isn’t going to pop out, you can buy the d’Addario gismos as Lucas suggests but there is a far more enjoyable solution - Grolsch bottle stopper washers; i.e. you drink the beer, you stretch the washer over the endpin.

    Unfortunately, in the UK, I’ve found it impossible to source Grolsch in bottles - it seems to come in cans nowadays - but if you can find a home brewing shop, they’re likely to stock the washers. The only problem with the ones I sourced is that they’re red!

  7. #6
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    Default Re: Help..problem with strap and looking for ideas.

    I make the strap hole tight, I make my own. And I double it back a put a second piece of the strap over the end pin. Been this way for many years, and lots of gigs. Hasn't loosened up yet.
    THE WORLD IS A BETTER PLACE JUST FOR YOUR SMILE!

  8. #7
    Registered User J Mangio's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help..problem with strap and looking for ideas.

    I use a rawhide boot lace with a hangman noose on each end, very close to the endpin, I tie a piece of dental floss around the noose, keeps the rawhide noose tight to the endpin.
    For your enlarged strap hole, I recall someone mention using the plastic bread tie attached to the endpin.
    2021 The Loar LM700 VS

  9. #8

    Default Re: Help..problem with strap and looking for ideas.

    No helpful advice here, but I nearly lost my dinner just now reading about your Red Diamond mishap.

  10. #9
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    Default Re: Help..problem with strap and looking for ideas.

    Quote Originally Posted by Rdeane View Post
    Check out Bailey straps. The connection points on my strap for my A style Collings has a leather cord with a leather slide that you can tighten or loosen to secure or remove from your strap buttons. They are very well made and quite attractive. http://thebaileystrap.com/
    #1 for Bailey straps!

  11. #10
    Registered User John Soper's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help..problem with strap and looking for ideas.

    In contrast to the OP's problem is when the end pin pops out of the mandolin at an inopportune time, rather than the strap popping off of the endpin. Strap-Locs or Grolsch washer would have ended up being no help for him, but they can be useful if slipping off of the endpin is a problem. I agree with the suggestion to tie a length of leather bootlace to the end of your strap and secure it to the tail piece. I braid my own straps and have always secured them to both the end pin and the tail piece for that extra sense of security. Like using suspenders and a belt, it prevents both potential mishaps.

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    Likes quaint instruments poul hansen's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help..problem with strap and looking for ideas.


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    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help..problem with strap and looking for ideas.

    The Hans Brentrup method is my favorite and in my mind a simple and elegant answer.
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    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
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  16. #13
    Registered User Wayne Shelton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help..problem with strap and looking for ideas.

    Thanks for all the ideas. I knew there were several possibilities but was not sure what worked and what didn't. The best solution probably will depend on each mandolin and strap variations. I will experiment with some of these ideas and let you know what I end up using.

  17. #14
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    Default Re: Help..problem with strap and looking for ideas.

    Quote Originally Posted by poul hansen View Post
    £4.55 + £8.00 shipping to the UK! Apare from the “Fender” logo, swing top bottle washers are identical. The shop I bought mine from has them in stock for £0.20 each and a packet of 10 wouldn’t cost 10 times that much.

  18. #15

    Default Re: Help..problem with strap and looking for ideas.

    I use a Grolsch beer rubber washer. It fits on the end pin and works great and you get to drink the beer!

  19. #16
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Help..problem with strap and looking for ideas.

    There are also the little plastic tabs used to seal bread wrappers. Free, and fairly effective. Perhaps less esthetically pleasing than some of the alternatives mentioned above.
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    Chu Dat Frawg Eric C.'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Help..problem with strap and looking for ideas.

    Quote Originally Posted by allenhopkins View Post
    There are also the little plastic tabs used to seal bread wrappers. Free, and fairly effective. Perhaps less esthetically pleasing than some of the alternatives mentioned above.
    More aesthetically pleasing than a broken headstock, for sure!

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  22. #18

    Default Re: Help..problem with strap and looking for ideas.

    Similar the the Fender washer is a rubber or neoprene washer from Ace (where you can buy one). they don't look that great but surprising how well the lock on to the end pin. I am sure that someone could come up with a leather alternative. Also I have two straps that have a separate piece about the size of a leather bootlace woven into the strap. so you have the wider normal strap that goes on the end pin, then there is the separate bootlace that goes around the tailpiece. I would not want to trust it all the time but would have prevented what happened to you.

    https://www.homedepot.com/b/Hardware...vZc276Z1z114to

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