dumb question

[maxamy]

This is probably a dumb question but here goes anyway... Does it matter how you strap the neck of an F style... I just got my first F model after playing an A for a long time... I see a lot of people with the strap in the curl... some over one shoulder and some over both... I don't like either as the mandolin kept falling over... I like connecting the same way I did the f model below the tuning keys behind the nut... any reason that's bad??? anyone else do that?

[J Mangio]

It's your call, whatever works for you is the right way
I prefer using a boot lace looped onto the scroll and over my shoulder.

[journeybear]

It's not a dumb question. There's an old cliché that there ARE no dumb questions, just dumb answers. I don't know about that, but some questions have fairly easy answers. We'll see if this is one.

When I had an F-style, I loved using the scroll for the strap. I use found objects for a straps, and the scroll made this easy. Any piece of fabric long enough would do. Attach one end to the endpin with wire, tie a loop in the other end and slip it over the scroll. One of my favorite straps was a dog leash I found at a yard sale for 25¢. I cut off the buckle, folded an inch of the remaining end over a bit of wire to go around the endpin, and slipped the loop of the wrist-handle over the scroll. Easy peasy.

I always ran the strap around my head and shoulder. Just around the shoulder always seemed a bit risky. Also, I liked how using the scroll eliminated the nuisance of my left hand bumping up against the strap end at the nut. A minor nuisance, to be sure, but it was there.

[maxamy]

I found that using the scroll caused the mandolin to lean to the left and kept falling over ... it’s top heavy... am I doing something wrong or is that normal ?

[Denny Gies]

Use what's comfortable for your style of playing.............period.

[Zach Wilson]

It goes without saying... this surely is not a dumb question. But here are my thoughts...

When I first received my F style It wasn't so difficult to get used to using the scroll as a strap hanger since I was already attaching my A style under the fretboard (around the same placement). However when I got my flat top, without a elevated fretboard or scroll, it took me a while to get used to the feeling of the "peg head" method in which you use currently. I think you'll get used to whatever you choose in time.

Hope this helps

Congratulations on your new mando!

[Billy Packard]

2cents worth!

I have only used a tuning peg to hang the strap regardless of mandolin style.

Billy

[poul hansen]

I found that using the scroll caused the mandolin to lean to the left and kept falling over ... it’s top heavy... am I doing something wrong or is that normal ?

That's exactly what I found out, when trying it out, so I went backt to strapping around the head,

But I hate the bootlace up there, so I've made some 1 mm Dyneema string loops, with a button on it. That way you can attach any strap with a slit, without using a lace.

[EdHanrahan]

Happened to me too, but a bit of picking-wrist pressure keeps everything in, uhm, harmony. And probably a good reason to partonize Cafe member Doug Edwards for his excellent armrests:
https://hillcountrystringworks.com/armrest5.html

[maxamy]

nice... My F model is a Michael Kelly and it came with an arm rest... I'll try s few more times and see what I like best... seems like a few others use the peg head method even with an F style as well....

[tassiespirit]

I found that using the scroll caused the mandolin to lean to the left and kept falling over ... it’s top heavy... am I doing something wrong or is that normal ?

David Grisman uses a modified Saxophone neck strap and that attaches around the scroll only. This seems to eliminated the head drop tendency of some mandolins. Check out some of his photos to see what I mean.

[Mitch Stein]

I currently go around the scroll and over one shoulder only. Peghead hangs down on some songs that start with handclaps (ex: Thank God I'm A Country Boy) but I always manage to grab it back up in time to play.

[FLATROCK HILL]

David Grisman uses a modified Saxophone neck strap and that attaches around the scroll only. This seems to eliminated the head drop tendency of some mandolins. Check out some of his photos to see what I mean.

[poul hansen]

No matter how you attach to the scroll, it will not change the headdrop tendency, as that is a matter of physics.

If you suspend something behind it's point of equilibrium the head will drop.

The only thing you can do is attach before that point either by:

1. Attaching to the head

2. Attaching around the neck at the 10. or 11. fret, just behind it, with a thin 1 mm string of dyneema, which I have done with success on a much heavier guitar.

3. Attaching at the scroll and install a thin line from the strap to the head, to compensate for the small downward force on the head, which I have done with success on a much heavier guitar

OR put some weight on the strapbutton or the strap at the back of the mandolin.

But all in all, I find it easier to change grip when the head is stabilized by a strap on the head. You can move your hand and fingers, without the need to hold the neck steady with your left hand.

[CES]

There’s no one “correct” way to do it. You will eventually get used to whatever method you choose. I’m too chicken to try it, but Evan Marshall loops his strap around the small scroll on the peg head, and it’s sure not hurting his playing any!

[Paul Brett]

I agree with the "what ever works for you, on my F I use the scroll but my As have strap buttons installed, cause that's how I like them.

I once had a teacher who used to say " That's NOT the most stupid question I've ever heard...but it's close!"