I have seen some who turn this to a virtue allowing a nice perky higher position with added support shelf below
Eoin
"Forget that anyone is listening to you and always listen to yourself" - Fryderyk Chopin
I don’t have that big a belly bowl yet! Which is why I am working on getting ahead of the game and avoid the shelf! Hahaha
My avatar is of my OldWave Oval A
Creativity is just doing something wierd and finding out others like it.
Lots of good advice. The main thing is keeping your instrument stabilized in a reasonably consistent position so that you get an optimal pick angle and have the freedom to move your hands around freely. Whether that requires a strap, a foot prop, non-slip materials, etc, or nothing at all varies person to person.
I almost always use a strap. Sometime not with guitar or banjo if I’m just grabbing one for a quick tune but probably 99% of the time otherwise. I even installed strap buttons on my ukuleles because it felt more familiar but mainly because I felt like I was fighting them when I played standing up. So, I’m a strap guy. But, do what works best for you, and enjoy the ride!
I use a strap for all of my mandos except my bowlbacks. 2 reasons - position consistency (mandolin neck height) and safety - my cats and dogs often feel the need to be on my lap, and I don't want my mandolins to hit the floor!
No. I dont when seated .. One benefit a Tone Gard offers is the back's resonance is not dampened holding it against the body ..
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If after playing a tune, put your left hand over your head. If the mandolin shifts position, or you panic and grip the instrument tighter with your right arm, it is an indication that your left hand was supporting some of the weight of the instrument. This is not a hanging offense, it just means that sometimes you are subconsciously making decisions about what notes to play and how, based on not dropping the instrument, instead of based on what the music needs.
To reiterate my previous quip: a strap does not guarantee you are holding the instrument correctly.
Oh, and Strap Acquisition Syndrome is a real thing, so don't go googling Coach Guitar Straps, or Legacy Straps, or Lakota Leathers, or search for straps on Etsy, Sweetwater, or Musician's Friend. Don't befriend fiber artists who do work with looms. Don't go to vintage camera shops that sell vintage camera straps. Just don't.
My avatar is of my OldWave Oval A
Creativity is just doing something wierd and finding out others like it.
I am spoiled. When i was a very young grasshopper my dad brought home two old beat up guitars. My brother really took to guitar, but they came with these great old straps, that i acquired. They were made from inch wide suspenders from I am guessing the early decades of the last century. Real cool retro vibe, when retro vibe wasn't really a thing.
So I have a fondness for cloth straps, an inch or under wide, with retro designs.
As a child I started on a bowlback, so no strap and I always sat down. When I got my first carved A model ,I didn’t have a strap and really didn’t know any better so I played without a strap both sitting and standing. When I got the F model,it was a substantial instrument and balanced differently so I use a strap. So to this day ,sitting or standing : A model no strap, F model strap…
The now famous Mike Marshall video shows sitting, with a strap. What you will notice however, is that the strap is superfluous. It is not stabilizing the mandolin. Mike's right arm is stabilizing the mandolin. The video would be exactly the same without the strap.
My straps are left attached, partly because I more often than not practice standing, and partly because it would take extra effort to remove them, past the strap locking arrangement. Even sitting, I am often playing with the instrument a bit to my side, and hanging from the strap.
My acoustic, a Buchanan 10-string, is heavy at the peghead, and left hand has to support it. This is not a technical problem, because best results, in my experience, come from the left hand really knowing how to work with the right hand. Sone support comes from wedging under right arm, but most from left hand. The amount is modest. My electric 10-string is closer to balanced, but I find no major technical differences in handling it compared to the acoustic.
The heavy electric gets a wide, guitar-style leather strap. The acoustic uses the lighter Ernie Ball nylon-web strap, which is slippery, but works well, easily adjustable.
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I not only always use a strap when playing, mine always stays on my mandolin even when it's in the case. Guess it might as well be considered part of the instrument, for my purposes.
The first man who whistled
thought he had a wren in his mouth.
He went around all day
with his lips puckered,
afraid to swallow.
--"The First" by Wendell Berry
+1 on Brent's comments above: Always on the instrument, always around my neck when playing, sitting or standing.
Just always done it that way.
Which is, of course, the best reason to keep doing anything...
"Keep your hat on, we may end up miles from here..." - Kurt Vonnegut
Big guitar straps can be a problem in tight-fitting mandolin cases or bags, so a lot of players go for small thin straps - since most mandolins aren't heavy.
I have a couple of braided leather ones, cowhide from Massimo Gatti and kangaroo leather from David Hine.
Although I have come to prefer these adjustable, woven silk/cotton straps:
Chicago straps
Bren
Like some others here, the strap is pretty well attached to the mandolin - loop around the scroll and grommet holding the strap button end - so it's on the mando all the time. At this point, I only play sitting down, using a foot rest (of sorts), per Mike Marshall's course at ArtistWorks. So, the strap goes over my shoulders.
Here's at least one video [link only] where the first thing he does is talk about seated posture (a frequent topic in his video exchanges!), and you can see he's got a strap on, but it's not doing anything, save possibly preventing an accidental drop.
https://youtu.be/K1_Q7DMrSck
2018 Kentucky KM-950, 2017 Ellis A5 Deluxe
I always use a strap on my mandolins whether sitting or standing. The primarily reason being I don’t want to drop it.
Kirk
2007 Kimble F5
1985 Kentucky KM 650
I notice how low he (and Chris Thile and others) has the mandolin in his lap.
I have a very long torso and with my mandolin strapped at comfortable playing position, the mando is no where near that low in my lap when seated.
Even propping my left leg right up, with the upper point resting on my left leg I'd need to be hunched right over...
I like that the mando is light.
I use mainly old black or thin leather camera straps from second hand shops or multicoloured 1/2inch flat climbing strap material with paracord at the ends.
You can buy nice ones too.
Whatever, there’re always attached, I think it’s safer that way.
Always do, always have. You can simply let go of your instrument whilst you do something else - change picks, pick up a capo, take a drink etc. etc.
I remember the late Red Rector who never seemed to use one even when standing
Having watched a lot of Mike's videos through Artist Works, one of his main points on the strap while sitting is that if he gets to feeling the groove and leans up out of position, that the mandolin moves with him so he arm position doesn't have to change for those brief moments.
I personally would say I use the strap while sitting roughly 50% of the time.
Drew
2020 Northfield 4th Gen F5
2022 Northfield NFS-F5E
2019 Northfield Flat Top Octave
2021 Gold Tone Mando Cello
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I always use a strap, mandolin, guitar, ukulele, always. I usually practice standing up, but I still use a strap when playing seated.
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And still saving my nickels & dimes & bottle caps & breakfast cereal box tops for my lifetime mandolin.
Standing or seated, I use a boot lace slung over my shoulder.
2021 The Loar LM700 VS
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