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Thread: where best to put strap button on A5 mandolin

  1. #1
    Registered User Nick Gellie's Avatar
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    Default where best to put strap button on A5 mandolin

    I am canvassing from forum members where best to put strap button under the neck join on an A5 mandolin.

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    Registered User mandobassman's Avatar
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    Default Re: where best to put strap button on A5 mandolin

    This is where I put mine. The info is from the Breedlove web site but it applies to other brands of mandolins as well.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Default Re: where best to put strap button on A5 mandolin

    Agree with mandobassman. I have two A5's with the strap button the the treble side and they work very well.
    Joe Zingsheim

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    Registered User Nick Gellie's Avatar
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    Default Re: where best to put strap button on A5 mandolin

    Thanks so much for the information. I will follow up with my mando supplier.

    I just wanted to make sure before one gets put in.

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    Registered User Ivan Kelsall's Avatar
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    Default Re: where best to put strap button on A5 mandolin

    I put mine here. This is my once owned Weber "Beartooth" 'A' style. These days,i'd go with the folks who fasten a strap or thong under the front of the fingerboard.That way,there's no need to drill or fit anything,
    Ivan
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    George Wilson GRW3's Avatar
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    Default Re: where best to put strap button on A5 mandolin

    I have mine in the same place Ivan. I play up into Florida. A guitar style treble side strap button would interfere. Looping under the fretboard extension might be good for some but I tried it on the mandola and did not like it. The good news there is you can try that without drilling.

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    Lost my boots in transit terzinator's Avatar
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    Default Re: where best to put strap button on A5 mandolin


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    Registered User Ivan Kelsall's Avatar
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    Default Re: where best to put strap button on A5 mandolin

    George - I also play right the way over the 12th down (up ?) into 'unknown' territory. A strap button on the neck wouldn't allow that with any ease. Chris's pic.above explains the 'strap under the fingerboard' principle better than any words.I certainly think that if i ever have another "A" style i'll try it,but if you're a 'high fret picker',it could get in the way.Maybe something that you just have to get used to,
    Ivan
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    Default Re: where best to put strap button on A5 mandolin

    My Kimble came with a strap button in the place mandobassman shows in his diagram - I think all Will's "A" styles do - and it doesn't get in the way when I'm trying to play on the upper frets.

    If its good enough for Will, its good enough for me which is why I put a button in the same place on my National RM1.

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    Registered User Tom Sanderson's Avatar
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    Default Re: where best to put strap button on A5 mandolin

    I'm with Chris (Terzinator). The strap under the fingerboard works just fine for me. I had a strap button installed on a Nugget 2 point on the treble side a long time ago and I found that the mando wanted to tip forward if I didn't hold on to it. I had it removed and the hole filled in. I try to avoid anything that requires drilling holes. I'm the same way about my Boston Whaler boat.

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    Registered User Nick Gellie's Avatar
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    Default Re: where best to put strap button on A5 mandolin

    I am with you both Tim and Chris (terzinator). I am heading towards the strap under the fingerboard option. I find the idea of drilling holes in a mandolin a bit too much for me as well. By the way I build boats too. I avoid putting nails in the boat when I can use epoxy glue and I get a nice wood on wood results.

    I have also checked out my celtic mandolin which has the strap button directly underneath the fingerboard but it has lots of space there and a flat heel so it works ok. Thanks also for letting me know that the mandolin wanted to tip over as well. Yip, I am going down the suggested path both of you suggested.

  13. #12
    its a very very long song Jim's Avatar
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    Default Re: where best to put strap button on A5 mandolin

    I like em where it's shown on Webber
    Jim Richmond

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    Default Re: where best to put strap button on A5 mandolin

    Sorry, but no strap button on my mandolins! I strap on the headstock.

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    two t's and one hyphen fatt-dad's Avatar
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    Default Re: where best to put strap button on A5 mandolin

    I tie around the peghead too (i.e., no strap button).

    f-d
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    coprolite mandroid's Avatar
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    Default Re: where best to put strap button on A5 mandolin

    pretty much covers it Loop around the pear end of the body , or the headstock
    or screw in a neck/ body button.
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    Registered User doc holiday's Avatar
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    Default Re: where best to put strap button on A5 mandolin

    I'm w/ Terzinator Click image for larger version. 

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    Default Re: where best to put strap button on A5 mandolin

    I have an A coming, and now I have to roll this over in my noggin. Grrrrrr!
    What I don't like about the strap under the fretboard end is that you slowly wear a groove around the body.
    Do that for a thousand years and you'll cut it in half!

  20. #18
    Lost my boots in transit terzinator's Avatar
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    Default Re: where best to put strap button on A5 mandolin

    Quote Originally Posted by MONami View Post
    Do that for a thousand years and you'll cut it in half!
    He's right, ya know

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    Registered User John Flynn's Avatar
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    Default Re: where best to put strap button on A5 mandolin

    I had not previously been a headstock attachment fan, because I didn't like it when my hand would run into the strap when I was playing up at the nut. But I recently came up with configuration shown below and I really like it. It's a just a leather bootlace tied around the headstock with a square knot, with the ends left long and then tied through the strap end with another square knot.

    This is still experimental for me, so it still looks a little rough. I plan to "pretty it up" at some point. But the features/advantages for me are:
    > It counters the "headstock heavy" situation better than anything I've tried
    > It keeps the strap out of my way when I'm playing near the nut
    > Despite how it might look in the picture, it does not interfere with tuning, since the square knot keeps the lace more toward the front of the headstock, so the tuners are more behind the lace
    > The lace does not impinge in any way on the gears in the back

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Default Re: where best to put strap button on A5 mandolin

    I'm a cheap old cowboy... On my 1940's SOL two point, I used a 27 cent o-ring screw, the tiniest I could find, screwed into the lower bout near the body as shown in the Breedlove diagram mentioned above, then threaded a $2.59 Kiwi Outdoor 54" bootlace (it has a nice stretch to it) through the tailpiece. Some will cringe, but it wokrs just fine for me.Click image for larger version. 

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    Default Re: where best to put strap button on A5 mandolin

    I have a saying, " whatever suits you, tickles me plum to death". The hole from the screw you put in won't be any different than the hole from a strap button screw. It gives you a secure tie point for the strap of your choice. I prefer to fasten the strap to the headstock, but refer to my saying.
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    Default Re: where best to put strap button on A5 mandolin

    Quote Originally Posted by yankees1 View Post
    Sorry, but no strap button on my mandolins! I strap on the headstock.
    Me too!

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    Mando-Afflicted lflngpicker's Avatar
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    Default Re: where best to put strap button on A5 mandolin

    You know what you want and a well placed strap pin can be a great convenience. I just have trouble, myself, altering the beautiful instrument. Tying the lace under the raised fretboard works so well that I would avoid changing the instrument in this way. Again, not for me to say, just my own way. I am sure you will locate it beautifully.
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    Default Re: where best to put strap button on A5 mandolin

    Decade old thread bump! Love it!! Brought a grin to my face to see Ivan’s post, RIP. I’ve been to chicken to put a strap button on my Kelley A-5 and would touch base with Skip before doing so, but I did add end pins to a couple of ukes without any problems/issues.
    Chuck

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    Default Re: where best to put strap button on A5 mandolin

    Ivan (who I first met some 50 years ago - when he was a banjo player!) was a confirmed hater of strap buttons for reasons best known to himself. I have a strap laced under the fretboard on my Collings Mandola. If I hadn’t bought the strap, I’d probably screw a button on. There’s a strap button on my Kimble A - Will put it there when he built it.

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