Strap Buttons Outdoor Ukulele

UkeStuff

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Hello everyone...

Not quite sure this is the right sub forum for this, but I would like to add strap buttons to my Outdoor Ukulele (tenor). I can send it back to the, for the service, but I am wondering if I can do it myself?

From other threads I saw the suggestion of a molly...does anyone have a Outdoor Ukulele with a strap button that can tell me how they attached it?

I have installed strap buttons on my other ukuleles...but they are all wood (even bought strap buttons to match the tuning peg colors).

Thanks in advance for feedback/suggestions. Worst case: sending it back to Outdoor Ukulele for the surgery.
 
I have a tenor Outdoor ukulele that has strap buttons installed. They use a standard button but the screw is replaced by a small stainless steel bolt that uses a nylon lock-nut on the inside. they must have some special tools to hold the lock-nut as access is very restricted.
 
Sounds cool. Do you have any pictures of this?

I do not like the way screws stress plastic over time. Also in an outdoor situation, the wrong screw selection will result in a rusty screw. So I drilled 2 x 1.5mm holes in the bottom end of the Outdoor Uke and another two in the heal. Then I tied a loop of strong cord at each position and tie the strap to the loop. A benefit is that it does not make the Outdoor uke 10mm longer in the pack. Note that the holes are 1.5mm, a tiny drill bit twisted in a with pin vice by hand, not 10mm gaping holes, you have to look hard to find them if the loop of cord is not fitted.
Then I use a bootlace or something similar as a strap so it can stay on the uke all the time and not get in the way when you are packing the pack.
 
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When I have looked at the instrument, I noticed that I did not do the base as I thought I had. Instead I have drilled a 3 or 4mm hole and fed a loop with a big knot and rag sort of bead to hold it in place. Not a glass bead which may buzz, just some clothe to stop the loop coming out. You get it in the hole by feeding through a piece of string first and tying the loop to the string. All the parts are polyester or nylon and dry quickly and wont rot.

Bill, this is brilliant !
 
View attachment 94891View attachment 94892

When I have looked at the instrument, I noticed that I did not do the base as I thought I had. Instead I have drilled a 3 or 4mm hole and fed a loop with a big knot and rag sort of bead to hold it in place. Not a glass bead which may buzz, just some clothe to stop the loop coming out. You get it in the hole by feeding through a piece of string first and tying the loop to the string. All the parts are polyester or nylon and dry quickly and wont rot.

That's spiffy looking!

I'm thinking of using Command hooks for a bit until I figure out if I want a strap and where I should stick it. Do the holes in the neck (is the bottom of the neck called the heel?) cause any changes in tone?
 
I like that, too. I did not order mine with strap buttons as I mistakenly thought they were just selling the buttons, not including installation. So, I kicked myself for a long while for missing out. But, the aspect of stressing the plastic over time was a consideration that I consoled myself with for not adding strap buttons.

With this way, it seems there is less stress to the ukulele. I think I would drill the one hole in the lower bout, feed a cord with a knot on the end, and tie the other end at the headstock. I play sitting down, so I am not holding the weight up while I play, just keeping the neck in position.

Thanks for the idea!
 
This is pretty ingenious - well done Bill!
Also, is that a black one? I never knew they made black. I like that they seem to switch up the colors fairly regularly. Keeps it fresh/new.

View attachment 94891View attachment 94892

When I have looked at the instrument, I noticed that I did not do the base as I thought I had. Instead I have drilled a 3 or 4mm hole and fed a loop with a big knot and rag sort of bead to hold it in place. Not a glass bead which may buzz, just some clothe to stop the loop coming out. You get it in the hole by feeding through a piece of string first and tying the loop to the string. All the parts are polyester or nylon and dry quickly and wont rot.
 
Here are a couple of photos of the strap buttons installed by Outdoor Ukulele. Note the nylon lock nut inside.
Several people have been concerned about stress from a screw in the polycarbonate material. Because this installation uses a clean hole and small bolt (not a screw) with inside lock nut I don't think there would be any significant stress.
OutdoorUke_button_01a.JPGOutdoorUke_button_02.JPG
 
Bill, this is brilliant !

I refer you to #4 for details of Bill’s idea.

I came across this thread by chance and thought of a variation of Bill’s idea that I’d used on a Makala Dolphin (another plastic bodied Uke) that has worked well for me. On the Dolphin I drilled a small hole (something just big enough for a normal buttons screw to go through with minimal clearance) in the lower bout in the usual place - which for me is dead centre in both planes. I then doubled an A or G string (thin) and fed it through the hole and out of the sound hole. Through the loop or eye of the string I threaded a thin nylon chord and then doubled the chord up to add a tap washer and small plain washer and then a knot. The chord was then pulled through the screw hole (by the Uke string) and a retaining knot added. I then had a loop on the outside of the Uke with which to attached the end of a strap. So there’s the principle which can be utilised to suit your needs and note the use of the rubber tap washer to spread load.
 
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One word: velcro
 
I've seen pictures here and elsewhere showing a crack radiating out from the button screw - on buttons installed by Outdoor and also by owners.

If I understand correctly the OU is made of a hard plastic that has no or virtual no ductility. I’m note sure whether OU uses self tapping screws or not but IMHO putting a self tapping screw into such material is not a good idea, it might work but the material isn’t going to ‘give’ against the screw thread and mould around it in the way that wood and soft plastic would. For the Dolphin some people glue a block of wood inside the body (I did on one long since given away) but I think that Bill’s solution is easier and just as functional. Edit. When you drill into brittle / non-malleable plastics it’s best to do so gently and to drill a pilot hole before the final size. Of course, under production pressure, a manufacturer’s workshop sometimes cuts corners to get a job out of the door, there should be no visible cracking around drilled holes.

I’d wondered about Oregonuke’s solution and feel that it could be OK if care is taken not to over tighten the fasteners (just very lightly nip up and definitely do use a nylock nut) and have a malleable load spreading washer on the inside. Though it might not look as good my first choice would still be something based on Bill’s suggestion.
 
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I think I followed up this question with an answer to someone else's post. Nothing has changed on this instrument. I don't hesitate to use a strap at all, and I still love it. My only wish is that Outdoor Ukulele offered a concert version, as that seems to be the happiest place for me (although I'll play anything from sopranissimo to ukulele bass). You can see my response in this thread:

https://forum.ukuleleunderground.co...old-up&highlight=outdoor+ukulele+strap+button

We bought Outdoor Ukuleles for our new school building (71 of them), and I had strap buttons installed on every one (we also bought straps from Legacy Straps). The straps are an option for students (not a requirement) as are felt or leather picks. Both companies offered a significant discount for schools, so I would definitely encourage their support from members of UU.

Our hanging system was finished today. It's a long story, but a quote for a custom hanging system was over $30,000. We bought pre-stained boards from Menards and very nice Donner instrument hooks (the kind that lock, but even the Outdoor Ukuleles aren't heavy enough to activate the locking system) and our lead custodian installed everything for under $600 (including supplies and labor). Yes, I'm going to be getting him a gift card.

An image of my new room, and a video tour if you are interested (before the hanging system was done). By the way, if you are counting ukuleles, the 71st is a tenor for me to use at school with a double pick-up, which I attach to our sound system with the Xvive Wireless system--it works great!


IMG_2224.jpg

 
I think I followed up this question with an answer to someone else's post. Nothing has changed on this instrument. I don't hesitate to use a strap at all, and I still love it. My only wish is that Outdoor Ukulele offered a concert version, as that seems to be the happiest place for me (although I'll play anything from sopranissimo to ukulele bass). You can see my response in this thread:

https://forum.ukuleleunderground.co...old-up&highlight=outdoor+ukulele+strap+button

We bought Outdoor Ukuleles for our new school building (71 of them), and I had strap buttons installed on every one (we also bought straps from Legacy Straps). The straps are an option for students (not a requirement) as are felt or leather picks. Both companies offered a significant discount for schools, so I would definitely encourage their support from members of UU.

Our hanging system was finished today. It's a long story, but a quote for a custom hanging system was over $30,000. We bought pre-stained boards from Menards and very nice Donner instrument hooks (the kind that lock, but even the Outdoor Ukuleles aren't heavy enough to activate the locking system) and our lead custodian installed everything for under $600 (including supplies and labor). Yes, I'm going to be getting him a gift card.

An image of my new room, and a video tour if you are interested (before the hanging system was done). By the way, if you are counting ukuleles, the 71st is a tenor for me to use at school with a double pick-up, which I attach to our sound system with the Xvive Wireless system--it works great!


View attachment 115299

Thanks for the video and for showing us your classroom setup. That is a very impressive and a showcase of how technology can serve the teacher, instead of the other way around.

When I was in school, music class (no more than ~15 students - it was a private school) we used a chalkboard that had a hand-drawn music staff which the teacher would painstakingly put on the board with a handle that held 5 pieces of chalk to facilitate drawing 5 perfectly parallel lines, and the teacher had a spinet upright piano in the front of the classroom. Seems like we've come a long way, provided that the school has the budget. :)
 
Just as a note, the kids have their own devices (we're a 1:1 iPad School), and the technology ultimately serves them. The only problem that we see is that it is a very short jump from appreciation to entitlement--true of all of us, but in particular with our current generation in schools.

As for cost, my set-up is pretty inexpensive all things considered. The large TV screen is in all teaching spaces (math, science, and special education all have an interactive SMART Board), the sound system is necessary for a space that large, and the teacher issued MacBook and iPad are standard in our school. The large iPad is my personal iPad.

The only other expense is the ukuleles, and the entire set of ukuleles is about 1/2 the cost of a single bassoon. Compared to band and orchestra, you could outfit a number of choir rooms in a similar way...I won't even speculate as to how many!
 
Thanks for the video about the classroom, its an amazing set-up.

The interest in my method is interesting. I have lost the photos, but I still use the uke when its hardy attributes are needed. Here is some text I sent to another member recently:

"Basically I drilled three holes in the uke so I could fit some 1mm cord loops to tie a strap to.
In the base, the hole is a bit bigger, about 3mm. Not much different to the hole you would drill to fit a strap pin, so cosmetically, its the nearly the same.
In the heel there are two holes, about 1.5mm in diameter.
For the base, I made a loop in the 1mm cord with a big knot that wont pull through the 3mm hole, fed into the hole from the sound hole. You use an old C string, poked through the hole into the body, to pull the loop through from the sound hole.
For the heel, the two 1.5mm holes are lined up and a piece of 1mm cord is threaded through to make a loop.
The idea is that the cord loops wont stress the plastic like a screw. Avoid using something hard like a bead or glue on the knot. You can leave out the holes in the heel and tie onto the headstock. The hole in the base is the same as what you would use to screw on a strap pin."

So that the text doesn’t get lost I’ve captured it above and hope that that is acceptable to all (Bill tends to delete his posts, to him it’s a conversation not a record).
 
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