A great idea for beginners
My retired partner and I are the usual fumbling beginners attempting to juggle learning to strum, hold it correctly, fretting, timing and the like. It goes without saying that having a nice safe and stable platform will allow us to concentrate on playing.
Our soprano ukes' small size makes holding it steady a chore and requiring two hands. Move one hand and the ukulele moves or changes angle. Pressing it too hard, or too easy. Changing angle of the neck both up and down, in and out.
Having played a guitar many years ago, I knew the value of a good strap and so naturally started looking for one. Unfortunately, uke's are not really designed for one. To use a guitar-type strap would require modifying the uke to attach a button or connector to the base. Half-straps just seemed ridiculous, holding up just one end. I really didn't like the kind that went under, then over, then clipped to the fragile and thin sound hole.
Then I saw the Mobius and was really quite taken with it. It was one of those "why didn't I think of that?" ideas. Simple but elegant, like all great designs. It had all the good attributes for us:
1. It would fit both of our very differently shaped bodies.
2. It would not put any stress on any part of the uke - not the neck, no modifications, no clip attached to the sound hole. It was made of material soft enough as to not damage the finish. It doesn't cover the soundhole.
3. It was designed to hold the uke, no hands. It did not force the uke against the body, and it seemed flexible enough to adapt to our personal holding angle and style.
The coolest part? As a former engineering student I was familiar with the scientific "Mobius strip or band" - illustrated by a long strip of paper that was cut, twisted once and reattached. Thus the professor could draw a line around the strip on both sides of the paper, without lifting the pencil. Great demo.
The advantage of the Mobius twist on this strap was that the twist allowed the uke to be held properly, while the twist allowed the strap to go around our human necks smoothly and without an edge digging in (as it would without the twist). So simple, so brilliant I thought.
Saw a couple of videos, and read a couple of good confirming reviews. I saw nothing else even like it, and I know good design when I see it. So our order went in. We look forward to using it and reporting our experience with it.
Oh, to be fair there is one limitation with this strap. It can only be used with the standard shaped ukulele (hourglass), as it needs the indentation to "hold" the uke.
