Strap preference: attach to head stock or base of neck?

For those of you who use a strap, do you prefer to attach the the one end of the strap on the head stock or on a button somewhere on/near the base of the neck?

Why do you prefer your choice?

(I'm purposely not including a sound hole type strap because I wouldn't consider that type of strap.)

Definitely on the heel.

Whilst I seldom use a strap, I have the buttons on most of my ukes, just in case I change my mind, & occasionally use a lanyard attached to the heel button.

Headstock, so that it doesn't droop.

I rarely use a strap, but I prefer headstock tie-on if I do. I like the balance and feel better.

While I have used both I gradually converted all of my tenors to the base of the heel button.

The headstock attachment just started to annoy me. Corner of the eye distraction sort of thing. Both work, fine.

The base of the heel button is easier to put on and take off than a headstock strap or shoestring. But not by much.

My choice changes back and forth. I mostly use heel and bottom. On my Luna concert I run a leash from my right shoulder to the Luna’s head. It works pretty well.

I most always play my baritone or banjos seated, and, for a long time, I’ve been trying to just do without straps but find it difficult to keep the head up (Ha!) without one.

Lately, I’ve shortened the strap way up, and I’m holding the instrument on my right thigh. That seems to help with keeping the drooping head up.
ld:

Headstock. I just can't bring myself to screw a piece of hardware into my ukulele if I don't have to and that I wouldn't use half the time anyway. I don't always use a strap.

I greatly prefer the button on the heel for a few reasons. First I find the heel allows me to shift the strap. And I need to shift it based on where I'm playing. When I need to, I can nudge the ukulele and move it laterally so that the area I'm playing stays close to the center line of my body. When I do that with the headstock attachment, the whole ukulele shifts and the ukulele starts to orient itself perpendicularly to the ground.

Secondly, I always keep the straps on my ukes. When I am done playing, I wrap the strap around the lower bout of the ukulele and place it in the ukulele hard case. That wouldn't work with the headstock attachment. I would have to disconnect the headstock connection and that's more work than I care for.

Thirdly, if I had to stretch my strap all the way to the headstock, the strap would be very tight and high on my body, and I don't think that would serve me well ergonomically.

Neither, I prefer the Willie Nelson type strap on soundhole. Other ones just don't give enough support on such a light thing as ukulele.

I have the strap attached to the headstock with a wee leather thingie (and button on rear). The balance and fit is better that way for me (too tight on my body when attached at the heal). I never remove the strap and they tuck easily into any of my hard or soft cases. The thing about headstock attachment is I need to secure the leather thingie between the tuning heads. Next to the nut gets in the way of my hand.

I have both. I have my tenors fastened at the heel and my concerts fastened at the headstock. I own a couple of sopranos, without straps. I play them only sitting down around the house, so I don't need a strap. I can strum simple first position chords without a strap while standing, but anything very complicated requires a strap and I stand when performing. My straps stay on my ukes.
I have bought web belts at flea markets to use as straps. For the concerts, I braid leather boot laces and tie them at the headstock.
I don't put my head through the strap, but hang it on my right shoulder. I play mandolin this way, so when I took up the ukulele, I did it this way too.



Kala with braided leather boot lace and reso with web belt

Mandolin and tipple with South American woven belts

Strap over right shoulder. I must have been doing Ukulele Lady or Let's Talk Dirty In Hawaiian, since I'm wearing a lei.

How do you wear your strap? I put my head through for heavier instruments like guitars, but not for ukes and mandolins.

(Sorry 'bout the "attached Thumbnail". I posted it by accident and can't seem to get rid of it)

Definitely heel of the neck. All of my ukes are set up basically that way. With the headstock tie, the strap was always in my way & annoying me. To me the balance feels perfect with it on the heel of the neck. I don't play super high on the fret board a ton, and so far I haven't found that my strap or the button get in my way. I also keep my straps on my ukes all the time.

I have a strap on my concert, its actually a guitar strap fastened at the butt end and currently tied around the neck with a bit of wool. Finding it annoying to be honest, might have to get a proper uke strap.

Jim Yates said:

Strap over right shoulder. I must have been doing Ukulele Lady or Let's Talk Dirty In Hawaiian, since I'm wearing a lei.

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You look good in that shirt and with the Lei, love it. I'd love to visit Hawaii. Aloha!

I voted but as I have three ukes and each is strapped differently I don't really have a preference. One I play with out a strap, one is at the heal, one is at the headstock. It's more about the comfort with that particular instrument.

I'm with mjh42, my tenor strap attaches at the heel while my concert and soprano attaches at the head stock.

Headstock. Better balance for me.

mikelz777 said:

For those of you who use a strap, do you prefer to attach the the one end of the strap on the head stock or on a button somewhere on/near the base of the neck?

Why do you prefer your choice?

(I'm purposely not including a sound hole type strap because I wouldn't consider that type of strap.)

Click to expand...

I tried a sound hole type strap but it interfered with my strumming, seemed too likely to result in damage to the top and didn’t give hands free use ... so not a fan of them.

I mostly play Soprano and attach to the headstock and lower bout. To my mind (and for me) attaching to the heel would make the attachment feel cramped, leave the head noticeably less supported and needlessly ‘damage’ the Uke with another screw hole - my suspension is that attachment and support is more secure when done on the headstock too.

If I played a Baritone or maybe a Tenor then attaching at the heel might be worth me re-considering (the strap might then be a noticeably better fit on me), but for the smaller Ukes attachment at the headstock suits me best.

For a long time I was loathed to deface even a cheap Uke by drilling into it for a strap button, I used a leash and it helped. Eventually I decided that Ukes (well my inexpensive ones) were for playing rather than overly fussing about damage and resale values so I now choose to drill and fit a strap button. I’ve never regretted that choice, but if I had anything worth in excess of say $400 then I’m not sure that I could bring myself to drill any strap pin holes in it - even though they don’t strike me as ideal I’d then try to use a leash or modus strap instead. YMMV.

Bill normally takes down his posts but I would agree with his logic (below) and will delete if he asks:

My opinion is that the choice is about what you want to do with the uke. If you want to do several things, you have to prioritise which is most important.

1. Don't drill a collectible you need to keep in pristine condition to maintain re-sale. The straps pins should not really affect re-sale, but they can. If there are no pins a buyer has the choice of fitting pins or not. If the uke already has the pins, the buyer has no choice unless he or she wants to remove the pins and try to fix the holes.

2. Do drill your work horse for open mikes, group sessions, paid gigs. Fit two pins for the best playing opportunity.

3. Headstock attachment for a uke you want to carry around the house and garden to play in the breaks, or take on a hike. The headstock attachment make it easy to sling over your shoulder.

If in doubt don't be pressured into drilling your uke. Relax and take your time, wait until you feel comfortable or you get sick of holding the uke all the time because there is no-where safe to put it while you take a short break.

So now I'm looking for a nice looking strap for my concert. There's some nice ones on Wish...maybe I'll look on Amazon...

Bill1 said:

My opinion is that the choice is about what you want to do with the uke. If you want to do several things, you have to prioritise which is most important.

1. Don't drill a collectible you need to keep in pristine condition to maintain re-sale. The straps pins should not really affect re-sale, but they can. If there are no pins a buyer has the choice of fitting pins or not. If the uke already has the pins, the buyer has no choice unless he or she wants to remove the pins and try to fix the holes.

2. Do drill your work horse for open mikes, group sessions, paid gigs. Fit two pins for the best playing opportunity.

3. Headstock attachment for a uke you want to carry around the house and garden to play in the breaks, or take on a hike. The headstock attachment make it easy to sling over your shoulder.

If in doubt don't be pressured into drilling your uke. Relax and take your time, wait until you feel comfortable or you get sick of holding the uke all the time because there is no-where safe to put it while you take a short break.

Click to expand...

Definitely not the best idea for any uke you may want to sell, including collectibles. I've seen some placements which look not so good. If it isn't a uke with a huge number pf people looking to buy one, you may have a hard time selling it and have large price reductions.