Hey everybody:
The straps are on. The personal value of the instrument has gone up astronomically--or a whole lot. My original concern was born of ignorance. I knew my pokerwork is mass produced, but I didn't know what sort of things one can get away with when it comes to modifying one. Those who responded were most gracious in their responses. The job is done. It solved all sorts of difficulties. My right hand is much happier.
Thanks again for your help.
Now as to the message which has created the fracas:
I'm a fiddler, and I also have played in Rock and Roll bands. A few years ago, I was playing regularly in smoky Montana bars, and the drunken dancers often bumped into the band--no stage. At that point, I bought a relatively inexpensive electric fiddle, because I knew that if a drunk smashed that fiddle, it would cost me some money, but if one smashed one of my fine, beloved acoustic fiddles, it would break my heart. I didn't have a fiddle that had cost me as much as the electric, but each had a personality, and I was attached to them on a level that goes beyond owner/object. I think what Michael was saying is about the real, not the monetary worth of instruments. It isn't cash, but it isn't just nostalgia, either. It's beyond all that. And if the preceding isn't gibberish, I'll eat my hat.
Thanks again for your help concerning the brackets and straps.