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[Harp2]

I would like to put some straps on my Erica but there are no brackets and i don't know....
1. Where the best spot to install them is???
2. Where to get some in the US..
3. Is there something from the hardware store that looks decent??
If you know of any photos of placement spots I sure would appreciate seeing some.
Thanks

[Matthew B]

Welcome!,

Depending on where you're located various folks will be able to provide strap brackets.  The Button Box in Amherst, MA, listed and linked on the front page of this site under "Shops and Repairers" will sell you a standard pair, and give you some hints on placement and installation (don't drill big holes, use an awl to make a little pilot hole, be gentle with the screws . . . and so on).  D rings on little hanger straps are used by some folks --- available from your local hardware store --- but unless you put in an extra screw, they tend to work loose over time, and they only work for a single strap, not a pair. 

And when the job is finished, you'll look at it and realize how you should have done it. 

[Québécois]

I got a set of straps and brackets from Bernard Loffet (the overseas postage is very reasonable) to put on my Corona II, which originally had only 1 strap:
http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=360060830563

I like simple straps but he also has padded models:
http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=230260808601

If you buy both you save on the postage as he will put everything in one big envelope. He speaks English.

[Dennis Steckley]

Finally got around to installing some new barely used Hohner straps on my Victoria Club II.  One end has a snap which was a bit too thick to slide through the bracket, so I had to gently pry the bracket up a bit.  Got 'em on and I am very pleased!
Dennis S.

[richard.fleming]

You can get strap brackets which bolt through the case with small nuts inside - a much stronger fixing. The normal cheap fixing brackets can suffer from the small screws coming loose and from the brazing that holds the two parts together breaking, whereas with the type I'm recommending the bracket is essentially one piece held by the two screws.

[Lester]

You can get strap brackets which bolt through the case with small nuts inside - a much stronger fixing. The normal cheap fixing brackets can suffer from the small screws coming loose and from the brazing that holds the two parts together breaking, whereas with the type I'm recommending the bracket is essentially one piece held by the two screws.

If you are playing the box so hard that you can break brazed joints you are doing something wrong   

[John MacKenzie (Cugiok)]

Finally got around to installing some new barely used Hohner straps on my Victoria Club II.  One end has a snap which was a bit too thick to slide through the bracket, so I had to gently pry the bracket up a bit.  Got 'em on and I am very pleased!
Dennis S.

If by "snap" you mean a spring clip. like they have on dog leads and the like, I heartily recommend ditching it. I have bought a couple of boxes at auction which have had these fitted, and the damage they can do to the body of the box is just scary.

Sir John

[baz parkes]

If you are playing the box so hard that you can break brazed joints you are doing something wrong   

Guilty as charged your honour...bracket on my Salty 1 Row has just sheared after 29 years...

[Lester]

If you are playing the box so hard that you can break brazed joints you are doing something wrong   

Guilty as charged your honour...bracket on my Salty 1 Row has just sheared after 29 years...

What you are doing wrong is being really old 

[richard.fleming]

Most players pick up their boxes by grabbing the shoulder strap somewhere near the bracket. The whole weight can then be on two very small short screws. If you have ever heard the sound of a box dropping from a few feet onto the floor you won't forget it. It's nothing to do with rough playing, more about looking after your box by installing well-designed fittings.

[Theo]

The bolt through fittings can be more secure than the screw on type, but that's usually to do with insecure screws than fracture of the bracket.  I've repaired many examples of screw holes that have become enlarged leading to loose brackets, but it's not normally a problem if you look after your instrument. The heavier the box the more load is carried by the brackets which may explain why the bolt through type are common on piano accordions. 

Screw on brackets are easier to fit and normally perfectly satisfactory for lighter boxes.  Bolt through brackets need more space inside for the nuts to be fitted, and in particular they need enough space away from the various bits of wood fitted inside for reinforcing or to retain reed blocks and to form curved corners etc.  Bolt through types can also be problematic if the nuts come loose leading to air leaks, or in extreme cases the same result as a broken screw on bracket.

It's horses for courses.  Different types of brackets each have their uses.

[boxcall]

Most players pick up their boxes by grabbing the shoulder strap somewhere near the bracket. The whole weight can then be on two very small short screws. If you have ever heard the sound of a box dropping from a few feet onto the floor you won't forget it. It's nothing to do with rough playing, more about looking after your box by installing well-designed fittings.

My teacher told me don’t pick up the box by its shoulder strap, good advice I’m sure.
To be honest though I haven’t been the best student here. I do tend to pick up both ends of the box normally but not always 

[Theo]

But if you play with two straps (I know many don’t) or if you play standing up then the whole weight of the box is carried by the strap brackets.  I think the advice about not picking up by the straps is more to do with avoiding the bellows extending and (if the straps aren’t closed) and the left end swinging around out of control.

[Steve_freereeder]

Finally got around to installing some new barely used Hohner straps on my Victoria Club II.  One end has a snap which was a bit too thick to slide through the bracket, so I had to gently pry the bracket up a bit.  Got 'em on and I am very pleased!
Dennis S.

If by "snap" you mean a spring clip. like they have on dog leads and the like, I heartily recommend ditching it. I have bought a couple of boxes at auction which have had these fitted, and the damage they can do to the body of the box is just scary.

Sir John

Yes, I totally agree with what Sir J said. Those dog-clip spring snap style clips are really rigid, even the plastic ones, and can dig into the wooden casework of the instrument as quick as winking, leaving unsightly dents and bruising. Far better to use conventional leather straps, especially when combined with leather or fabric buckle protectors to prevent any scratching when being transported in a case.

[boxcall]

But if you play with two straps (I know many don’t) or if you play standing up then the whole weight of the box is carried by the strap brackets.  I think the advice about not picking up by the straps is more to do with avoiding the bellows extending and (if the straps aren’t closed) and the left end swinging around out of control.

That’s a good point Theo, I would agree, with a good thread bite on the wood it should be fine up to a certain weight.
There’s not a lot of wood for the threads and one should (if possible) make sure the point of the screw pierces though the wood, no holding power in the point of screw.

[Theo]

I think this is a concern over not very much.   I've repaired too many instruments that have suffered accidental damage, none of them caused by strap bracket failure.  More often an excess of strong drink!

[Steve C.]

Nice brackets at good price from Bossetto in TX.  Narrow Italcinte straps from Button Box.

[Dennis Steckley]

No, "Sir John," not "snaps" as in "clips."  Maybe snaps has a different connotation on your side of a pond.........I mean the kind of snaps like those which hold the bellows closed or as might be found up the front of a jacket or the like.
Dennis S.

[Winston Smith]

Sounds like a press stud?

[Steve C.]

On Ericas/Pokerworks the screw brackets are fine. I have the 3-screw brackets on by Pokerwork over 35 years of abuse now and not even loose. Always pick up and carry box by the straps. Never a prob.