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This question is mainly for my banjo but it seems to apply to my guitar as well. For me it is most comfortable to have the left end of the strap attached to just above the nut on the neck. Is this a bad idea? I worry that it is putting stress on the neck.

Thanks

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2 Answers

up vote 4 down vote

In the case of a heavy banjo (and specially if it has a long neck) I wouldn't recomend that you attach your strap that way, it would most surely cause tuning problems, to say the least. For a guitar I don't think it would be such a big deal. Been using mine that way for decades, without any problem.

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@Brazilgrass, thanks for the input. Given the different opinions I left the question open for a while in the hope that one answer would pull ahead on the upvotes but I guess its time to make the call. So given your slight margin, I will accept your answer and try to rig the strap somewhere other than the neck! – KennyPeanuts Apr 14 '11 at 22:38
up vote 3 down vote

In general, guitars are made to balance with the strap attached to the body (I know, it's a generalisation - one of my acoustics has the strap attached at the nut:-) - so altering that will change the way it hangs. Whether or not that is a bad thing is obviously up to you.

I would imagine, even for an electric, that it shouldn't harm the guitar - the truss rod and neck are set up to cope with high levels of tension so unless you jump up and down a lot, the bending moment on the neck shouldn't be an issue.

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thanks for your thoughts. I wound up accepting @Brazilgrass 's answer based on the very slight margin in upvotes but it doesn't appear to be an open and shut case. – KennyPeanuts Apr 14 '11 at 22:40

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