Braided straps: 'the Hartshorn mandolin strap'
Owen Hartshorn is one of the best leather braiders in Australia. I asked Owen to design a braided strap to suit both mandolins and mandolas and he has come up with a great product.
They are all completely hand made. Owen braids 12 strands of kangaroo leather and finishes them with shellac. He uses a range of colours and each strap ends up being quite unique. They vary slightly in width within a range of about 15 to 20 mm. Some straps are finished at one end with tassels. The tailpiece end has a slider that locks neatly over the button while the neck end has two optional holes for lengths of approximately 1100mm and 1150mm.
The price is AUD $85. Contact me if you would like to own one of these great straps.