Button accordion single strap

[Perry Falcon]

I have two button accordions, both of which came with double straps. Most Irish button box players seem to prefer a single strap, locking their instrument against the outside of their thigh for better control. Can anyone tell me where one can get hold of such a strap and how long it needs to be? I asked a professional player recently and he said he made it himself.

 

[tcabot]

When you say button accordion, do you mean CBA or do you mean smaller DBA?

CBA-wise, I know that bayan players used to play with one strap back in the days when the thumb was kept behind the keyboard at all times. The set-up is considered significantly inferior to double straps. With thumb-over technique I don't think it's possible to play like this at all.
Just don't.

DBA-wise, the story is pretty much the same I think, but because DBAs are still played with the thumb behind the keyboard (afaik), they are still sometimes used with a single strap. Since you can register your hand against the keyboard, and you don't need to have the same degree of precision as the CBA, I don't think you'll be too disadvantaged with a single, but you're probably still better off with a well set-up double.

In regard to the strap's size the exact optimal length for everyone is calculated as 2*(half its length). It needs to be comfortable on the pull, and you push against your right leg (and your right hand...although you're not supposed to) on the push.

 

[OuijaBoard]

For the US, contact Irish button box superhero, repairer, dealer, and gent of gents John Nolan at Buttons and Bellows:

Buttons And Bellows

www.buttonsandbellows.com

Euro-side, see Irish free reed disseminator Sean Garvey in Dublin:

Garvey Accordions For Sale | Buy In-Store & Online

Learn more about Garvey Accordions. Browse our range of button accordions and accessories. We stock beginner, improver, and professional traditional accordions. Shop in-store or online for Irish traditional accordions, handcrafted by experts.

www.allaboutaccordions.com

 

[OuijaBoard]

Here's one at Hobgoblin UK:

accordion & melodeon straps - Accessories for instruments - Accessories

Hobgoblin Music has provided musicians with otherwise hard to find folk instruments, celtic instruments and acoustic instruments for 40 years, and has grown to be the largest source in Europe, and probably the world. We have music shops across the UK as well as an online shop and worldwide mail...

hobgoblin.com

 

[Perry Falcon]

When you say button accordion, do you mean CBA or do you mean smaller DBA?

CBA-wise, I know that bayan players used to play with one strap back in the days when the thumb was kept behind the keyboard at all times. The set-up is considered significantly inferior to double straps. With thumb-over technique I don't think it's possible to play like this at all.
Just don't.

DBA-wise, the story is pretty much the same I think, but because DBAs are still played with the thumb behind the keyboard (afaik), they are still sometimes used with a single strap. Since you can register your hand against the keyboard, and you don't need to have the same degree of precision as the CBA, I don't think you'll be too disadvantaged with a single, but you're probably still better off with a well set-up double.

In regard to the strap's size the exact optimal length for everyone is calculated as 2*(half its length). It needs to be comfortable on the pull, and you push against your right leg (and your right hand...although you're not supposed to) on the push.

It's a diatonic button accordion. You may be right that I'm better off wit two straps, but I'd like to try the one strap method used by Sharon Shannon et al.

 

[Perry Falcon]

Here's one at Hobgoblin UK:

accordion & melodeon straps - Accessories for instruments - Accessories

Hobgoblin Music has provided musicians with otherwise hard to find folk instruments, celtic instruments and acoustic instruments for 40 years, and has grown to be the largest source in Europe, and probably the world. We have music shops across the UK as well as an online shop and worldwide mail...

hobgoblin.com

Thanks for your posts. I'll try Sean Garvey and Hobgoblin.

 

[OuijaBoard]

Advice about straps is not terribly transferrable from unisonoric to bisonoric accordions.

Some 2-row Irish bisonoric players do use 2 straps. However, for certain, not only do many use one strap and sit the thing over to the side against one knee, I have personally heard a couple of the master teachers strongly advise this. I'm not saying it's the only way--people should do what works for them. But it is very much the "done thing."

 

[tcabot]

Advice about straps is not terribly transferrable from unisonoric to bisonoric accordions

YMMV.
Having been squeezing the DBA non-stop for a month, the accordion bellows technique from CBA is 100% transferrable to DBA. I play with two straps & thumb over the keyboard.
You can play both CBA and DBA with a single strap, but that means pushing the bottom keyboard corner against your thigh. For a self-taught complete beginner this can also lead to the bad habit of pushing the keyboard with the right hand.
Both options are possible, but in the unisonoric world folks have moved away from the single strap decades ago (I wonder why ). I see absolutely no possible advantage from using 1 strap, apart from £20-40 saving from buying a single strap instead of the pair. Maybe somebody can enlighten me of the single strap benefits. Perhaps, if the complete beginner is absolutely clueless about setting up his accordion straps, setting up one is a lot easier than setting up two, but that's a poor excuse, imho.
With the much smaller, lighter DBA and lack of thumb use, especially on a two-row keyboard, it is a lot easier to get away with the single strap technique - that is true.

Let's just say that if you were to ditch the second strap on your CBA, you won't suddenly start playing like Yuri Kazakov. Or would you? I'm off to try it out.

 

[tcabot]

Nope. My playing did not improve to Kazakov's level after I removed one strap.
Was worth a try though.

 

[dunlustin]

Hope this is (still) useful:

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