Is there a Good Strap at a Fair price?

[TerryD]

I've been reading the comments in here regarding some of the neck straps and I have come to the conclusion that the musicians quest for the "perfect" setup, i.e. mouthpiece, reed, lig and even neck strap, makes us vulnerable to all the "best" items. And then when the next "best" item comes along, we need that. Last year the hot neckstrap was the Dejaques ( I have two). This year it seems to be the Brancher. What will it be next year? The Planet Wave strap which looks almost identical to the Dejaques sells for 17 bucks. The DJ is about 35. There is a BG that looks almost identical to the Brancher. It sells for 24 bucks..... the Brancher is 40 to 45.
The hotter items can't really be that much better can they?

My question is this........... is there a comfortable, quality made, safe, reasonably priced neck strap that anyone can recommend? Possibly the ones I mentioned above? Any others? Thanks.

[Morry]

I believe the Brancher to be the finest strap available right now. But, then again, I could be wrong.

[BobD]

I bought a Ray Hyman supersling. It's a wider version of their standard strap. It cost 10 bucks. It's not perfect though. I epoxied a plastic tab over the hook so that it will never fall off and will be sewing on a neoprene pad for added comfort. Although it's not to bad with out the pad.

[max]

I have the Planet Wave strap. I'd hesitate to call it the "best" but it works very well for me and I liked the price.

Maybe if I had seen the Brancher strap before I bought it I would have sprung for it (maybe), but I'm not about to replace a perfectly good neckstrap just because there might be one out there that's slightly "better".

[Dweekie]

I don't know about most people, but my opinon is that you should definitely get the best neckstrap you can. It's your neck on one end and your sax on the other - the 2 most important (and expensive) aspects of playing saxophone. If it hurts your neck to play or the clip breaks off, OUCH - it just ruins the whole experience. And besides, its cheaper than a mass produced hard rubber mouthpiece, and we all pick those up like candy from a candy store (sorry for that extremely trite statement). That said, i would still do "trials" of the latest neckstraps just like mouthpieces, comfort is just as important, if not more important, than sound. As for the "comfortable, quality made, safe, reasonably priced neck strap", people just prefer different things (harness, anatomical, sling, etc). I guess straps can be like mouthpieces......

[TerryD]

Dweekie.......... what kind of strap are you using?

[Dweekie]

teryyD,
I, like morry, use the brancher anatomical strap. For me, it beat last year's favorite, dejacques, by a TKO. I stated more in the previous thread posted by BobD:
http://saxontheweb.myforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=10345&sid=540befde5d89fc046705a515 7114dbc5

[Morry]

Yeah, for me to spend an extra $20 to $25 on something that I'll use everytime I pick up a horn, was a no brainer. The Brancher is comfortable, easily adjustable, and very secure.

[TerryD]

Well I give up. Willpower is getting weaker and weaker. Must have Brancher neck strap. Must have. Actually I just bought one about a half hour ago. Paid for it by PayPal, so the deal is done. I just bought a SX90R tenor about a month ago and started obsessing about the teeth breaking on my DeJaques. Now I'm poorer, but at least I'll sleep easy at night. Thanks guys for all the info.

[max]

So if "next year's hot gotta-have-it neckstrap" costs $65, is it automatically going to be that much better than the $40-$45 Brancher? :wink:

[Morry]

Well, I played the same Supersling for 20+ years, so I'm not likely to just buy another one that I don't think is a real improvement in both security and comfort.

[bohosheets]

the absolute best strap I have seen is the one that came with my Yanagisawa alto, which I use it on both alto and tenor. So, I guess you could say my strap cost around $1600, which makes a $45 brancher seem like a real bargain.

[Bill Mecca]

So, I guess you could say my strap cost around $1600, which makes a $45 brancher seem like a real bargain.

:wink: I like that, they charged you $1600 for a strap but threw in a quality alto, such a deal!

seriously though, have you ever considered the best strap may not be a neck strap at all?


I've used the SpinStrap on my tenor for years, even before I had my neck injured when my car was rear-ended.

[Chiff]

the absolute best strap I have seen is the one that came with my Yanagisawa alto, which I use it on both alto and tenor. So, I guess you could say my strap cost around $1600, which makes a $45 brancher seem like a real bargain.

:? Precisely why I'm looking at this thread. My Yani Alto neckstrap is lethal...cuts off the blood supply in my neck unless I wear a high collar which I hate doing. Assume my horn shipped with an inferior strap...It's really holding me back with the learning curve.

So...I've failed to find any trace of Brancher straps in the UK or Europe either. Thought they were a French company? Can't afford the astronomical shipping from Saxforte which is more than the strap itself
:( .

Anyone know of a supplier in Europe?

Chiff

[rek]

After spending too much of the last several years trying to find the perfect setup at the expense of practicing, I finally got a combination of sax, mouthpiece, and reed that's working well for me. So I'm really happy and start practicing like crazy, but man my neck starts killing me. Time for another search, this time for the perfect neckstrap.

First I got a nicely padded one from Roberto, it feels fine when I'm playing but later the neck aches and the headaches kick in.

Next I tried a spinstrap. At first I thought this was the answer. It takes the weight off the neck and on to the shoulder - my neck felt great. But it felt constricting like I imagine a harness does, & then my thumb started really aching and I found myself wrapping my thumb just to play. I knew there had to be something better.

Well, I found it and I don't think I've ever heard anyone talk about this strap nor have I ever seen anyone wear it. It's the BG yoke strap but with an additional brace in the back that really is just suspenders. Without the suspenders it digs into my neck but with em on it pulls the strap onto my upper back so there's no force on the neck, just the upper back and shoulders. It does pull the pants up a bit in the back but not too bad. So far the strap doesn't slip. I got it at International Music suppliers for $35.31 before shipping. There's no pic on their page but there is one here:

http://www.woodwindandbrass.co.uk/acatalog/saxophone_straps.html

[Hurling Frootmig]

I was experiencing back pain after playing tenor and finally figured out that I was pulling on the horn and thus the neotech. I couldn't get it adjusted to fit just right because of the flexible strap. After hunting around I picked up a BG harness but it really keeps the horn too close to the body so I pulled out my Paul Brodie with the metal clip that is covered with shrink tubing. Works great.

The neotech is being used on my straight alto with fine results. I think the weight of the tenor just was too much for the strap.

[acadiansax]

???

[Dr_sax]

I´m using a Supersling like Morry for, I think, 25 years on my tenor. Never thought of it might break. When I got it I had a piece of thin leather sewed around it since I did not like the feeling of nylon in the back of my neck. I never had a problem with my neck since then.

[bassclarinet]

If it works--it's a fair price. If it does not, then---
Spent much money on straps as I have RA problems and my C-Melody is a handful. Check out my "experiences" with the Cordera Straps and the Addjust Balancer. A "search" will bring them up, or they are under C-Melody etc.
I'm very satified with what I have.

[awholley]

The Planet Waves leather strap is incredible for the price. I highly recommend it, but now you all have me wondering about dropping some extra bucks for a Brancher.

[rek]

After a month with the BG yoke strap my experience continues to be that for comfort it's by far the best strap I've tried. There are absolutely no issues with my neck, back, shoulders, or thumbs, and it allows me to get the horn out away from my body when I want. :D

[CurvedBone]

I own a Brancher (anatomical), and am dissatisfied with it. It's an attractive strap, however, it doesn't distribute the weight of the horn over the entire neck support area. Instead, it tends to focus the weight on the upper portion of the support (the part that sits highest on your neck, closest to your head). So, though the support area is 2.5 inches wide, the weight of my tenor is distributed over an area about .50 inches or less. Not impressed and out 40 bucks. Of course, I bought it at Saxforte so I CAN'T return it. Lesson learned.

[Dr_sax]

I bought a Cebulla Strap today and must say this thing is very comfortable. I got the large model. I works perfect for tenor and alto. It has a strong locking plastic hook and the neck-piece is made of fine leather and it distributes the pressure not to the middle of the neck. Cost me 29,-€. More info also in english: http://www.cebulla-saxstrap.de/
The piece to adjust isn´t made of plastic like the pictures on the site show- mine is made of a thick piece of metal. I think this thing will never break 8)

[saxforte]

We're always surprised when a post about us appears here and when the author has not contacted us with a question or an issue first. Makes us wonder what the purpose of the post is. If it's a solution you're after, you'll find us incredibly reasonable to deal with.

Mathew Aaron
http://www.saxforte.com

[CurvedBone]

My impression from communication between you and I is that Saxforte is unwilling to accept returns/exchanges. The purpose of my post is simply to concur with previous posts as to the comfortability of the strap you sell and claim to be the "world's best" saxophone neck strap. It is my opinion that the strap is poorly designed.

[saxforte]

Dear CurvedBone,

I have only contended that:
a) we are reasonable, when approached
b) we were never approached by you with an issue

Spreading ill-will over a forum is not the best way to solve a problem.
Which leads us to a speculation we made yesterday.... if you are not after a solution, as it appears you aren't, then you seem only to be interested in damaging our business.

And our post is intended to underline this apparent behavior.

Mathew Aaron
saxforte.com