Different Types of Neckstraps

KEEP YOUR SAXOPHONE ROUND YOUR NECK!

What makes a good strap (or sling) for a sax?

The most important thing is the hook. On older slings these are just plain metal hooks, and there are two disadvantages. First the metal of the hook is usually a very hard metal such as steel, and after a while this will wear through a softer metals such as brass. And in case you hadn't noticed , most saxophones and their strap rings are made of brass. Second the saxophone can come unhooked. Not common if you are sitting down playing the saxophone nice and sedately, but how about if you are doing a little choreography as is so often the case these days, accidents can happen. Ouch!

To solve both these issues, many straps now have strong plastic "doglead" type hooks, which can't wear out the brass and close completely round the strap hook ring on your precious horn.

The other important assets a good saxophone neckstrap has are that it must be adjustable yet stable, ie stay in the position you adjusted it to without slipping. It must be comfortable and not cause any physical harm - human beings have not exactly evolved the perfect body for hanging a large chunk of metal round their necks.

What is the best strap?

I must admit that when I decided to write this page, I was going to buy, beg, borrow or steal some straps and review them all. That plan went out of the window after I bought the Cebulla, as nothing quite compares. Until then I had used a de Jacques (with its very clever hook gizmo), a Neotech (with a stretchy bit round your shoulders and a BG, as well as a BG harness on the bass saxophone, though I never got on with harnesses, much too fiddly for me but I like the way a big weight gets distributed more evenly.

Obviously it's the surface area of the strap that hangs round your neck which is crucial to making your horn feel lighter, and put less strain on your neck and back. For most people, this is not an issue with altos and usually tenors, but baritones and especially basses can feel very heavy, and after a while, I'm sure damage can be done to your body, either by encouraging bad posture in general, or even by compressing discs in your spine or trapping nerves in your neck.

The Cebulla Strap

The first thing I noticed about this one is the bit missing. It has quite thick and firm padding around the back of your neck, but this is in two sections, allowing a sort of valley so that no pressure is applied to your spine or the centre of the back of your neck. The idea behind this is to keep pressure from around the neck vertebrae, and so ensure that there is no stifling of the blood supply to the brain, which could cause fatigue. There is no mention of this on the site, but I also believe this can help stop problems associated with trapped nerves in your neck, anyone who has suffered mysterious neck pains or tingling in your hands will know what I mean.

OK, what else is good about this. Well, it's made of leather and has a real quality feel and look to it. The adjusting mechanism appears very simple, but really locks into position and is designed so your fingers fit neatly into the concave sides without slipping. The actual strap is a strong nylon chord, unlike the flat woven straps you get which can be very annoying as the adjustors often don't lie flat against you, but get twisted round so the edge cuts into you. And the hook is a plastic doglead type hook (carabiner) that won't allow your horn the freedom to crash to the floor. On the site there are are also metal ones.

Why all the different sizes?

You might think that a "one size fits all" is best, especially for those of us that double on different size saxophones. Economically that's true, but there is another reason these are available in five sizes. Any strap that adjusts between alto and baritone or bass, will end up with the strap closed round the front of your neck, which could put pressure on your carotid artery.

Having said that, I found that the tenor strap was fine to use on alto, tenor, baritone and bass. On alto, the padding extends roound the side of your neck and actually keeps the strap away from the artery.

As well as the tenor, I have the baritone strap. This is only very slightly longer, the should strap is a bit wider and the padding is not only thicker but seems to be firmer also. Obviously this is necessary to cope with the extra weight in order to keep the pressure from the neck. However I found with this that it felt slightly less comfortable as the thicker cushioning makes it feel more like two padded pressure points each side of your spine, rather than the more spread out feel of the tenor strap. Basically because of the thicker and harder material the two pads seem to have a smaller contact area even though the strap is wider. However once I tried this on the bass, that problem disappeared as the extra weight helped the "spread". The great thing is, I mentioned this to Johann Cebulla who makes the straps, and he mentioned that it can take a while for the sling to settle in, and that everyone is different, but the great thing is he thanked me for the feedback and said that he would take account of the smaller contact area and think about making it wider.

Update: Response from Johann

This is brilliant, I received an email from Johann: