Painful hand straps on Bastari anglo

[Charlie Butterworth]

The hand straps that came with my Bastari Anglo are giving me pain over the lowest knuckle on my index fingers. The strap seems somewhat stiff with a sharp edge to it. A couple of things come to mind:

 

1. Soften the leather and shave the hard edge.

2. Back the straps with a soft suede

3. Buy different straps - not necessarily leather

4. New hand straps, along with retrofitting the more typical strap fastening system

4. Consider whether the hand rests on the Bastari could be replaced with homemade (better) hand rests, etc.

 

There is not a cat in hell’s chance that I can afford an upgrade. My Bastari is one of the ones made in Italy, so I reckon I can make do with it.

 

thanks,

Charlie

[Ken_Coles]

Try some other leather - scraps are not hard to come by if you try craft stores, etc. You can cut it, punch holes in it, and so on as needed. After having my first "real" concertina provoke carpal tunnel inflammation, I have little patience with discomfort caused by instruments and alter whatever I have to to fix it. Don't hesitate to experiment, good luck.

 

Ken

[arkwright]

I made some comfortable hand straps from an old handbag strap. 

[alex_holden]

Try softening the edge first as it's the easiest option. You can just use sandpaper.

[David Colpitts]

I use old wool socks.  If you get one with the pre-made hole (that’s ‘cause they’re old) then you can just loop through, fold them inside themselves once or more to fit.  It works for me.  

 

David

[Charlie Butterworth]

Thanks for the replies. I had made some straps out of thin leather, but they stretched. The ones that came with the concertina are thicker and stiffer. However, I have socks that are beyond wearing, so I will modify them as strap covers and see how that works.

 

Charlie