Accordion Straps
Please note: Leather items made in Europe may be in short supply and we have no control over price increases or changes in material from genuine leather to artificial (faux) leather.
Shoulder Straps
Black, leather end straps and spine, with velour/velvet or imitation leather padding, made in Italy. Top quality. Sold only in pairs. Back straps, when present, are permanently attached.
IMPORTANT Make sure your shoulder straps are the correct size, in good condition and properly adjusted. If they are slipping off your shoulders you will have shoulder pain from unconsciously shrugging them back into place.
Sizes
- (widths are approximate)
- Small -- for 12-bass accordions and button boxes, no padding, 1 inch wide
- Medium -- for smaller accordions, light padding, 1.5 inches wide
- Full -- for any size accordion, comfortable padding, 2 inches wide
- Super Deluxe -- for any size accordion, heavy padding, 2.5 inches wide
- Elephant 3-inch -- for larger accordion, extra heavy padding, 3 inches wide
- Elephant #4 (3.5 inches) -- for larger accordion, extra heavy padding, 3.5 inches wide
Here are rough guidelines for sizing straps:
| Accordion size | 12 - 60 bass | 60 - 120 ladies | 120 full size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accordion weight | 10 - 15 pounds | 15 - 18 pounds | 18 pounds and up |
| Your height | up to 5 feet 7 inches | 5 feet 6 inches - 5 ft 10 inches |
over 5 feet 6 inches |
| Your weight | up to 160 pounds | up to 180 pounds | over 180 pounds |
| Recommended | medium or full | super deluxe | elephant 3 or 3.5 inches |
About the straps we sell here
All shoulder strap sizes except for Small are available in either Plain (imitation leather padding) or Velvet (textured velour padding). We find the velour tends to minimize slippage on sweaters and most shirt fabrics, as it has a corduroy nap to it. However, the plain imitation leather padding, with its conservative look, remains our most popular strap style. We stock these in black, but they can be special ordered in white or red. Additional options that can be special-ordered are Alligator finish (a special textured reptile skin simulation on black leather) on velvet padding, and Alpine ribbon (embroidered with white, red & blue flowers & green leaves).
All of our shoulder straps are sold in pairs, one for each shoulder, and each strap in the pair has in 2 sections: the lower half is the leather part that has the large adjusting buckle to fit the player, and the upper half has the padding that goes over the player's shoulder.
At the top of the upper section and the bottom of the lower section, there are plain leather ends with smaller adjusting buckles that attach to the strap hardware on the instrument. These ends are approximately 11/16-inch wide, about 1/8-inch thick, and rather stiff when new. They will wear soft and thinner with age but when first installed, they may not fit the old strap brackets on your accordion. Please check the size of your brackets before ordering. The crescent shaped strap brackets we sell will fit all of our strap ends.
In between the plain leather parts of the upper section of the strap is the padding, which is widest at the point where it goes over the player's shoulders. The padding is fixed in place and does not slide up and down the strap while you are playing.
All sizes from Super Deluxe and up come with an attached back strap, with the exception of the Alpine straps. Back straps are permanently attached to the shoulder straps - they cannot be removed without cutting the leather or removing the bolts, and they do not slide up and down to different positions, although the length of the back strap is adjustable. If you need a back strap with adjustable positioning, it would be best for you to purchase a Full size strap and get your back strap separately.
