Strad Pad

July 29, 2007 at 12:03 AM · In conservatory I absolutely relied on them for my irritated neck.

July 29, 2007 at 03:41 AM · ^do you or other people usually wear the elastic type or the velcro type? do ppl usually wear the medium sized or the large sized ones?

July 29, 2007 at 05:52 AM · i have both the velcro and elastic. i just bought them about 4 weeks ago and like them both a lot. my hickey has finally started to fade. the velcro looks like it would last longer but you can't easily remove it once you put it on. i would get the larger elastic if you would want to save money and use it for multiple instruments.

i don't use a guarneri rest but my guess is it should fit.

July 29, 2007 at 08:34 PM · I used one for a while, but got to feeling as though it pushed my violin away from me a bit. I went to a Wittner chinrest, the sidemount one, but which I put pretty far to the right, and worked with the height and location of my shoulder rest. Sue

July 29, 2007 at 09:09 PM · Hello, Chris!

I have a Guarneri-style chin rest and purchased a medium Strad-Pad from Shar Music.

I managed to force the Strad-Pad onto the chin rest, but I definitely needed a large Strad-Pad! The medium did not cover the chin rest where I needed it and the glue for the elastic that wrapped around the chin rest started to separate from the Strad-Pad. I left the pad on the chin rest all of the time to prevent further damage to the pad. (I did not even use the other elastic that attaches to the button.)

The Strad-Pad was comfortable and saved me from the "icky" post-practice ritual of trying to wipe the facial oil off of the ebony chin rest.

The manufacturer recommends that you buy two Strad-Pads, so that you can rotate them, using one while the one that you have cleaned is air drying. I strongly recommend that anyone who has a Strad-Pad get a spare. I have oily facial skin and my Strad-Pad looked quite repulsive after I had used it for a few days.

I would have needed to buy two more new, large Strad-Pads to continue using this product, which is very comfortable -- but my budget would not allow me to do so. (I damaged the medium Strad-Pad, so I could not exchange it.)

I am back to using my Guarneri-style chin rest "bare" and then taking a soft, old, dry wash cloth and trying to wipe off as much facial oil as I can after I practice or have a lesson. (If anyone has any tips about removing facial oil from an ebony, Guarneri-style chin rest, I would be very grateful!)

Fortunately, although I have been studying the violin only since late February, my face has not shown any tendency to develop a "chin-rest hickey." (My violin teacher has had her chin-rest hickey so long that she cannot remember when it first appeared.)

I hope that my semi-coherent reply has been of some help, Chris. I think you will be happy with a large Strad-Pad, and I would suggest that you purchase two, so that you have a spare.

Finally, I personally would not apply any kind of padding (e.g., a Strad-Pad) or cushioning (e.g., the gel cushions) that one must attach to one's chin rest with velcro or an adhesive backing, but I paid full retail for my Guarneri-style chin rest and I want to hang on to it for as long as possible. ;-)

Cordially,

David

July 29, 2007 at 09:25 PM · "I managed to force the Strad-Pad onto the chin rest, but I definitely needed a large Strad-Pad! The medium did not cover the chin rest where I needed it and the glue for the elastic that wrapped around the chin rest started to separate from the Strad-Pad. I left the pad on the chin rest all of the time to prevent further damage to the pad. (I did not even use the other elastic that attaches to the button.)"

how are you supposed to attach it to a guaneri chinrest? There's this thin loop underneath to strad pad that the directions say to put underneath the "chinrest lip" (whatever that is) and I tried looping it around the chinrest, but it didn't work... Will the velcro large strad pad fit better?

July 29, 2007 at 09:52 PM · Just a word of caution here. You may need something to cover the chin rest if it is plastic or if you are very sweaty or if you do not keep your chin rest clean.

If you have a wooden chin rest and you wipe it clean after each use and sometimes clean it with a little alcoholic solution you probably don't need anything to cover it.

If you do develop irritation and/or soreness be certain that you are not squeezing too tightly against the chin rest. You only need the lightest bit of weight on the chin rest if you are holding the violin correctly.

If you wish you can check out my article about holding the violin on this website under the section "About the violin".

Also, as a number of people have commented, I find that a piece of soft chamois skin works better than the thicker Strad pads.

July 30, 2007 at 06:43 PM · My skin suffered all through my conservatory years. But not any more, thank goodness. I have been using a velcro Strad pad on my oldest violin for several years now (before thy started offering the elastic version). I also have an elastic one on another violin. The velcro really holds well, while the elastic version keeps shifting.

I started using Wittner hypoallergenic chinrest on my third violin (this is the violin that play the most now)and it is so cozy that I thought I could do without the Strad pad. The Wittner alone was working for a while. But I just finished a grueling workshop where we played couple of sessions a day plus regular practice, and after a while I had to put the Strad pad on. With so many hours of playing, my skin really needed some rest. The pad doesn't fit the Wittner chinrest, but I inverted it (as in use it upside down), and made it work for me without forcing it. The medium works better for me than the large pad. Anyway, I think that it is a total lifesaver:)

Lucia

July 30, 2007 at 09:50 PM · My wife has used the large, velcro style strad pad on a Guarneri style chinrest for years. I made the mistake of ordering the wrong one for her - and you're right, you have to have the large to fit that chinrest. The elastic version is simply an exercise in frustration.

August 1, 2007 at 11:09 AM · The best is a British pad called the Huber shoulder pad...wedge shaped, you put the supplied elastic band under the tailgut, loop the band thro itself, and then the right back corner. The pad is wedge shaped and feels terrific...woudlnt use any thing else again.

Never have to remove it!

April 12, 2012 at 12:36 PM · Hi everyone,

I've been considering buying the stradpad for my violin. However I use the flesch central mounted chinrest (but the one without the bump on it - like joshua bell's + Anne Sophie Mutter).

Before I buy the pad I was wondering if anyone knows whether it works on this type of chinrest and which one I should buy (the normal one or the large one cause its smaller than the huge guarneri/strad style chinrests)

Thanks :)

April 12, 2012 at 03:02 PM · Yes, it works well on the Flesch flat center-mounted model -- ditto for Guarnieri. I've used this pad with good results on both types of chin rest. Definitely get the large Strad Pad, because the regular size won't cover either model.

I began using the Strad Pad at 18 and have never looked back. The Velcro-attached version is far superior for my needs -- so stable that I hardly notice it's there -- and very comfortable. I can practice and play 3 hours a day and still don't have any skin irritation.

April 12, 2012 at 03:30 PM · Thanks a lot Jim, Great advice !

:)

June 3, 2012 at 06:09 PM · I just ordered one of these Strad Pads (medium) for my Kauffman chin rest after trying it on my friend's violin. I liked the feel because it gives a little extra friction, plus it protects against irritation on the neck. My teacher Erick Friedman (in his Kreisler video on Youtube) and Michael Rabin also used Strad Pads. Has anyone tried Strad Pads with a Kauffman chin rest?

From your experience, do they change the sound and volume of the instrument? That's my main concern hence my objection to shoulder rests (because the sound of the violin is considerably muted with one of those).

June 3, 2012 at 07:01 PM · They work fine with most standard chinrests, including the Kaufman. I've heard that the velcro version tends to be more reliable than the elastic band version (which can slide around).

I used to use one on the instrument that my high school assigned to me... it didn't affect the sound in any way that I could notice. I eventually switched it for a cloth chinrest pad, because the Strad Pad was starting to feel kind of gross after being sweated on..