Hi Herbert, When I'm playing and wearing the strap, its pull is about 35 degrees away from the line of the neck (to the bridge). If you were looking straight at the belly, the strings would pull away to the left, to the rear and at an acute angle to the neck. The strings, after they bend around the nut, pull the pegox into the join at the neck at about 35 kg (338 N if I've read my StringCalc app correctly for my 6c). I can't see how the weight of the lute pulling on the pegbox from *any* direction will significantly compete with those 35 kg and its hide glue adhesive. The strap pulls from two strings: one placed near the join and one towards the other end of the pegbox and they pull, more or less, equally.
Apparently I'm not understanding your observation. But fret not; I do worry a little. The endpin is only held in by friction (and a paper shim to give it the right diameter). I make sure _never_ to pull the strap from the bottom away from the lute! Sean On Jul 27, 2015, at 9:49 AM, Herbert Ward wrote: The force from the strap (to some extent) counters the force from the strings. The strings pull the pegbox in one direction, and the strap pulls it in more-or-less the opposite direction, so there is a cancellation effect. A strap at the pegbox would be much worse if it pulled in the same direction as the strings. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
