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Looking for strap suggestions for a Conn 20J (upright bell). Pictures, comments, advice - all welcome. Thanks.

I'd look into what the marching southerners use for their 20J's. I don't know exactly what they do or use, but here is what I found from an article online. I'm sure someone on here knows and will chime in.

"To make the 20J easier to carry, a band member will wrap a strap across his left shoulder and hook the instrument to his chest with a rock-climber’s carabiner. It takes a newcomer only a few minutes to understand why 20J players often gripe about shoulder and back pain."

At JSU, we used the black old time snare drum strap that wrapped over the left shoulder and under the right arm and hooked onto itself. Most of us did add the carabiner to make it easier to snap onto one of the braces. In hindsight, latching onto the bracing may have not been the best idea - that's a lot of weight to trust to ancient solder work, but those horns are still holding up and the section is still using the same approach today.

In high school, we had an adjustable leather strap with carriage snap hooks on either end. It was quick and distributed the weight well. I believe it was made by a local shoe shop.