Straps on the forums!

[corsair]

Barry suggested a small essay on straps of the forum, and here's my small but perfectly formed selection...






l-r, personalised "Westone", genuine 60's 3" blue paisley, Personalised "Westone" and 70's Fender. Our former moderator - Polly - made the Westone ones a very long time ago and I got these two! The 3" one is my 12 string strap and that Fender one has a 3mm thick vinyl backing which makes it epically comfortable; you can see it has been repaireed one or thrice!





The paisley job ahs a simply enormous metal buckle and I've bruised the guitar once or twice with it already - gotta be a little more careful, eh!




On the 12 string. It is very supportive as this thing dives at the headstock like a good 'un! The leather ends have been replaced as the original ends were very thin and worn through in places... a bit of leather and some dress rivets from the local saddler and job done!




The "Westone" one on the GTBass.



General view of guitar area at the moment; all of the straps bar one have Schaller locks on them - the Vantage in the foreground doesn't have a set yet!

[Barry]

John, that's a very frugal, some would say smart, approach to strapping yer geetars. And the Westone straps are the bomb!  

The Fender strap is a, um, classic, and you've obviously played hell out of it. (That design is still being made incidentally, in case you 'd like to replace it)

The 12 string design looks very 70's 'sh. I have a similar one, different color scheme and cheaper made, on my Dove acoustic which is mid 70's.

On my herd, I went the opposite route and "accessorized". I decided that each guitar should be self-contained and have it's own case/bag, strap, and pick! Unfortunately, almost all my guitar pictures have the strap either off the guitar or moved out of the way. I'll need to start another series showing the Full Monty. May take awhile.

Meantime, here's my ST strap again which was previously posted in the repair section. This is the original strap purchased with the guitar in '85, and I think was associated with Westone sales somehow:

[Adey]

all of the straps bar one have Schaller locks on them

I use the Dunlop Strap Lock on all mine. Never had a problem with them and they lock around the original button.

[Barry]

I use both, as well as the D'Addario/Planet Waves strap design which has a Dunlop style lock built in complete with rachet. Very kewl. Many of my boys have no locks at all, just a friction fit.

I tend to use the Schaller and D'Addario styles on my heavier guitars but I do have to unhook the bottom strap to stop the pointy bit on the Schaller from digging into the case/bag.

[Barry]

Here's one picture I just rescued from Photobucket showing the Spectrum S with a really nice white leather strap. The stripe is more orange-y than red and it's really quite striking:


The strap originally came with my Danelectro U2 (seller was in California) but I didn't think it suited the Cool Copper finish of the guitar. Looks great on the white Speccy though.

[corsair]

John, that's a very frugal, some would say smart, approach to strapping yer 

Ah, mate - you misunderstand! Those are just the more interesting straps I have - every guitar has it's own but they're just plain ones! Yeah, the Schaller locks lend themselves to be a multifit if you buy loads of the buttons and nail them on your guitars; then you could use one strap for everything!!

Adey, I use Schaller simply because my original new buy Vantage VA900 in 1980 had them already fitted and they never once let me down, and boy, did I ever strain the relationship between strap lock and guitar hitting the floor!!

[Barry]

Here's a nice little 50's retro style thin strap on the Urchin. I also have one on my blonde Vintage brand Tele.



Looks fragile but it isn't. Grips the buttons good and tight, and the shoulder pad is very comfy.

[The Don]

The Fender strap is a, um, classic, and you've obviously played hell out of it. (That design is still being made incidentally, in case you 'd like to replace it)

I've got the same Fender strap. I bought it in 1983 or 1984 for my Yamaha SF1200 and I'm still using it today on my Silverstone Spectrum GT. It seems to be indestructible. I bought another, in red this time, for one of my acoustics about 3 years ago and it doesn't seem to be holding up quite as well.

I need to decide on a strap for the white Steinberger Spirit GT-Pro Deluxe that I bought for myself as a bit of a jokey 50th birthday present. I'm thinking black and white check but if I could get the "negative" version of the Levys black strap with white lightning bolt I have on the Spectrum FX I might go for that instead.

[punkyjam67]

Oooh, strap porn...

This one was bought with my first bass in 1980 & will be gracing my current one at our next gig tomorrow night - never let me down once



One from Planet Waves up next with their nifty ratchet locks - my strap of choice when I'm on guitar duties in my other band with my Pantera.



And finally, usually seen stopping a Les Paul hitting the deck - quite a nice Levi's one, now fitted with Schaller-type strap locks (I think these are cheapies from Stagg, but they do the job fine).

[Barry]

Nice.
I have a Planet Waves almost identical to your design, also with the ratchet locks. Great aren't they?

Oh, and the duct tape is a classy touch.

[punkyjam67]

I do like the ratchet ends, but I've found them pretty incompatible with Thunders unfortunately - the strap buttons (at least on mine) seem a little large for the hole & the placement of the button on the underside of the upper horn means they sit/hang funny.

I've patented that gaffer tape enhancement by the way, so no nicking it OK?!

[Barry]

Not meaning to be a show off or take over the post here, but it was raining today and the perfect indoor activity seemed to be to open up the herd's coffins and take new pictures with their straps on.

It was an interesting exercise. There were a few where I couldn't recall exactly what strap was on the guitar before opening the case. Kinda like being asked what colour your wife's eyes are, without peeking first!   For example, I completely forgot that I had liked that 50's style strap so much that I actually put it on 4 guitars, not 2.

Lots of guitars, lots of variety. In no particular order, these are the more interesting ones.

Speaking of that 50's 'spaghetti' strap...

Vintage "Lemon Drop":


Aria Pro II TA60:


Not all straps need be "fancy". I have a few simple nylon web straps that look just spiffy.

Danelectro DC59:


Vantage Avenger AV310


Westone Spectrum SX


Here's my 70's vintage strap, similar to Corsair's well used one. Nowhere near as good a quality but equally well used, mostly in the classroom when I was a teacher.

El Degas 'Dove'


Some patterned straps. . .

Westone Thunder I-A


Parker PM20 Hornet  (Look familiar PunkyJam?   )


Vantage Entertainar (sic)


Westone Spectrum DX


Vantage Avenger AV325


Ovation 1868 Elite


Leather or suede anyone?

Gibson ES330TD


The reverse side showing what a few years of sweating on stage can do


Ovation 1988 1983 Collectors Series
Also well worn in from stage use.


Fender Squier Custom II Tele


Vantage VW150


Vantage VS600
(In this picture the guitar looks black, it's not. It's actually dark brown)


Vintage VEC-380
This is a Paul Reed Smith strap. Suede as soft as a baby's bum!


Vantage X77-T


Whew!

[Barry]

Vantage Avenger AV325

A little souvenir of my days at the guitar store


Vantage VP710


Westone Genesis

[corsair]

Right. You'd best that TA-60 and the X-77 to me for testing purposes....

Did you fire them up while you had 'em out, Barry...? Seem a shame if you didn't!

[Barry]

Nope. Tempting though it was.
If I had stopped to play 'em all, by the time I had 'em tuned and got 'em ready, I would still be taking pictures!

And hey! I thought you didn't like hollow body/F-hole geetars? Unfortunately TA60 is not a Mats, it's MIK circa 1996. But it has a thin 60's style neck which I like, and since I put P90's into her, it's a great sounding little machine.

If you're gonna go for a hollow body it's the '64 Gibson. Hands down, a killer guitar with a fantastic range of sounds thanks again to those P90's. It's likely worth more on it's own than the rest of the collection combined.

[corsair]

I don't as a rule, but Black'n'Gold does it for me!! Don has an exceptionally nice Vantage VSH-455 that I also quietly covet - the wood on that is just phenomenal!

And I'd play neither of 'em... just nail them to a wall....

[Barry]

...I'd play neither of 'em... just nail them to a wall....

You savage!

Actually if you look closer, the TA is a dark "plum" colour, so I guess I'm safe there. And the X77 would likely bite you in the arse before you could retrieve yer hammer! It's a nasty little rawker.

[Westbone]

Interesting article.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLZa2Z58uws

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