Strap Retention

A cautionary post I try to drop in every time this question arises:

Just before straplocks were available, my carelessness resulted an injury some 42 years ago. Not once, but twice (on separate occasions) the strap came undone, resulting in the headstock hitting a hard floor. I was a dopey 16 year old ...

The second time left a mark. Much like an earthquake fault, the wood grain shifted causing a strip of finish to shed, just like a can opener was dragged down the middle. Tectonic plate separation on a micro scale.

How the Lester survived that is beyond me. The volute maybe? It plays great and stays in tune quite well.

 

They're also usually available at hardware stores, labeled as faucet washers.

 

Oh, no need to apologize! Certainly not from me.

That was not my intent by posting the "PSA". I have that post saved into a text file.

It's all good.

 

Completely would have been the demise of the neck. It was a "flesh wound" or a bit deeper.

A tech who did a fret leveling two years ago was quite surprised it has not continued to degrade. As experienced as he is, he never saw anything like it. I have been very careful not to drop it again.

Just like two tectonic plates...

 

OUCH! Saved by the volute.

 

My best and only guess. It is a 10 pound+ guitar (4.7 kg). Gibson headstocks are not known for their strength.

 

Fender Washers

 

Be careful of the material on soft washers.
Rubber faucet washers can damage nitro finishes.
The material that Fender uses for theirs has had reported problems... It's been a few years so I don't recall if the issue is cracking with age, or marring a nitro finish.

 

Ditto.

 

I know they work but if just feels odd to have a $3k guitar being held securely on it's end pins by a red rubber washer that costs about 10 cents.

Of course consuming the beer first probably does reduce the anxiety.

 

I use these... simple, silent, strong.
(Left, oversize strap button).


And on two of my instruments, these... only the old school folks here will know these.



Disclaimer... I make and sell both products...

The beer washers, if they are too snug, will actually grip the button and jack the screw loose if you don't watch carefully. I am of the mind that if you can easily fit a strap and one of those washers on a stock button, and feel you need it... that's not a strap end I'd trust too far. Straps I make will not allow a beer washer on the pin. Good thick leather ends won't flop off a pin.

The rise of the beer washer corresponds exactly with the rise of the 3/4 oz. thickness leather strap end.

 

I have Schallers on my Strat Plus and PRS. A combination of old Schallers and new S-locks.
Bought a set of Fender Rubbers for my ‘04 American Series but haven’t installed them.

There a serious issue with using the new Schaller S-locks with PRS guitars.
If I didn’t have an old set of Schallers, I couldn’t install the S-locks on the PRS.
PM me if you need this info.

 

Will that simple solution work and work reliably and conveniently for those who take the strap off every time they put away a guitar?

 

Depends on the leather. But you have to know your leather a little bit. Goes onto your strap super easy? It can come off with little effort as well.

Loose pin hardware is not really an issue, unless you let it go, once it starts wiggling a bit, and goes unaddressed, it gets worse and worse. You may tighten it up finally, but because it wiggled around while you weren't watching, you've lost wood inside the hole. If you find yourself retightening, you end up eventually doing doing the old "toothpick and gluethery" routine. A good solid wide strap button and anchoring screw will head all that nonsense off.

Also many don't understand you can wobble the supplied screw around inside the shaft of most strap buttons - screws are too small, and there is hardly any shaft. This is NOT GOOD! I designed mine to super tight tolerances screw/shaft, no wiggle or wobble, as I'm sure you can figure out why. Plus on mine the screw is longer and larger, which is a mod most serious guitar players or their techs do anyway. Higher end factory straps might get up to 7/8 oz. thick on the ends. I try to make mine typically around 9/10 oz or better. There is a big difference. But also watch. Buffalo leather can be 10 oz thick, but it's very supple and stretchy, can pull off a pin real easy if you make a regular sized hole. I have used it a few times and make sure that I make the button hole a size smaller, and that helps a lot.

It's like putting 1/4" plywood on a floor, vs. 3/8, 1/2 or best, 3/4 inch. Stability.

Have a look at your straps, if the ends flop all over, and go on the buttons really easy, suggest you be very careful.

 

They do for me, yeah.

 

But the rubber isn’t in contact with the finish... the strap is in between body and washer..