Strap Locks

Hey guys and gals...this may be better placed in the Gear Discussion forum but I hope this location will get a wider read...

After two years of some heavy daily practice my guitar straps ends have loosened/stretched to the point where they come off frequently...like one or more times each practice session. While I claim to "always have at least one hand on the guitar" I know that someday that "always" will end and the stretched strap(s) will let me and the guitar(s) down. So I'm in the market for strap locks and we all know this is the best place for advice. :)

I'm inexperienced, lazy and cheap if I can get away with it (sorta like my first girlfriend in college :eek: ) and would prefer to find a system that matches those characteristics (add to the list, 'easy'; re: abv). I also much prefer to do 'nothing' to the guitar which includes replacing buttons/pins. I've looked at Schaller, Dunlop Dual Design, and Loxx and am kinda cool to all of 'em. I like what I see in Lock-It Straps but I would prefer to keep the straps I already have.

Right now I'm keen on the Dunlop Ergo strap locks. I also like the idea of using the washer from Grolsch beer bottles although I have signed a loyalty oath to Big Sky Brewing Company's Moose Drool. :D So my questions are; what else is out there, what's your opinion and what do you use?

Recommendations, please and thank you.

Buy a loaf of bread with the plastic slip on (bread ties). I just saw it on the internet yesterday. Can't get any cheaper then that.

Originally Posted by: john of MTI'm inexperienced, lazy and cheap if I can get away with it (sorta like my first girlfriend in college :eek: ) and would prefer to find a system that matches those characteristics (add to the list, 'easy'; re: abv). I also much prefer to do 'nothing' to the guitar which includes replacing buttons/pins. I've looked at Schaller, Dunlop Dual Design, and Loxx and am kinda cool to all of 'em. I like what I see in Lock-It Straps but I would prefer to keep the straps I already have.

Right now I'm keen on the Dunlop Ergo strap locks. I also like the idea of using the washer from Grolsch beer bottles although I have signed a loyalty oath to Big Sky Brewing Company's Moose Drool. :D So my questions are; what else is out there, what's your opinion and what do you use?

Recommendations, please and thank you.

I lean towards Schaller's. Gotta careful with strap lock purchases. Not all screws between the guitar are the same size. Sometimes the stap lock screw is smaller than the hole in the guitar. It's an easy fix with a couple of toothpicks and a little wood glue (if you don't over do it on the glue).

My first strap locks were washers though. Worked great so long as you never needed to take the strap off.

I've used the plastic ones from Dunlop:

http://www.amazon.com/Jim-Dunlop-7000-Strap-System/dp/B00721D2ZU/ref=sr_1_15?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1376147497&sr=1-15

Work great, no guitar surgery required, and dirt cheap.

Justin Sandercoe from Justinguitar has a hilarious golden tip!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjI3skPlCms

Just import some special Grolsch beer from the Netherlands (where I live) and use the rubber, removable, top and use it as a strap lock.

It's a double win because you get to drink beer and get a free, pretty useful strap lock.

JJ

Originally Posted by: JJ90Justin Sandercoe from Justinguitar has a hilarious golden tip!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjI3skPlCms

Just import some special Grolsch beer from the Netherlands (where I live) and use the rubber, removable, top and use it as a strap lock.

It's a double win because you get to drink beer and get a free, pretty useful strap lock.

JJ

I've used this method for years

As I typed in the OP, the Grolsch beer bottle washer idea is intriguing (I also picked it up from Justin). Shortly after the OP, the beer bottles appeared in my fuzzy memory. Almost 20 years ago My Lady and I were at a party where some of my buds were drinking something other than Bud. My Lady was enthralled with the bottles with the special tops and asked if she could have them.

So on a hunch I went looking for such bottles where we keep such knick knacks. Sure enough, there they were; one Grolsch bottle and one Salado Creek bottle (a beer from my former home of San Antonio and site of the above party). The washers are a little dry after the two decades but still pliable. Most importantly, they fit nicely on my acoustic and electric with the straps I use on each. Nice enough that I'll break training and have some Grolsch for my regular Friday-night binge instead of my beloved Yukon Jack and thereby get some new washers.

I'll don't mind a little personal sacrifice to protect my guitars a little. ;)

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. For the now the washers win out -- I told you I liked cheap and easy. :D

So...

The last months I've been using rubber grommets from Grolsch beer flip top bottles and the plastic bag closers from bread bags as ways to lock straps to my guitars. They work well. Whereas the straps would slip off the button of either my acoustic Martin or my Gibson electric about once a week once I started using the rubber grommets on the Martin and the plastic bag closers on the Gibson neither strap has slipped off. Ever. But, although the plastic closers are readily available, I can't find Grolsch beer in the super metropolis of Missoula, MT (pop. ~ 69,000) and I haven't dropped by the local DIY brewing store or otherwise found additional rubber grommets to supplement the three I have. I thought eventually I'll need more but less than the quantities I offered online.

Then I acquired an Ovation 12-string and started thinking of a more 'proper' way of securing straps to the guitars. Ultimately I purchased a Lock It strap, http://lockitstraps.com/strap (3" black poly bass strap, about $25 on EBay, Amazon, etc.). This is pretty cool, IMO. It is very secure and pretty convenient. It works like it was made for the Gibson - click...click... and it's on. The Martin has a larger strap button and it's a little bit more of an effort to slide the strap over the button. As the leather of the strap stretches it will become easier/quicker yet because of the design of the 'lock' the strap will be just as secure. The Ovation has an even larger button...it's huge in comparison to the other two guitars. None the less, I can work the Lock It strap over it and all else works as designed.

In my search for locking straps I found lots of comments about straps not fitting guitars, marring surfaces and other disappointments. What I can say is that the Lock It fits my three very different guitars and it has not left any marks. IMO, the strap is very secure and simply won't slip off.

It's not as cheap a solution I was looking for but on the other hand I have a new, comfortable strap that I like and it requires no modifications to the guitars.

Originally Posted by: JJ90Justin Sandercoe from Justinguitar has a hilarious golden tip!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjI3skPlCms

Just import some special Grolsch beer from the Netherlands (where I live) and use the rubber, removable, top and use it as a strap lock.

It's a double win because you get to drink beer and get a free, pretty useful strap lock.

JJ

I've been doing this for years and it works a treat :)

So with my new Les Paul, I started researching strap locks and came upon this thread. I had read about screws from different strap lock manufactures not matching your guitar, toothpicks, etc. etc. I found myself very turned off by that solution.

The Grolsch washer suggestion was very intriguing. Looking on Amazon I saw Fender is now even selling "strap blocks" that look supiciously just like these washers, except they say "Fender" on them, and you get one set of red and another of black.

I bought some washers at Home Depot, but they didn't work out because they were too stiff. So off to the liquor store I went and was pleasantly surprised to see just what I needed in stock - a 4 pack of flip top bottles of Grolsch. 2 washers have been liberated thus far! What a great and clever idea.

I could take a sharpie marker to blacken the washers so they match my strap, but I think I'll leave them as they are. It's an interesting conversation piece. If I ever notice some red dot looking thing on somebody's guitar strap button, now I know what it is :-).

So thanks for the suggestion!!

My axes are my tools,Gibsons,Ovations,Breedloves,Fenders,they are my tools by which I AM...
So if ya have a nice little sum invested,well just sayin....Schaller,Grovers are my standards.......Ready,set,go man go.........

Hi Guys!

I'm still using the Grolsch 'washers' on my Martin. They have never slipped off and, therefore, the strap has never popped off either (as opposed to once or twice a week without the washers). My guitar buddy bought me a set of the Fender washers (I think they were ten bucks :eek: ) but they remain unused waiting for the beer version to wear out. Sadly, I have yet to find any Grolsch in the megalopolis of Missoula, MT. An alternative source I haven't tried is a shop that caters to home brewers. The washers they sell are cheap but usually come in packs of 50 or 100.

The Lock-It strap is a dream. "Snap", it's on the Gibson, "snap" it's off. [U]Super[/U] secure and if one is looking for one solution for all/most guitars take a serious look at Lock-It.

I'm still using a 'regular' strap on the Ovation. The leather ends are stiff and the guitar's buttons are huge. The combination makes for a tight and secure strap.

I have the rubber washers from beer bottles on my guitar straps and they must be at least 5 yrs old now and they still work great :)

I feel like I just became part of some underground group :-). I'm in the know...

Glad to hear these have been working well for people over a period of years!

My strap is sort of thick where it attaches, so I have to kind of work the washer inbetween the strap button and the strap. Once I get it in right, it seems to pull itself into the position it needs to be in, which is good.

I'll keep an eye on it before I get fully confident with it. I should put my flimsy Fender strap on there secured with one of these and see how it does.