Heel strap button advice

Bridgehouse

I've got two guitars with strap buttons on the back by the heel (SG style). Both are old and thus have old style Gibson buttons that are small and well worn (relatively).

I really want to find a good secure strap solution that means they won't take a neck dive and meet the ground and are relatively comfortable. I've found that even some good old grolsch washers are too loose to keep a strap on securely. 

As as they are oldies I don't really want to swap them out for strap locks, and I certainly don't want to relocate. I'd try one of those clever straps with built in locks if I could find one with a reversed end.. So far no luck.

what do you guys do for a good secure strap connection for a button in this position that holds to an older button and is relatively comfortable?

ICBM

I find a fibre washer which is a good fit just under the top of the button. You can put a Grolsch washer under that if it isn't enough by itself.

The ones from Cliff jack sockets are ideal for old Rickenbacker buttons, although I haven't tried one on a Gibson - you can't easily replace Rick buttons with something larger because they're a bolt with a large thread.

I'll try it on a Gibson button and report back - if you don't have any suitable washers I'd be happy to send you some, I have literally hundreds of the Cliff ones.

Bridgehouse

@ICBM my hero! It's driving me mad at the moment and would be very interested to see what you think when you try a fibre washer on a Ginson button..

ICBM

Those rotary plastic Dunlop locks also work on Ricks, so I'll try that too... I've got those on my bass.

Bridgehouse

Those Dunlops always looked a bit feeble to me - are they strong enough for the job?

SteveRobinson

  I have the Dunlop Lok-Strap thingies on all my guitars. They are very secure in my experience.

Bridgehouse

SteveRobinson said:

  I have the Dunlop Lok-Strap thingies on all my guitars. They are very secure in my experience.

Hhmmmm interesting. I'd avoided them to now but I think I need to try a couple

Sassafras

I've used those Dunlop things for years. They're very secure and I've never broken one or had one suddenly fail.
Dirt cheap as well. Only about £3 a pair.

Bridgehouse

Sounds like another option then! Thanks chaps. Really useful.

ICBM

Bridgehouse said:

Those Dunlops always looked a bit feeble to me - are they strong enough for the job?

Being similarly paranoid, I tested one to destruction a few years ago and found I could probably use it to lift my amp on a strap, let alone any guitar.

They can sometimes (rarely) be poorly made and have a tendency for the middle part to pop out though, so it's worth checking them carefully.

I'll have a look at the fibre washers in a bit though .

Sassafras

I'd trust the Straploks over the Grolsch washers any day of the week.

ICBM

Works perfectly.



Far more secure than the Grolsch washer alone, but you can still get it off if you want to. The order matters though!

On: strap, fibre, Grolsh. Off: Grolsch, strap, fibre. It's too difficult to get the strap on when the fibre washer is there or the fibre when the Grolsch is there - because the fibre needs to be at a steep angle to make it go over the rim of the button.

[/nerd]

Bridgehouse

@ICBM Where do I get hold of these fabled fibre washers? Thanks for testing BTW

ICBM

PM'd

Bridgehouse

ICBM said:

PM'd

TTBZ

Ive used grolsch washers since I got my SG and no problems yet. I'd rather use schaller locks like the rest of my guitars but it feels like it'd get in the way on the heel.

Alnico

Not that i think this will help but it is true..........

If you buy a brand new Heistercamp Strap, especially the 'Raw' type, it's so thick and well made that once you fit it to a strap button (Which takes around an hour and at least three tyre levers) it's a 6 man job to get the thing off the strap button again and it will NEVER come off on it's own.

I'm just about to get an SG and a HC srap and that's my plan. Put it on once and leave it on permanently. 

'Hunters Tor' if you're interested.
http://www.heistercamp.co.uk/shop/leather-guitar-straps/leather-guitar-straps--super-soft/hunters-tor-super-soft

Bridgehouse

Flippin' 'eck @Alnico that's a serious looking bit of kit! I'd be interested to know how it works out when you finally get round to shoe horning it on. 

I have a breaker bar in the garage if you get stuck...

not_the_dj

Alnico said:

Not that i think this will help but it is true..........

If you buy a brand new Heistercamp Strap, especially the 'Raw' type, it's so thick and well made that once you fit it to a strap button (Which takes around an hour and at least three tyre levers) it's a 6 man job to get the thing off the strap button again and it will NEVER come off on it's own.

I'm just about to get an SG and a HC srap and that's my plan. Put it on once and leave it on permanently. 

'Hunters Tor' if you're interested.
http://www.heistercamp.co.uk/shop/leather-guitar-straps/leather-guitar-straps--super-soft/hunters-tor-super-soft

Big fan of the Heistercamp straps, and the last couple I bought came with version of the Grolsch washers chucked in (along with the bag and fluffy cow keyring). 

Alnico

Bridgehouse said:

Flippin' 'eck @Alnico that's a serious looking bit of kit! I'd be interested to know how it works out when you finally get round to shoe horning it on. 

I have a breaker bar in the garage if you get stuck...

Wicked, That means we've got a total of 7 tyre levers and four breaker bars now.

We *Might* just get thing on. Hahaha

I got my current 'Raw' HC Strap at the show and i didn't get a rubber grolsch thing but as has been mentioned, it's not hard to do. My SG is brand new so the new strap will just weld itself there and stay there forever i think. Because that strap has two actual buckles, it's probably easier to unbuckle each end if it has to come off and leave the two short pieces on a-la-Dimarzio Clip-lok. or just tell anyone who wants to take it off to piss off and leave it alone !

Bloody guitar techs !



Whatever, it's an SG. It was designed to be spanked hard and it's exactly what it's going to get. I'm not about to get precious about buckles, scratch or whatever. That will be nothing compared with the abuse it gets while being played anyway so as long as the head stock doesn't snap, i will be dead happy.

It's a nice guitar but it's a Gibson SG.
It was designed to remove underwear, not skin while it's getting polished FFS !

I may be a little impatient about all this by now.
It *Might* be *Starting* to show.

Apologies for the hi-jack (Again, i know,.................i know ).

Bridgehouse

No apology needed @Alnico - I don't know what's more worrying, your planned abuse of a poor defenceless SG or your impatience for a strap... 

"I'm getting impatient for the strap" sounds too public school Billy Bunter for my liking...