It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Subscribe to our Patreon, and get image uploads with no ads on the site!
Where does the time go? If you have the patience and the belly for it, read on.
I only wanted a couple of new straps.
Ordered two from the US. They arrived. Very nice. So far so good. Really need strap locks for these, so decided to try some Grovers. If good, I’d buy another set.
The Grovers arrived but thread OD was way too big for the W & W strap holes. So should I cut into the new leather straps? No. I put the Grovers to one side and try a Daddario set I have for size. They fit fine, so I order two more sets of those.
Once I receive the Daddario locks, I try to fit them to the Ric. I get a surprise. The Ric pins are ‘one piece’ integral types with studding. They are bolts, not screws. The thread OD is massive and the Daddario screws go in without touching the sides (yep, a pr1ck in a bowler hat). I have many screws but none of the right diameter has a large enough thread. So should I fill the Ric holes and recut? No. I put the Ric to one side and find another guitar to use instead.
I’ll use the LP. I remove the pins to find the tail end screw much larger than the forward screw. Odd, but no matter. It came from Gibson that way - I opened the box myself.
I fit the Daddarios to the LP. The straps attach to the forward pin fine, but will not lock on to the tail pin. Why? I try all 3 straps with the same result. Could that one pin be made out of tolerance? I check the size but it seems fine. Then I notice that the tail screw is slightly domed and sits higher inside the pin than the other one. I remove the domed screw and file most of the dome off. It now fits and locks ok.
The next guitar is the Squier. Both of these screws are domed and they also will not lock (BTW, the Daddario screws are smaller than all these guitar screws). So I file those screws into flatheads also. With the new pins and felt in place, the fit is not as good as it was. Partly because the screws are not penetrating so far and partly because there are weight relief cavities where the screws go. So I will need to figure this out later. Probably do the matchstick thing?!
Meanwhile I have the unused Grover locks. I find a strap to fit these. It’s a 25 year old Levy that’s still in good shape. I fit the Grovers to the Fingerbone Strat. Works fine.
Now I still haven’t suited the Ric yet. I notice the Ric pins look like the Grovers. They measure up exactly the same. So the Levy strap can now be used securely on the Ric.
It’s not quite what I had in mind and still not over. The Squier still needs sorting.
I only wanted a couple of new straps & locks. Should have been a 5 minute job…
and that's where the time goes
Base theme by DesignModo & ported to Powered by Vanilla by Chris Ireland, modified by the "theFB" team.
Comments
The expensive, elaborate strap locks are a testament to marketing over common sense.
They work on any vintage strap button and all modern ones I can think of, except PRS and those weird wing-shaped 80s Ibanez ones.
Fit in seconds, no modification to the guitar, and a bit more secure than Grolsch washers. (You can pull Grolsch washers off with the strap if you try, especially the front button on a Les Paul.)
Unlike metal ones, the strap is held tight against the body so it doesn't try to bend the screw sideways. And you can't ding the guitar with the bit on the strap...
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
But no good for a guitar with a bespoke case. They are too snug to fit. So, for those I was using Daddario locking straps (and one Lock-It strap) quite happily. They lock fine and detach too.
My mistake was to indulge in these 2 new leather straps. One of the Gibson forum had been singing their praises, being nice and not too expensive. Ultimately of course they've been a PITA.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Then for many years I became obsessed with fitting Schaller straplocks to everything (just as I was obsessed with fitting locking tuners on everything). Allparts sold longer screws which got round the problem on Gibsons, and latterly Schaller themselves started supplying longer screws.
But I think I'm going to go back to the plastic Dunlop locks.
It's the last thing I want to be faffing with at the end of the gig when I have a PA to pack as well as my gear.
FWIW the Fender ones are better quality than the eBay bags