Guitar strap vanity

8-)

8-)

New Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2015
Messages
49
Location
North and West and East of Philly
I have 3 PRS guitars, each with their own strap. I've been like obsessive with picking out each strap.

Does the color match the guitar?
Should I get leather, suede, or fabric?
Does the strap fit my personality?
And, of course, should I get birds on the strap?

And I'm not even thinking about how comfortable the strap will be. Or how securely it will hold my guitar.

I think I spent more time picking out my straps than it took me to pick out the guitars!

Am I the only one?
 
My wife made me a strap from left over gold embossed maroon leather of birds and vines to match my gold top. My mother in law is an upholsterer, and she was doing a set of chairs for the MET in NYC. It really matched the gold and mahogany quite well. I left the strap @ my practice space, but I'll try and get a pic of some of the material later.
 
I'm picky about my straps too. They don't have to match color but they have to not be stupid.
 
I'm in love with my Marino wool strap... Simple amazing. I have a whole drawer full before I found this one.
 
I am very picky about straps.
The colors do not have to match the guitar, but it has to be comfortable, non slipping, and easy to adjust.
I got away from the leather type straps which require you to thread one end through slits.
Too hard to adjust if you have on Schaller Strap Locks.

I have since moved to two of these Wild Rides ones.
They adjust with heavy duty Velcro, are wider and padded in the shoulder area, and do not slip on clothing.
http://www.widerides.com/

I got the two graphics on the far right of the picture.

graphics_lrg.jpg
 
I like the PRS straps, and have several. I can't use a suede strap, they stick to my shirts. I like a rolled edge and padded strap. I recently ordered a couple of these Richter straps, from Germany. Lars Richter is super-great to deal with and the quality of the leather and workmanship far exceed anything I've seen before. Plus there aren't any buckles or metal parts to bang into the finish of the guitar with this model. The padding is memory foam. I had them made with a one inch buttonhole to fit more easily over my PRS strap buttons, but they'll do them any way you prefer them. There are a lot of styles but I like the plain ones:



There are also these great looking straps from Heistercamp in England if you don't mind buckles and suede backing, that are fantastic quality as well, and they will make them in custom lengths. As I said, give me a strap with a buckle and I will ding my guitar in several places every time I put it on or take it off, so while I've seen these, I don't have one. Still they are cool:

 
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I am one of those who do not care much whether the strap fits the guitar or not. I even did gigs with my Gibson wearing a Fender strap!! For me it is all about how confortable it is. I generally prefer black as I feel it goes with almost anything. I Currently use a black Levi strap with my DGT.
 
I use anthology straps. Great craftsmanship,great warranty and super comfortable..

 
As if GAS wasn't bad enough, now we have GSAS too?

My very first one was a cheapo for my first acoustic back in the late 60's. The Harmony and its strap are long gone, as are their successors.

But, then, moving up to the 90's, I was in a community theatre production of Foxfire playing the part that John Denver played in the movie of the same title. And the husband of one of the cast members made me a hand tooled leather strap with my initials embossed on it, which I still have and now use on my Paul's. I also have 2 Levi straps, one padded (my wife bought) and one not (I bought for my Angelus A10E).

I think I'm good for now. I'd better be. I have enough explaining to do with my GAS.
 
I'm picky about straps. I like fairly thick leather ones--Levy's work well for me, but I've got some from other makers too. What I'm really anal about is the flexibility of the strap--my right arm is weak due to polio that I had as a baby, and I can't raise it more than waist-high, so I need a strap that's stiff enough to hold its shape so I can get it (or take it off) over my head while holding the guitar with my left hand. Add to that the fact that I wear the guitar fairly high so my right arm can rest on the rim of the lower bout in playing position, and you can see that very soft or flexible straps won't work for me, and too stiff isn't good either. (We are talking straps here, right?) No buckles either--I keep a strap in the case with each guitar, and I don't want any metal rubbing against the guitar. Plus, it needs to go short enough--I'm not real short, but I'm not real tall either, and I've had a few straps that were barely short enough at the shortest adjustment to work (the PRS Signature leather strap I use with my Brent Mason Model is like that, but it does work). I have sometimes had to punch new holes in some straps to get them to work--I think maybe strap manufacturers think we all have arms like a gorilla and want to play the guitar at knee level! I do like to color-coordinate them with the guitars--I've got that sandy/tan color with black edges on the PRS strap; looks good with the Whitewash finish on the Brent Mason.
 
I like more flashy straps on mine. They look cool to those who are paying attention at gigs and they can be quite the conversation starter. Both of my guitars have straps with Day of the Dead style skulls on them.
 
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