Should've been a 5 minute job...

[merciful-evans]

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 Grover ones. If good, I’d buy another set.


The Grovers arrived but thread OD was way too big for the leather 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 Guitar#1. I get a surprise. The Guitar#1 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 Guitar#1 holes and recut? No. I put the #1 to one side and find another guitar to use instead.

I’ll use the Guitar#2. I remove the pins to find the tail end screw much larger than the forward end screw. Odd, but no matter. It came from the maker that way - I opened the box myself.

I fit the Daddarios to the Guitar#2. 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 Guitar#3. 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 Guitar#4. Works fine.


Now I still haven’t suited the Guitar#1 yet. I notice the Guitar#1 pins look like the Grovers. They measure up exactly the same. So the Levy strap can now be used securely on the Guitar#1.


It’s not quite what I had in mind and still not over. The Guitar#3 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

 

[Boogie]

This is why I’ve used the same 2 straps for 40 years.

 

[Going Modal]

Man, I hear ya! You'd think that strap buttons and their screws are pretty similar across the board, but no. I used to be in the habit (or, at least, I thought I was gonna be) to install Schaller (my personal preference) straplocks across the board on all my guitars. Not anymore. I've seriously given up on thinking this will work universally, mostly because of the issues that happen as you've found. Besides, lots of guitars nowadays--especially PRSi, G&L, Suhr, etc.--have much more robust strap buttons than those crappy simple V-shaped ones of the past. I think I was trying to universally solve an issue that has never become universal to begin with.

 

[Bowtiefanatc]

I get the whole strap lock thing, but I've never had a core PRS slip off the strap. I've had PLENTY of F guitars do it so they always get them.

 

[bodia]

This is why I’ve used the same 2 straps for 40 years.

Which explains why you don't have a Santana

 

[bodia]

Ugh.....I hate days like that!

 

[Boogie]

Which explains why you don't have a Santana

Hey! Wait...wha??!!

 

[bodia]

Well, I'll give ya a nice leather strap from Ethos Customs when you get that Santana!

 

[bodia]

Hey! Wait...wha??!!

Server errors! Separate reply above

 

[CandidPicker]

I get the whole strap lock thing, but I've never had a core PRS slip off the strap. I've had PLENTY of F guitars do it so they always get them.

Same here. Only vigorous movement that might cause my PRS to slide off its strap is me tap dancing on my effects board. Not jumping around, swinging my guitar around, or performing gymnastics on stage (am way too old for that these days, old guy sitting down now, phew)

 

[Boogie]

I get the whole strap lock thing, but I've never had a core PRS slip off the strap. I've had PLENTY of F guitars do it so they always get them.

I watched CRGTR nearly throw a damned nice PRS at the floor...at PRS Experience gig tent, during the performance. He miraculously caught it inches from destruction. The PRS strap didn’t do its job either. That’s on video around here somewhere.

 

[merciful-evans]

I was amazed by the size of PRS strap pin screws. 1.25" if memory serves.

For the record, I have never dropped a guitar while performing. Even though I didn't use any sort of strap restraint for most of my 'career'. But I have come close. Over the years, 3 - 5 times a guitar has slipped off the strap. Always managed to catch it. I take no chances these days though.

 

[Glide-bpm]

Schaller style straplocks on every guitar I use/own... Either that or a pair of those rubber/plastic-y rings clipped over
the top of the strap on the button...

And most wide straps with a skinny end, I tend to have to wear skinny end forward or it cuts into the left side of my neck!!!
(yeah, I know... it's backwards, but it's more comfortable for me).

 

[Barquentine]

If I need locks I use rubber washers I buy from the Nut & Bolt Store for twenty pence. They have never failed.

 

[Solteroblues]

I prefer to use the Dunlop removable strap locks so I can outfit all of my guitars to 1 or 2 straps and interchange them as I desire... if I were going to use a strap LOL... I almost never use one, but I did just buy a really nice one, so may be time to install them again

 

[Same Guy]

I absolutely love the bigger PRS strap buttons. I bought a PRS-branded strap, and everything is tight as a drum!

https://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-PRS-ACC311XX-LIST

 

[vchizzle]

This sounds like every house project I’ve done

 

[alantig]

This sounds like every house project I’ve done

Man, that really boosts my confidence knowing I'm about to go buy some more track for my track lighting. I've watched my dad do tons of home improvements over the years, and apparently I don't learn well from watching. That gene did not get passed on! (In fairness, he and I did remodel the game room at my old house and it turned out really well - and reminded me why I don't particularly like doing that stuff.)

 

[vchizzle]

Man, that really boosts my confidence knowing I'm about to go buy some more track for my track lighting. I've watched my dad do tons of home improvements over the years, and apparently I don't learn well from watching. That gene did not get passed on! (In fairness, he and I did remodel the game room at my old house and it turned out really well - and reminded me why I don't particularly like doing that stuff.)

Ha. It’s not even about abilities or how well you learned or didn’t learn. It just seems that more often than not, something unexpected comes into play... “Oh, gotta run to Home Depot to get a tool I don’t have!” There’s always something stupid that makes everything take longer and a bigger PITA. Murphy’s law , I suppose. I’m a DIY’er by nature. I like doing projects but with limited time, it can be annoying.

 

[alantig]

Ha. It’s not even about abilities or how well you learned or didn’t learn. It just seems that more often than not, something unexpected comes into play... “Oh, gotta run to Home Depot to get a tool I don’t have!” There’s always something stupid that makes everything take longer and a bigger PITA. Murphy’s law , I suppose. I’m a DIY’er by nature. I like doing projects but with limited time, it can be annoying.

I hear you. My dad used to help me do a lot of that stuff, but there are times now he just says, "It's easier to pay somebody - at least they have all the stuff they need." Last year, my buddy helped me hang a new door between the garage and the game room. We had to stop at one point to run out to get a couple things to finish. While we were checking out, he said, "I think this is three sets of these I have now - but now I can leave one in the van, one in the house, and one in my tool box..." I thought about my PRS rack and said, "No judgement."