Schaller Strap locks and PRS guitars
The guitar strap buttons that come on newer Paul Reed Smith guitars are supposedly larger in diameter than ones that came on older model PRS. Ostensibly, this was done to better secure guitar straps. However, if you have a thick guitar strap, you may have a problem securing the strap to the guitar due to the relatively low height of the new PRS strap buttons. A thick strap doesn't fit well between the bottom of the button and the body of the guitar.
There are a few fixes for this.
One can unscrew the button, put the strap in place, and then screw the button back on. The strap is bound to the guitar. This is OK if you never want to remove the strap easily or quickly.
Alternatively, the strap may be too thick to rotate freely, and in this case, you can insert a washer or two between the button and the guitar, felt washers are probably preferable here (same width as the strap holder) .
If you wish to install Schaller strap Locks on your newer PRS, the following may be of interest to you.
The strap button mounting screws that came with my 2019 Paul Reed Smith Custom 24 CE Semi-Hollow guitar ( and may be the same on other PRS guitars ) are appx 2 inches long.
The old style Schaller strap lock buttons come as two separate parts: the button plus the screw ( which is shorter than the new PRS screws ) that goes through the center hole in the button.
The new Schaller S-type strap locks have the button and the screw as a single integral piece. This integral screw part is much shorter and has a faster taper than the button mounting screws that come on PRS guitars. Because of this mechanical mismatch,
I was hesitant to use the new Schaller S-type on my new 2019 PRS CE24 Semi-hollow.
It is probably preferable to use the old style Schaller Strap Lock buttons on the new PRS guitars - by replacing the screw that comes with the old style Schallers with the long screw that comes with the PRS. Diameter-wise, It fits in the old style button with no problem.
Luckily, for me, I had the old style Schallers installed on my '95 Strat Plus.
The screws that originally came with the Strat (as well as the old style Schallers ) are about the same length, diameter and thread pitch as on the new S-type locks. Fortunately, I was able to put the old Schallers on the new PRS, and use the new S-type strap locks on the old Strat Plus.
