Straplock question

So there I was, standing in GC doing what I do best, looking like a nerd at a music store with a gift card in my hand. The overwhelming urge to by some Schaller straplocks came over me. Since I only play guitar sitting down in my living room, it seemed like the thing to do at the time.

Six months later, I'm finding that the screw holding the strap button in is getting loose. Totally fell out of my Strat and is working its way out of my Tele.

Any ideas on how I can/should fix this? Apologies if the answer is posted elsewhere, but this seemed like the place to start.

Many thanks!

You can get a hole saw made for making plugs. Drill a plug sized hole and Glue in a plug of harder wood is what I would do. There's some soft woods in guitars. Make a Bubinga plug and it will never come loose. Bubinga is some tough stuff. Likely any hardwood will do well. Just be careful you get the pilot hole big enough since some of the real hard woods will break a screw trying to screw it in if you don't drill big enough. Absolutly no give to some woods which is desirable in the end. A hardwood dowel should work too. I love my shallers but I often wondered about the added stress and leverage they would give to the softer woods of most guitar bodies. You could probably get away with a pretty small dowel. Stuffing them with things like toothpicks would only prolong the agony in my opinion.

So there I was, standing in GC doing what I do best, looking like a nerd at a music store with a gift card in my hand. The overwhelming urge to by some Schaller straplocks came over me. Since I only play guitar sitting down in my living room, it seemed like the thing to do at the time.

Six months later, I'm finding that the screw holding the strap button in is getting loose. Totally fell out of my Strat and is working its way out of my Tele.

Any ideas on how I can/should fix this? Apologies if the answer is posted elsewhere, but this seemed like the place to start.

Many thanks!

IMHO the best way to fix it is to repair the holes with toothpicks and wood glue, and put the standard buttons back on.

Unless you like the "click click click" of your straplocks make as you sit and play :wink:

Straplocks extend the leverage point, thus making it virtually inevitable that the screws will pull out of the wood at some point.

In my opinion strap locks are Waste of time and money. Stop jumping around like Angus and play yer guitar.

pert of the problem is the screws for the strap locks are thinner than the originals in the guitar so you either have to make new holes in the guitar (no) or drill out the schallers

Thanks for the suggestions - much appreciated!

pert of the problem is the screws for the strap locks are thinner than the originals in the guitar so you either have to make new holes in the guitar (no) or drill out the schallers

This. When possible I use the original screws. I've used Schaller strap locks exclusively since 1995 and have very rarely had the screws come loose.

Tooth picks are an easy way to tighten up loose screw holes.

What to watch for is the nut on the strap end of the lock. They'll sometimes work their way loose. A little thread locker from the auto parts store should easily remedy that.

In my opinion strap locks are Waste of time and money. Stop jumping around like Angus and play yer guitar.

The one time I ever dropped a guitar, I was standing still. I've never been one to jump around; I can't play that way. The strap worked loose somehow and I didn't notice and -- bang on the floor before I could react.

In my shop I keep chop sticks for just this reason. Fill the hole with glue and shape the chop stick to fit tight in the hole. Knock the stick in the hole and snap off the excess. Wipe off the excess glue and install the strap lock screw with the button. Give 24 hours to let the glue set up before using and it will never loosen. No drilling and anyone can do it.

i like to put the strap on the regular part of the strap button then clamp over that with the schaller.It locks it and the strap isnt sitting way out on the guitar..I had the same thing happen to me but it was a warmoth hollow strat body..there was hardly any wood for the screw to bit into before it hit void..dowel worked ok though,it was oak..gota be careful with oak though it gets kinds pity and holy..I would look into a plug cutter,all home depot has is poplar which strips real easy,and oak from malaysia,id try to get some better wood.

just get longer, thicker SS screws and screw them back in.. there's a lot of wood behind them...like an inch longer... those sukkas will never come loose screwed into new wood...

... as long as the screw head of the new screw fits into the schaller hole you're good to go..

+1 on this. If the hole in the straplock button allows, always use the original strap button screws that came with the guitar when you fit the locking buttons.

Got rid of mine, hated the rattling!

just get longer, thicker SS screws and screw them back in.. there's a lot of wood behind them...like an inch longer... those sukkas will never come loose screwed into new wood...

... as long as the screw head of the new screw fits into the schaller hole you're good to go..

What has worked well for me (so far) is to wrap the screw with about 3 or 4 wraps of teflon tape (like plumbers use) I haven't noticed them loosening up at all over the course of about 3 months or so. Before I did that, it had gotten to the point of needing tightened every 2 weeks or so.

Another thing you can try is to use the round tooth picks. They are typically a harder wood. A bit of carpenters glue on them, stick them in the hole, let it set, then screw your screws in ... Viola!

The newer Schaller packages have an extra long set of screws in addition to the standard ones.

I've used the toothpick fix as well, since Fender seems to use a larger screw for their lugs.

Godin puts a Schaller type button as stock on their guitars - makes my life easier, as all of my straps have Schaller locks on them.

The best solution? Believe it or not, try the red Grolsch flip-top beer bottle washers. The best part is that you get to enjoy the beer first, and your strap will NOT come off. :grin:

The best solution? Believe it or not, try the red Grolsch flip-top beer bottle washers. The best part is that you get to enjoy the beer first, and your strap will NOT come off. :grin:

+1

+1

I've been looking around and I can't find Grolsch in those bottles any more. I've also been forced to drink a lot of other beers just to make the trips worthwhile. My life is hard.

Of course I could just go and buy some other rubber washers . . .

I just installed Jim Dunlop SLS140 Flush Mount (http://www.jimdunlop.com/product/flush-mount) Straplok "buttons" (or rather, holes) on my modificaster. Sleek, yes. :smile:

The best solution? Believe it or not, try the red Grolsch flip-top beer bottle washers. The best part is that you get to enjoy the beer first, and your strap will NOT come off. :grin:

+ another 1

+ another 1

Just had a quick look on ebay - you can buy the Grolsch washers by the dozen, for a fraction of the price of straplocks.

But you don't get to enjoy the beer.