strapped for cash... 30 years later!

[burnoutking999]

I saw another thread about a leather guitar strap on this forum and one post jumped out at me so I decided to look into it. I am building my first guitar as detailed in another thread with tons of meaning for me at this time in my life. I am not very rich and things are tough but I feel that this is very stress relieving and it gives me some creative focus/ a break from the grind that seems to be getting the best of me sometimes. The posts in the strap thread sparked my thoughts in a very nice way.

I have been looking for the perfect strap to compliment my all wood/natural finish tele. I have been thinking that leather was the ticket but nothing seemed to fit the bill. I had this sense of purpose behind the idea for a nice leather strap but no clear idea till I saw a post of a nicely tooled one... then it hit me like a ton of bricks! My DADS belt!

My real father was an electrictian with the city here locally for some time as well as a 3 letter high school athlete, hunter, travel softball player, and rodeo rider. Our family had cows and a farm and rodeo was a big thing for him and a major way for him to let go. Times weren't easy thne for them. I have heard he was a great guy though. I started a job one time and about a month into it my boss told me he hired me as soon as I walked in in his mind. Just by looking at me and my name he knew I was the boy of the captain of the team in high school during the late sixties/early seventies. He was a black guy and my dad was the homecomming queen dating white guy (my mom by the way). My boss proceeded to tell me he was memorable due to the fact that he was one of the only people in that era to openly cross the racial boundary and be nice/ talk to him.

This was not the only time I have heard stories of this nature. Unfortunately, my dad was electrecuted while working to restore power in an emergency/bad weather. I was 1.5 years old. I dont have memories or history and very few things to "remember him by". One of the things I DO have is an old leather belt that is pertty cool and my mom told me he won it or the buckle or both in a rodeo. Its bronze buckle with a "K" for Kelley and a med tan leather tooled design over white leather with his nick-name in it.

The belt has always been too small for me as an adult and too short for any use I could think of... Untill I thought of this...

[burnoutking999]

So thats what I made of it last night with a bit of cheap belt on the end. I will replace that part once I find something to use in its place but I think it will be/ is the ticket!

[Tim Armstrong]

Very VERY cool!

Tim

[paulskirocks]

Wow... cool idea... I can relate...

[BooneDog]

That IS very cool.
A good leather shop, saddle shop might have some ideas for truly incorporating that buckle setup into a strap, and the equipment to do it and match the rest of the belt, or widen it if it needs it, if that buckle setup turns into a problem. It might work great as is though, it's a super idea and what dad wouldn't love knowing his son was using his old equipment in some fashion.
COOL!

[mgdesigns]

The things that our parents leave us sometimes ARE worth there weight in gold, in more ways than one. Cherish it always; protect it, and pass it on to your kids. Best of luck to you, sir.

[62_Inca_Esquire]

Yep. I've used belts as straps with great success... but never as fitting a "tribute" as yours. That is a great story, and every time you strap your guitar on you are thanking and thinking of your Dad.

Perfect.

[magicguitar]

Very nice!

[fatboymjt]

...that's awesome !...

[Marc Rutters]

Nice, Very Very nice! Thats the stylin belt from that era, we used to have them with a Horse race going around to the buckle.

Hey burnoutking999 you got any pictures of your dad competing?

[Robbied_216]

Great thought....

[Slow Reflexes]

That is the best strap story I've ever heard... great job!

[winny pooh]

nice story, look forward to seeing the completed item

[burnoutking999]

Originally Posted by Tim Armstrong

Very VERY cool!

Tim

Originally Posted by paulskirocks

Wow... cool idea... I can relate...

Originally Posted by magicguitar

Very nice!

Originally Posted by fatboymjt

...that's awesome !...

Originally Posted by Robbied_216

Great thought....

Originally Posted by Slow Reflexes

That is the best strap story I've ever heard... great job!

Originally Posted by winny pooh

nice story, look forward to seeing the completed item

thanks all! It has been a very good journey building this stuff so far. I cant wait till the hard freeze is over so I can go back outside to work on the body of the guitar itself. This forum is great for information and makes it very worthwhile!

[burnoutking999]

Originally Posted by BooneDog

That IS very cool.
A good leather shop, saddle shop might have some ideas for truly incorporating that buckle setup into a strap, and the equipment to do it and match the rest of the belt, or widen it if it needs it, if that buckle setup turns into a problem. It might work great as is though, it's a super idea and what dad wouldn't love knowing his son was using his old equipment in some fashion.
COOL!

yeah, im not sure if it will always stay this way. The buckle is sturdy and the leather strong but there is only one prong holding it together at the buckle. I may renovate that part and the temporary short peice is not going to be a forever thing but the main part is the belt and it works perfectly. In the final peice I will have the holes in the short strap like a belt for adjustment.

[burnoutking999]

Originally Posted by edgemarc

Nice, Very Very nice! Thats the stylin belt from that era, we used to have them with a Horse race going around to the buckle.

Hey burnoutking999 you got any pictures of your dad competing?

Yeah, i have a few more buckles and i do actually have some roping pictures of my grand father, my dad and his two freinds.

[dale_c]

Very cool. Neat to hear a story like that about something so simple as a guitar strap. Thanks for sharing.

[burnoutking999]

Originally Posted by edgemarc

Nice, Very Very nice! Thats the stylin belt from that era, we used to have them with a Horse race going around to the buckle.

Hey burnoutking999 you got any pictures of your dad competing?

Here is the pic of roping I was thinking of. Hes the one on the right. I think there are more but my mom probably has them

[Marc Rutters]

Oh yea! Nothing like an animal abuse rush! Check out that Gremlin in the back ground :)

[Frontier9]

Originally Posted by edgemarc

Oh yea! Nothing like an animal abuse rush! Check out that Gremlin in the back ground :)

Great story! You can count on them here at the TDPRI. Hey edgemarc - you sure that isn't a Pacer?