Is there such a thing as straplocks that don't suck?

[kludge]

I have amazingly cool strap locks on one guitar. It's a folded piece of leather that screws to your guitar by the old strap button, and has another strap button on it. There's a leather flap that goes over the new strap button, like a buttonhole on a shirt. So you put your strap on the new button, then "button" the flap over it. It don't come off, but your strap can be easily removed and doesn't require special hardware. Looks cool, too.

I wish I could remember the name of them... I can't even google them! Mine came with the guitar, but I've seen them on the shelf at Twin Town Guitars in Minneapolis. Anyway, best solution I've seen.

[oggy]

[bo]

Still using Schallers. I've never had problems with the screws pulling out. I put a small dab of nail polish around the part that receives the big washer and they never come loose. A very small amount of Vaseline will keep the creak away.

[hicup2398]

hey oggy, is that the cap of a pint bottle? if not what is it?

[oggy]

Yep, bottle cap that I took a pair of tin snips to then drilled a hole in the center. I've had it on my LP for years.

[Tony474]

Originally Posted by Del Pickup

It's the nuts that keep the straplock on your strap that I seem to have a problem with.

I bought a set of Dunlop (I think) strap locks for my old tele many years and never had a problem with them. When I got my Custom Shop Clapton strat a few years ago I bought a set for that and these nuts just will not stay tight on the strap. They keep working loose...

Just did a double-take on this one. The locks you describe don't sound like Dunlops, which feature a circlip in a groove to retain them on the strap. Once they're properly in place they're very secure and won't come off unless deliberately removed. That, among other things, is one reason why I prefer them to the Schaller design, which does feature a nut on a thread and sounds like what you're referring to.

[hicup2398]

oh cool, but you probly had to take the button off, put the cap on, then the strap and screw it back on, did you?

[PeteG45]

I use the Schaller strap locks with no problems. If you're having a problem with the nuts coming loose (the strap lock nuts) try a drop of blue Locktite. Use the blue, not the red. I always have a bottle in the garage from my motorcycling days and this stuff gets the job done. This stuff is made specifically to keep nuts, screws and bolts from loosening.

[SMurphy28]

What do you do when the strap locks rip the screw out of the body? I tried a bigger screw but the same thing happened... I don't want to do any permanent damage but I do want my strap to stay on. Any suggestions? Would wood/crazy glue keep it in place?

[gumbo]

Schaller for over 15 years on LOTS of different solid body guitars and basses and only one failure of a second-hand one early in that time...that was due to the plunger in the strap end coming unscrewed....

..managed to find (with a LOT of help!!) all the bits on a wooden dance floor and re-assembled...worked fine after that..

ALTHOUGH...that taught me a lesson or two:

1.
make sure everything that's threaded together has a dose of Lock-tite

2.
enlarge the hole in the strap end before installing the strap locks so the leather fits flat...make sure everything is sitting straight, and then tension with a small combination wrench (ring spanner, here!!)..first putting Lock-tite
on the thread

3.
flatten the bout end (on a Strat, say) where the strap lock sits on the body so that there is NO play, and put SuperGlue in the hole before installing the screw



...that all said...everything works fine....and I always take the straps off before putting the axes in their cases, but that's me......


Just my 2c worth...which is now worth about 0.6c.......

[cantolina]

The Dunlops are the ones I've used for years....they've never let me down....ever..

As a player/vocalist, I wear my guitar "Bruce-style" often if I'm not playing on a song or a section...

[kludge]

Ah, I found a picture of the leather folding straplocks I was talking about... here they are on my vintage Schecter Strat:

[johnnylaw]

I had Schallers back in the Rock days after losing a guitar or two during spirited performances.

I now use the Dunlops because they can be used with any strap whether the hardware is on the strap or not. They're rugged, good looking, and easy to use.

As for the strap hardware, take a pair of vice grips and a couple of washers. Place a washer on either side of the strap over the holes and squish the leather hard with the vice grips. When you go to install the strap hardware, you'll have plenty of thread readily accesible with no struggle. A drop of Lok Tite on the threads could make a difference, but I have never needed to go this far.

Keep acrobatics to a minimum.

[chicknpikr]

wouldn't it be great if someone made a "nice"strap with those cliplocks on the ends?

[Staggered Mag]

Originally Posted by Injun Joe

I've been using these homemade stainless jobs... They hold on well. I'd like to say it was my design, but they are a copy of these nylon ones that cost under $3: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Hardware...p_Buttons.html

Now that looks like the ticket, very nice in stainless. Never a big fan of strap locks. Noisy and clunky.

[magnetbox]

I've had a set of Schallers that I've used on my "nice" old P-bass for about five years. The only problem was the nut loosening-- constantly. Fixed that by putting one of the milder varieties of Loctite on the threads. A little force with pliers (or at worst a little heat) will turn the nuts off if I need to replace the strap.

Apart from that, my only gripes are that 1) they're ugly and 2) before I applied the loctite I actually lost one of the nuts. Nothing I could find at the hardware store would thread correctly. So they use a proprietary (or just plain odd) size, or something? My straplocks were useless until my music shop was able to dig up a donor from their workbench.

[okie]

I've used dunlops for eons and they work great, I make sure each time after I put the strap on I give it a good tug to make sure the ball locks engage. IMO strap locks are a must on Gibsons, Fenders much more forgiving.

[AngryEL34s]

I prefer the Dunlops to the Schallers since the Schaller have a habit of squeaking something fierce and working the nut on the outside loose, as well as the base the lock clicks into. On my Strat, I had to constantly check to make sure the screw was tightened til I got sick of it and used Lock-Tite, which still didn't work, so then I dropped some epoxy in there and now it won't move. Of course, I won't ever move, but that's another story.

The Dunlops are better designed, though trickier to install. I have them on my SG and I like the way they function, though since they're "tall," it kinda makes my SG's body lean away from me, but I've gotten used to that. On a guitar where the locks are on the top and bottom bouts, they're great, but not so for SG or 335 style guitars where the top strap button is located on the back.

My favorite so far, though, is also the cheapest I've come across. For $1.00, my Tele has the most secure, quietest and least sucky strap locks. I took 2 quarters, drilled a hole through them and rescrewed the original screw into the body. Presto! Though now the strap won't come off, but that's the point, right?