Alternative to felt washers for strap buttons?

[Boolywho]

Does anyone know of any good alternatives to those felt washers that they sell for strap buttons? Preferably it would be something cheap, that I could find very easily, either in my own home, at the hardware store, or even grocery store.

I was thinking of possibly just using a flat rubber gasket of some sort. These seem to come on all sorts of things, including those one beer bottles that everyone seems to be talking about.

Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[xbearxau]

Couldnt you just buy a piece of black or white felt from your local fabric supplier and cut out little circles? Assuming you have a local fabric supplier
Every place Ive been to will even give you a small sample cut off the corner of the roll. Just tell them you need a sample to check the colour.

 

[Warren Pederson]

I use leather.

 

[Boolywho]

Couldnt you just buy a piece of black or white felt from your local fabric supplier and cut out little circles? Assuming you have a local fabric supplier
Every place Ive been to will even give you a small sample cut off the corner of the roll. Just tell them you need a sample to check the colour.

Yes, that certainly is a possibility xbearxau. I guess I was just wondering if anyone has done anything creative with this. By "creative", I just mean non-standard (aka, not felt).

And yes, before anyone says it, I am well aware that this is just a stupid washer for your strap buttons. But if anyone wants to humor me with their dazzling ingenuity, I'd love to see it.

 

[oigun]

You also can use.. nothing
Rubber can eat your finish.

 

[Jupiter]

Leather sounds good. I tried using some of that squooshy low-impact foam rubber, but it didn't work well, because it got bound up on the screw and twisted.

 

[Picton]

Can I ask what's wrong with felt? I'm not into buying little cloth circles, but they're dead easy to make yourself, in any color you like...

 

[musicalmartin]

not sure what they are called .Those paper rings to reinforce punched holes for ring binders .Mind you havnt seen them for decades .
maybe we can start a complete new thread
"do the little felt washers on strap buttons suck tone"

 

[baja_baiter]

Easy... get these:

 

[richinva]

....maybe we can start a complete new thread
"do the little felt washers on strap buttons suck tone"

Yes, felt washers suck tone like a big dog. Research has proven that leather is superior as far as tone goes, especially if you use an .047 cap between the rear strap button and low E tuner. For vintage tone, use leather cut from a pair of 1952 shoes..........

Seriously, old shoes, old belt, etc., would yield more leather washers than anyone could ever use...............You want alternative, there you go.

Rich (I'm thinking rich, Corinthian leather for that special sound) in VA

 

[Bolide]

Am I the only person whose guitar straps get too grubby to use long before the slots get so loose that strap-locks make sense

srsly, if the slots are that loose, I have to wonder if the stitching or the strapping itself is dodgy by that point.

 

[Mike Bruce]

Felt washers just compress and make the screw loosen, so I often just remove them and glue the button screw to seal the hole and finish around the hole better. I've tried leather, with no discernable difference, and I've noticed some Godin guitars with some sort of rubber or synthetic washers. By and large though, I don't see the need for a washer between the button and the finish.

Peace, Mike.

 

[Mike Simpson]

I use nothing and have had no problems doing that... I can always find nothing when I need it...

If you are going to use something... How about hard plastic like the side of a plastic milk jug or a 2L pop bottle... or a piece of plastic from pretty much anything in the recycle bin...

 

[spauldingrules]

Agree - nothing is best.

I use nothing and have had no problems doing that... I can always find nothing when I need it...

If you are going to use something... How about hard plastic like the side of a plastic milk jug or a 2L pop bottle... or a piece of plastic from pretty much anything in the recycle bin...

 

[Hobbs79]

Can I ask what's wrong with felt? I'm not into buying little cloth circles, but they're dead easy to make yourself, in any color you like...

What do you use the cut the circles? If I assumed some sort of hole punch, would I be correct?

 

[LowCaster]

I used nothing on my guitar. It's perfect.

If I thought I had to protect the finishing, I would use wool felt...

Wool felt is strong and compresses well. It is by far superior to coton or synthetic felt.

Leather, on the other hand, is strong but hardens when compressed and usually contains chemicals.

 

[allen st. john]

I use nothing, including on several vintage guitars and a fine acoustic.

 

[Boolywho]

not sure what they are called .Those paper rings to reinforce punched holes for ring binders .Mind you havnt seen them for decades .
maybe we can start a complete new thread
"do the little felt washers on strap buttons suck tone"

I like the new title. Interesting theories on the tone suck, Rich.

Sounds like nothing might be the way to go. I'm a big fan of nothing. I can do it all the time, tremendous amounts of it even, and I don't even feel tired afterward. It must be a gift of mine or something.

... Although, Rich might be right, if I go with Corinthian leather, I might just be able to get that twangy/mellow/warm/biting/fat/focused (pre-)vintage tone that I'm after. Yes, that might be the ticket.

 

[mkgearhead]

I've used neoprene washers from the hardware store. They're about 15 cents each.

 

[Picton]

What do you use the cut the circles? If I assumed some sort of hole punch, would I be correct?

If your wife is anything like mine, there are always a million tiny little felt scraps hanging around the house; most would work fine for this.
I start by getting an irregular chunk of felt totalling about 1 square inch; use an X-acto knife to make a little tiny cross in the center, then work some little scissors in there to cut away the corners. The kind of scissors that fold out of a Swiss army knife would work well. What results is a diamond-shaped hole for the center. I put the screw through the strap button, thread the felt onto the screw, then just use scissors to cut around the strap button as it rests against the felt. Three or four minutes, tops.

Although, if the consensus is that "nothing" works just as well as any washer, then go with it. I like that I can put more colors on than black or white; I usually match the finish pretty closely.