Do I even need strap locks?

[dmkozak]

I've got a MIA Tele with the factory strap buttons which fit Fender or Schaller locks. I only play it at home for practice. I'm under the impression strap locks are more for "outside" playing where there's more people around. My acoustic has the Dunlop Dual buttons which seem to hold the strap with no problem. It's also lighter weight.

Do I really need to pick up the Schaller locks? Or, should I be okay without other people around?

 

[Brutalblues]

Only if.....

you want to do this......(link removed)

 

[davidp158]

my dentist tells me...

..."only floss the teeth you want to keep".

You may not need strap locks for playing guitar around the house, but if you've got 'em, why not use 'em? There is a greater chance that you're guitar may slip off the strap at a gig on a crowded stage, but that can happen anywhere. (There seems to be a lot of excess gravity around my house and its happened to me.) I consider myself careful with my instruments, but I have strap locks on all my electric guitars. Its cheap insurance.

Dave

 

[jhundt]

No

thousands of guitar players have lived, played, and died without ever using those things. Only use them if you have a problem with your strap coming off and want a new gadget. I just put a big fender washer, or a rubber plumbing washer on the strap button. You can't take the strap off, so I get straps for each guitar.

 

[0le FUZZY]

<li>40+ years on stage a dancin roun and cuttin up sumthin fearce and I never used them.
<li>When I did try a couple times I found I couldn't use my backups cause they dent haff the locks.
<li>Very difficult ta git off at times specially later on inna evenin when yer gittin a liddo tired and don't feel like rasslin with em.
<li>I haff several sets jes layin roun the TELE-Shack----useless.
<li>Knott needed specially fer home use.


0le FUZZY

 

[Nick Fanis]

if you gig you DO need them,(or some kind of strap lock like a good old GROLSH bottle ring...)
I would never gig without them,I learned my lesson the hard way...

 

[NashTele]

I agree with ole FUZZY (mabye cause I'm old myself) I have never used them and I have never had a casualty. I guess I just plain don't like messin with them.

 

[danelectro]

hahaha

The video is hilarious! I have a pair on a my Gibson L6-S but other that that I don't use them, I usually my hand on the neck so what could be more secure than that.

 

[Kevin]

I'm in the "yes; you do need them, and it's ridiculous that they don't come stock on every guitar" camp.

I've had too many guitars fall off to not use them. It's the first modification I do to _every_ guitar I own. Same brand, same type, no problems with switching straps if I want -- although I have separate straps for each guitar.

 

[div]

I use a rubber washer. I think it was 50 cents for 3 of em at the hardware store. Didn't have to drill any holes or modify the guitar & you couldn't pull that strap off if you tried.

 

[mr natural]

I use 'em on my good guitars.

You only need to drop your baby once and then you're a believer. I dropped my Melody Maker once. Boy did I cringe until I saw that there was no damage other than a big dent in the lower bout. My beater guitars are another story. My Harmony is practically unrecognizable now. I threw it out a window once. Almost as tough as a tele. Which brings up an interesting point. I do have straplocks on my tele, but one of the reasons I bought it was because I wanted something I didn't have to worry about. I seriously think if I dropped it nothing serious would happen to it. It'd probably break my toes, though.
-Mr N.

 

[dmkozak]

Forgot to add guitars stored in cases.

... You can't take the strap off, so I get straps for each guitar.

Straps for each guitar isn't a problem. (Different sizes/weights results in different straps anyway.) But, I store the guitars in their cases. So, I'll be putting the straps on/off every day or two when I play. While the strap locks make it easier or harder to put the straps on/off?

 

[Nick Fanis]

the bigest advantage of any kind of straplock in my book is not that it protects your guitar but that it saves you from the embarasment of dropping your guitar on you foot when playing,doing a show and hopping around in front of 2000 people!(yes it happened to me 15 years ago!)

 

[SYRCHLIGHT]

i tried them once. i found i could hear them rattling through the amp. i found that annoying. been playing 30 years and never had a bass or geetar fall of the strap. peace, jeff

 

[trag-o-caster]

I never bothered with them, and never really had a serious incident. I've had worse luck with guitar stands being knocked over, with my guitar in it. Now, I'll NEVER use a stand, and my guitar NEVER gets knocked over.

For those guitars where there have been problems keeping the strap on, I'd just used those tabs that you get on a bread package. They're hard to get on, and they AIN'T comin' off. I've never had that problem with a Tele though, so I don't bother.

 

[Hucklebilly]

Nope

35 years of playing guitar and I've yet to have a strap come loose. At our last gig the bass player's strap did pop off, however. He was using strap locks.

 

[zydeco honeycup]

Re: Forgot to add guitars stored in cases.

Straps for each guitar isn't a problem. (Different sizes/weights results in different straps anyway.) But, I store the guitars in their cases. So, I'll be putting the straps on/off every day or two when I play. While the strap locks make it easier or harder to put the straps on/off?

I find it easier with strap locks - they just snap into place rather than squeeze onto place.

Anyway, if you play sitting down I'm sure it's allright - but if you play standing up, at some point your strap will come off. It's happened to me as the straps age.

Strap locks are $12 (?) and last forever. But drop a guitar the wrong way and who knows how long it will be at the repair shop and you don't get to play it.

Of course, I never experienced hearing straplocks through the amp (as described above). If that was the tradeoff, I'd prefer to play sitting down (or some alternate method, like the rubber washers)

 

[Lost_N_Austin]

Don't get the straplocks

Just my opinion, but here are my reasons.
1. Cost money you don't need to spend
2. They squeak
3. They add weight
4. If you have more than one guitar then you either have an incompatibility problem or you buy another set.
5. I had to enlarge my strap hole to install them and can't go back.
6. The guitar won't fit in the case with the strap on it and as to be removed.
7. The GROLSH beer top gasket used as a button is the way to go, they work great

The bad part is the GROLSH beer is Nasty, maybe could be used for attracting slugs in the garden but I don't think anyone should be drinking it. :? Maybe drinking the GROLSH beer could be one of the challenges on Fear Factor

 

[Weezer]

Get em. Worst case, you spend $20 for some peace of mind. But if you don't get em, you could watch your guitar and your $$$ going flying off into oblivion. I really don't see any draw backs. Plus, if you do get really into a song your playing, and you do decide to spin your guitar, your ready.

P.S. how many guys here are guitar spinners? I've done it at only one show, and people love it.

 

[dmkozak]

Re: Don't get the straplocks

...
5. I had to enlarge my strap hole to install them and can't go back.

Is that what people mean when they say the strap can only be used with strap locks? I wondered why they just didn't remove the strap lock and use the strap without the strap lock.

So, once you've used a strap lock with the strap, the strap can no longer be used without the strap lock?