How To Keep Your Guitar Strap From Failing

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You playing the guitar and your strap just disconnects. Yep it happens. I was playing myself and the guitar just dropped. Luckily I was sitting down and it didn’t really mess up the guitar, but it was a scary thing. Go search for “Guitar Strap Malfunction” on YouTube. As of right now there are over 600 videos of guitarists dropping or losing their guitar because their guitar strap didn’t work correctly. Sometimes the guitarist was doing something really stupid. Sometimes the guitarist was simply playing and the strap fell down.

A few months after my guitar strap fell, I asked my son to go get his guitar and play a song for me. He went and got the guitar. He put the strap on his shoulders. And then when he began to play the strap detached and his guitar immediately hit the ground. He was not seated as I was so I rushed to go examine the guitar. Luckily he was on carpet and the hit the guitar sustained wasn’t damaging. After examining the guitar I reconnected the strap to the guitar. I then saw that the strap hole had widened. The strap hole that was supposed to hold the strap to the guitar strap knob was a lot larger than it should have been and thus was not reliable to hold the guitar trap to the guitar any longer.

I went and grabbed another cheap strap that I had lying around and attached it to my son’s guitar. However, I couldn’t feel comfortable about this way of attaching any strap to the guitar. It seemed like it was only a matter of time before we lose a guitar due to falling down. I realized that expecting any strap to hold a guitar for long periods of time is not very realistic.

So what did I do? Well I went to searching on the Internet. And it wasn’t long before I found a little gizmo called a “Strap-Lock.”

What is a Strap Lock

What is a strap lock? Well you know that little knob you have on your guitar where you hook your guitar strap to that holds the strap to the guitar? Well if you think about it, you will realize that that knob ain’t enough to be safe. Especially if you want to throw your guitar around your neck like a lot of YouTube guitarists want to do. Or even if you don’t. You just want a reliable connection between the guitar and the strap.

Well, the Strap lock replaces that little guitar knob with a total locking mechanism. That locking mechanism totally and securely connects the guitar to the strap. That way you can now throw your guitar around to your heart’s content knowing that the Strap-Lock will hold it into place.

Now, I’m sure you understand why you need it. But in case you don’t, go get it anyway. It is only a matter of time before you drop your guitar and you realize that your guitar could have been saved with a small investment in a Strap-Lock. Go get a Strap Lock and install it.

Installing the Strap Lock

Now how difficult is it to install? Good question. There are 2 parts to the installation. First you need to install a piece of the locking mechanism on the guitar. And then you need to install a piece of the locking mechanism on to the guitar Strap that you will use.

Now that first step of connecting a piece of the Strap Lock to your guitar is very easy for the electric guitar or a simple steel string acoustic. You simply go grab a Phillips-head screwdriver and unscrew the 2 guitar strap knobs that are currently on the guitar. Then screw back in the 2 Strap Lock mechanism in the holes that the strap knobs came from. You will be done in under 2 minutes.

OK, now what about if you have a classical guitar that ain’t really designed for a strap? Or say you have one of those “Acoustic/Electric Guitars” where you got one knob and the other knob is where you plug in your guitar cord that goes into your amplifier? Well, it will probably take you more than 2 minutes in these cases because you will need to create a hole that you put the Strap-Lock mechanism into. So you will either have to install the hole or get someone else to do it.

My son had an electric. I installed the Strap-Lock to his electric guitar very quickly and easily. However, I had one of those Acoustic/Electric Guitars. So I carefully drilled a new hole far enough away from the knob where I plug in my guitar cord so that it would not damage the electronics. Don’t try this unless you know what you doing!

It was not difficult. I had both guitars done in under 5 minutes.

In any case, after you have made the alterations to your guitar you will then need to alter your guitar strap. Yes, the guitar strap you already own. You don’t have to buy any special straps. And doing this part of the installation is even easier than the first part of connecting the equipment to the guitar.

To install this, you simply took the Strap-Lock Mechanism and connected it on both sides of the strap hole opening. Again you will have 2 of these one on each side of the strap. Installation was very easy. Then you simply connect the strap to the guitar. And it will lock in place. Go head and hold it up from the strap and watch how strongly it holds on.

Now, don’t go cheap when you buy a Strap-Lock. Schaller locks are the ones I use and the ones I suggest. Head on over and see current pricing.

Conclusion

Yes, eventually your guitar will hit the ground if you are simply attaching the guitar strap to the guitar knobs that came with your guitar. But you don’t have to do very much to protect your guitar. All you need is a Schaller Guitar Strap-Lock. If you get that you will be able to install it quickly and easily and you can use it on virtually any guitar strap including the one you have right now. It is worth every penny.

Have you had success with Strap-Locks? Go head and leave a comment to let me know.

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