TVvoodoo's Straplab
- Thread starter TVvoodoo
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OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
Ok... continuing on! Sorry for the delay, had to make a quick video for COVID-19 safety for someone, ( I dabble in that still because, well I have the video production background).
Don't think it'll win me any Emmys, but it gets the point across. Which reminds me, if anyone reading here now has like ambient "bed" style music on file that you might like to
offer up royalty free, just so a fella like me can use it I'd appreciate that. Maybe we could work a deal out on something-something, y'know, y'know. I make a little of that stuff myself
but in this case I just didn't have the time and didn't want to re-use something I already made/used before.
I like stuff with downtempo chords, and drones, maybe a little moderny trip-hop beat. Kind of there, but not there if you catch my drift. Synth, piano.. or guitar. Reverby....
Simple stuff not too busy. NOT Brad Gillis ESPN sports highlight shredding LOL! Well, maybe sometimes. anyway if it's sitting there in your soundcloud doing nothing, let's talk.
Back to Xonoth, taker of No Prisoners!
Here we are nailing 'er all together with T99 upholstery thread. It's good strong stuff. You might be able to break a strand with your bare hands. Maybe two if you are a beast. But when it's stitched, it's secure. I've taken apart a lot of straps by big names to repair them, and by and large I find most makers use real cheap thread, sometimes they double stitch to compensate, sometimes not.
Here you can see I use black on top, and the bobbin underneath is loaded with golden brown, that's the stitch that shows underneat on the matching brown lining. Rolled leather edges here, with padding inside, makes a nice comfort difference as well. Have a look at the straps in your collection. See if you have any with the rolled edges. Many of you will find a number of them with just raw cut off edges, those will bite into your neck a bit. You might not even feel the difference, until you know it's there.
So, once I get the edges sewn to the lining, then I go back to the bench to shape the nose. I probably should make a template, but right now I am doing most by eye, because it's way more crafty
Hey look! My fret leveling ruler also functions as straight edge! You can see a bit of raw leather on the edges here, we'll fix that up later.
Back to the Consew....
Here I am driving through some good depth of leather, lining and strap to marry it all together. I typically do a double seam on top and on the ladder end as well.
They are also glued with barge cement... Strap ends are secure.
Bring it back to the workbench to dye the raw edges on the nose here. Then, I use my cotton webbing covered burnishing stick. Basically you wet it down, let it sit for about fifteen minutes
then you rub that leather like crazy, getting some real heat going. Helps to add a little bit of gum tragicanth too, gets you a pretty nice smooth and shiny edge.
Looks great, feels "finished." Not all nose leathers can be finished this way, but this is one. I'm getting better at burnishing slowly, but like I said before it's kind of an art in itself.
One day an electric motor burnisher polisher might be in order. It's kind of a lot of work but makes a nice difference in the end product.
Now I pop some holes in for the tail strap ladder. I don't have a template, just eyeball it... slots about an inch or so apart.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! repeat about ten times.
More banging still.... keyhole slots with the button holes. Even though this leather is in extremely low danger of "ripping" like other straps, I put the small punch holes at the end of the slot there because it looks right, and gives the leather a bit more flexibility to go over the button. One on the end, and another in case the one on the end ever wears out, you can just cut it off. Or you can use to upper one if the base strap is too long, this gives you three inches in reduced length, or more length depending on how you look at it.
Burnish the strap end, like the nose end, and... Ta-dahhhhhh! Xonoth... a 3" wide padded black and brown leather strap with biker bling.
Goes about 46 to 57" - That's about five inches LONGER than many factory straps.
OMG that bugged me for so many years. Buy an $80 strap and it's three inches too short, even on the last loop. I have a solution for that too.
Another handcrafted monster creatived in the Well-Hung (not a factory) Straplab. Xonoth soon to be up for public consumption. After I complete these, I'll take a bunch of photos in my little "studio" on "Felix," my paisley-shirted dummy, before putting it forward. Sometimes I'll take a few with a guitar, so I can stick a pic up on Reddit or wherever.
I don't want to go into such detail with everything I make here, but I figure this gives the community a general idea of what it takes to make a quality piece, at least how I taught myself to do it anyway.
This is but one of my mainstay design schemes, I have several others, some are similar, some different, but I like the results of No Prisoners because they're all unique, and I believe that's a key selling point... every guitarist should strive to have a signature type strap in the collection, something hundreds of others can't just grab off the rack. Something fellas at the blooz jam will be inspired to ask "Where did you get that?" And, you can say *wherever*. Great conversation piece. Plus, if you are really kind, might even let them try it just to watch the look on their face when they suddenly realize how comfortable a strap can be, like they can't believe they suffered bad straps almost their whole playing life.
Then you have to try and get it back!
Hope you enjoyed this ride, maybe learned something about what can go into a sling that cradles your precious while you swagger onstage in comfort and with confidence.
Don't think it'll win me any Emmys, but it gets the point across. Which reminds me, if anyone reading here now has like ambient "bed" style music on file that you might like to
offer up royalty free, just so a fella like me can use it I'd appreciate that. Maybe we could work a deal out on something-something, y'know, y'know. I make a little of that stuff myself
but in this case I just didn't have the time and didn't want to re-use something I already made/used before.
I like stuff with downtempo chords, and drones, maybe a little moderny trip-hop beat. Kind of there, but not there if you catch my drift. Synth, piano.. or guitar. Reverby....
Simple stuff not too busy. NOT Brad Gillis ESPN sports highlight shredding LOL! Well, maybe sometimes. anyway if it's sitting there in your soundcloud doing nothing, let's talk.
Back to Xonoth, taker of No Prisoners!
Here we are nailing 'er all together with T99 upholstery thread. It's good strong stuff. You might be able to break a strand with your bare hands. Maybe two if you are a beast. But when it's stitched, it's secure. I've taken apart a lot of straps by big names to repair them, and by and large I find most makers use real cheap thread, sometimes they double stitch to compensate, sometimes not.
Here you can see I use black on top, and the bobbin underneath is loaded with golden brown, that's the stitch that shows underneat on the matching brown lining. Rolled leather edges here, with padding inside, makes a nice comfort difference as well. Have a look at the straps in your collection. See if you have any with the rolled edges. Many of you will find a number of them with just raw cut off edges, those will bite into your neck a bit. You might not even feel the difference, until you know it's there.
So, once I get the edges sewn to the lining, then I go back to the bench to shape the nose. I probably should make a template, but right now I am doing most by eye, because it's way more crafty
Hey look! My fret leveling ruler also functions as straight edge! You can see a bit of raw leather on the edges here, we'll fix that up later.
Back to the Consew....
Here I am driving through some good depth of leather, lining and strap to marry it all together. I typically do a double seam on top and on the ladder end as well.
They are also glued with barge cement... Strap ends are secure.
Bring it back to the workbench to dye the raw edges on the nose here. Then, I use my cotton webbing covered burnishing stick. Basically you wet it down, let it sit for about fifteen minutes
then you rub that leather like crazy, getting some real heat going. Helps to add a little bit of gum tragicanth too, gets you a pretty nice smooth and shiny edge.
Looks great, feels "finished." Not all nose leathers can be finished this way, but this is one. I'm getting better at burnishing slowly, but like I said before it's kind of an art in itself.
One day an electric motor burnisher polisher might be in order. It's kind of a lot of work but makes a nice difference in the end product.
Now I pop some holes in for the tail strap ladder. I don't have a template, just eyeball it... slots about an inch or so apart.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! repeat about ten times.
More banging still.... keyhole slots with the button holes. Even though this leather is in extremely low danger of "ripping" like other straps, I put the small punch holes at the end of the slot there because it looks right, and gives the leather a bit more flexibility to go over the button. One on the end, and another in case the one on the end ever wears out, you can just cut it off. Or you can use to upper one if the base strap is too long, this gives you three inches in reduced length, or more length depending on how you look at it.
Burnish the strap end, like the nose end, and... Ta-dahhhhhh! Xonoth... a 3" wide padded black and brown leather strap with biker bling.
Goes about 46 to 57" - That's about five inches LONGER than many factory straps.
OMG that bugged me for so many years. Buy an $80 strap and it's three inches too short, even on the last loop. I have a solution for that too.
Another handcrafted monster creatived in the Well-Hung (not a factory) Straplab. Xonoth soon to be up for public consumption. After I complete these, I'll take a bunch of photos in my little "studio" on "Felix," my paisley-shirted dummy, before putting it forward. Sometimes I'll take a few with a guitar, so I can stick a pic up on Reddit or wherever.
I don't want to go into such detail with everything I make here, but I figure this gives the community a general idea of what it takes to make a quality piece, at least how I taught myself to do it anyway.
This is but one of my mainstay design schemes, I have several others, some are similar, some different, but I like the results of No Prisoners because they're all unique, and I believe that's a key selling point... every guitarist should strive to have a signature type strap in the collection, something hundreds of others can't just grab off the rack. Something fellas at the blooz jam will be inspired to ask "Where did you get that?" And, you can say *wherever*. Great conversation piece. Plus, if you are really kind, might even let them try it just to watch the look on their face when they suddenly realize how comfortable a strap can be, like they can't believe they suffered bad straps almost their whole playing life.
Then you have to try and get it back!
Hope you enjoyed this ride, maybe learned something about what can go into a sling that cradles your precious while you swagger onstage in comfort and with confidence.
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I dig seeing the detailed process.
Thanks for taking the time to document it.
Thanks for taking the time to document it.
You wasn't supposed to mention that in public...
chilipeppermaniac
Ambassador of Decibels
VooDude, you are unreal. I have always wanted to learn to sew, and really sew stuff like leather, Car upholstery etc.
Sp8ctre
Ambassador of Steel
I made those cabs and covered them myself! Got some nice speakers in them too!
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
Sewing is a great skill to have. but watch out 'cause once folks find out, people start dropping off hockey bags, and purses, and jackets and belts and tarps to fix
aon
Well-Known Member
Great stuff! I've found very few straps where the lining seems to be taken into consideration... although I haven't looked all that hard to be honest. I always seem to come back to the "Fender" (not actually) knock-off cheetah strap that I got in China 18 years ago. Very hard to find straps where the lining isn't too slippy. Guess now I know where to find one
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OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
@aon, one thing I come up against a few times a year is guys that absolutely WANT a slippy strap. For me, due to the padding I want to put into my straps as a part of my brand, not only the texture of the linings that I choose, but also the padding I insert also helps keep your guitar in a STAY-PUT position. Only the lightest padded straps will be able to be moved around a lot. BTW the absolute slickest strap surface I can think of is the seat belt straps, they are all over the place, but if you've ever used one, man they just POUND away at your shoulder. The stickiest strap surface I have ever found is a synthetic rubbery raincoat substance I have a supply of here, if somebody wants that.
I actually "invented" what I called an anti-gravity strap - now bear in mind that's complete hyperbole for advertising purposes, but I found a substance that once grabs on your shirt, and the front pin is hooked up to your guitar, the material is is SO grippy, you don't even need to hook up the back pin it grabs so much. Demonstration purposes only of course, but in this case below the guitar was simply hanging in air by the grip alone on the shoulder.
The strap never caught on as an item, but that's a pretty good example of the unconventional things I am willing to try here in what I have dubbed "The Straplab."
Guitar technology, pickups, materials, strings, so much research and design goes into them, but for the most part the guitar strap has largely remained mostty the same since the late 50s.
OF COURSE I overthink it. It's my job
Next time you are at a show, and you see a player with a 2" poly strap wait about 30-40 minutes into a set and watch carefully how many players will start to reposition the strap unconciously, trying to get some relief on the shoulder. You can't help but see it actually becomes a major distraction on the performance of the player. I think a lot of players adopt vests and other stagewear gear to layer over a shirt as added style but also to help bring some comfort.
Today in the shop we have been working on a small replenishment of a Wild Thing Series item... I am suddenly now calling these "Tiger King" for obvious reasons. Resisting the temptation to add bullet studs, conchos, sequins and fringe to make these truly Exotic pieces. These are made of the very hides of the beasts that biatch in Florida Carol Baskins wanted to get her crooked husband-murdering claws on. But, that would not stand for my man Joey. To save those beautiful animals from such a terrible fate, he instead went on a four day meth binge and when it was all over, had fedexed five tiger pelts to me. Got a few of mine that are kind of popular, and if there's demand, I'll keep making them until ssay in this case, the tiger pelts run out. Last of the last bunch was eaten up a few weeks ago, so time to train up a few more. Won't finish them today, probably tomorrow or the next day - 3" wide, padded, with good black leather. iT's the perfect "Hey! Notice me! I'm a Wildman!" sort of strap.
I actually "invented" what I called an anti-gravity strap - now bear in mind that's complete hyperbole for advertising purposes, but I found a substance that once grabs on your shirt, and the front pin is hooked up to your guitar, the material is is SO grippy, you don't even need to hook up the back pin it grabs so much. Demonstration purposes only of course, but in this case below the guitar was simply hanging in air by the grip alone on the shoulder.
The strap never caught on as an item, but that's a pretty good example of the unconventional things I am willing to try here in what I have dubbed "The Straplab."
Guitar technology, pickups, materials, strings, so much research and design goes into them, but for the most part the guitar strap has largely remained mostty the same since the late 50s.
OF COURSE I overthink it. It's my job
Next time you are at a show, and you see a player with a 2" poly strap wait about 30-40 minutes into a set and watch carefully how many players will start to reposition the strap unconciously, trying to get some relief on the shoulder. You can't help but see it actually becomes a major distraction on the performance of the player. I think a lot of players adopt vests and other stagewear gear to layer over a shirt as added style but also to help bring some comfort.
Today in the shop we have been working on a small replenishment of a Wild Thing Series item... I am suddenly now calling these "Tiger King" for obvious reasons. Resisting the temptation to add bullet studs, conchos, sequins and fringe to make these truly Exotic pieces. These are made of the very hides of the beasts that biatch in Florida Carol Baskins wanted to get her crooked husband-murdering claws on. But, that would not stand for my man Joey. To save those beautiful animals from such a terrible fate, he instead went on a four day meth binge and when it was all over, had fedexed five tiger pelts to me. Got a few of mine that are kind of popular, and if there's demand, I'll keep making them until ssay in this case, the tiger pelts run out. Last of the last bunch was eaten up a few weeks ago, so time to train up a few more. Won't finish them today, probably tomorrow or the next day - 3" wide, padded, with good black leather. iT's the perfect "Hey! Notice me! I'm a Wildman!" sort of strap.
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Sp8ctre
Ambassador of Steel
@aon, one thing I come up against a few times a year is guys that absolutely WANT a slippy strap. For me, due to the padding I want to put into my straps as a part of my brand, not only the texture of the linings that I choose, but also the padding I insert also helps keep your guitar in a STAY-PUT position. Only the lightest padded straps will be able to be moved around a lot. BTW the absolute slickest strap surface I can think of is the seat belt straps, they are all over the place, but if you've ever used one, man they just POUND away at your shoulder. The stickiest strap surface I have ever found is a synthetic rubbery raincoat substance I have a supply of here, if somebody wants that.
I actually "invented" what I called an anti-gravity strap - now bear in mind that's complete hyperbole for advertising purposes, but I found a substance that once grabs on your shirt, and the front pin is hooked up to your guitar, the material is is SO grippy, you don't even need to hook up the back pin it grabs so much. Demonstration purposes only of course, but in this case below the guitar was simply hanging in air by the grip alone on the shoulder.
The strap never caught on as an item, but that's a pretty good example of the unconventional things I am willing to try here in what I have dubbed "The Straplab."
Guitar technology, pickups, materials, strings, so much research and design goes into them, but for the most part the guitar strap has largely remained mostty the same since the late 50s.
OF COURSE I overthink it. It's my job
Next time you are at a show, and you see a player with a 2" poly strap wait about 30-40 minutes into a set and watch carefully how many players will start to reposition the strap unconciously, trying to get some relief on the shoulder. You can't help but see it actually becomes a major distraction on the performance of the player. I think a lot of players adopt vests and other stagewear gear to layer over a shirt as added style but also to help bring some comfort.
Today in the shop we have been working on a small replenishment of a Wild Thing Series item... I am suddenly now calling these "Tiger King" for obvious reasons. These are made of the very hides of the beasts that biatch in Florida Carol Baskins wanted to get her crooked husband-murdering hands on. But, that would not stand for Joe Exotic. To save those beautiful animals from such a terrible fate, he instead sent the pelts over to me. Got some straps that are kind of popular, and if there's demand, I'll keep making them until the material runs out. Last of the last bunch was eaten up a few weeks ago so, time to train up a few more. Won't finish them today, probably tomorrow or the next day - 3" wide, padded, with good black leather. iT's the perfect "Hey! Notice me! I'm a Wildman!" sort of strap.
"Grippy" is what I like and exactly what your strap does for me! I get my guitar in position and it Never slips! I really think the strap would put SG neck dive out of the equation!
Too bad I don't have an SG to try it out on....
Astral Traveler
Ambassador of Both Time and Space
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
Thank you Astral, you are quite the creature of the night.. woke up this morning to a dozen hits of sweet, sweet redbox dopamine, much thanks to you!... waitaminute... now I see why...Hej!!!!
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