TVvoodoo's Straplab

[TVvoodoo]

"Black Diamond" has an astounding amount of "glitterbling!" Can be seen up to about 70 feet away in the sunshine. After being exposed to the sight, Rainman was heard to excitedly exclaim:

"D-def-def definitely... uh, definitely ver-very s-s-s.... sparkly! I'm not wearing underwear."

 

[TVvoodoo]

Found some great super deep emboss black leather... it's matte, so no shine,
but I can make it glitter if you want that with a little work.

Sink your fangs into Black Mamba No. 5, so cool even Louis Bega is singing it's praises.
Lightly padded, goes to about 59" long, a great way to evil-up your rig in a stealth sort of way.

Short run of three now up in the store.

 

[TVvoodoo]

Laddies, hope you got your gonch on 'cause this may blow your kilt up! A couple new ones, fresh as a highland morning, with aromatic hints of smoky peat, heather and a wee leftover haggis. Or perhaps that's just the cheap blended scotch sometimes spilt here in the straplab

a bit of research marks this tartan as one of many famous Stewart Clans... this one in particular known as "Black Ancient." The Stewart Clan is an old, large and varied one. Many a castle. Flannel material outer, velvety black inner black leather front and back. Heading to the store tomorrow I think.

Reminds me of an old joke.

What's the biggest difference between the bagpipes and a lawnmower?
You can tune a lawnmower.

Jings, crivvens an' help ma boab!

 

[TVvoodoo]

Who couldn't use a little Pyramid Power? Sure you can!

When the light catches these mirror-ish metal faces, the effect cannot be ignored, and I estimate your tone will suddenly get 22% meaner. Maybe it's science, maybe it's Pyramid Power!

A Well-Hung Class Act design strap ( one of my best), in beautiful, thick smooth-grained 4.5 oz black cowhide. Featuring 30 large 1" X 1" power channeling pyramid studs in GUNMETAL (not nickel) all up and down the middle. On the backend, my own pass-through design, back buckler with a biker type roller buckle in chrome, nicely padded, adjusts between 43"-59" Double -stitched this one, just for the Hell of it.

No time to get it in the store today, but it'll be there before noon tomorrow. Pinky swear! Unless....

 

[TVvoodoo]

Shout out to OGs Chris & Rob at Vintage Music in Lloydminster Alberta. They saw fit to pick out a bunch of Well-Hung straps to feature in their super-fine Mom & Pop store - Easy for anyone in central Alberta/ Saskatchewan to check in to try in-person. Chris says he's a dedicated WH user in his gig life, and I love love love his super-clever strategy of affixing a Well-Hung strap on the bass amp test guitar in the Vintage Music loud room. They had a bunch last fall, sold them pretty quick, and others have been asking... They were eager to pick some more up. Great selection in this store, def. for a smaller city... amps and gats, and a surprisingly deep selection of vinyl LPs too

Also recenty refreshed Stang Guitars in Edmonton with some new Well-Hung stock.

On to what came off the bench today... "Umlaut" is another foray into the world of biker bling straps. @LiveeviL2000 has probably the first serious one I made, but I'm getting better at this genre with each one I tackle. They are kinda labour intensive. Especially when I do what I do better than anyone else, in making a comfy body-friendly version! Here's yet another another in my "Class Act" form factor.

Even if you aim to utterly destroy an audience, there is absolutely no reason to destroy your shoulder at the same time.

Super glinty, these are, with the large 3/4" pyramid studs catching and shooting off sparks of light.

Oh, and one other cool thing... Scotty in NY has been around, and knows stuff.

That's all I got for today, have a Well-Hung weekend my brothers

 

[TVvoodoo]

New in the Reverb store today are two new "Bandido" series Mexican blankie straps with heavy black harness leather front and back... about as close to pelham blue you can get.

Nothing like this on the market folks, until Big Strap steals yet another of my creative ideas.

Get in touch with the bad hombre hidden deep inside your regularly polite and law-abiding self, and make your escape with a bottle of tequila and an adventurous Senorita. Authentic blanket flavour in Agave blue and sand colours, are these hand-woven? Not by me that's for sure! Super wide strap with a nice little bit of "give" to it, goes between 46" and about 60 long with ease. These look and feel ridiculously good on acoustic guitars, or mexicasters, AND your shoulder.

 

[TVvoodoo]

Last couple of days I've been working on a new version of a strap I first crafted a couple of years ago I call "Sunflower." Sunflowers have always been big and showy, but are really in the spotlite last six months or so. Anyway, this is one of my more detailed and arduous tooling jobs but the results are worth it.

The first one I did had a saddle brown background, this time I'm trying a blue sky background to change things up a bit.

Admittedly on the last one I completed, the stalks ended a little wonky, and there was hardly any leaves, but I improved upon that this time around.

Still need to do a whole bunch more to this piece, gotta let the dyes dry overnight now - all of it hand-painted on which was much of today's work. A whole bunch of decorative cuts will really bring it to life, then some antique paste to sort of meld it all together and bring out the detail. Clearcoat the top, pad it out, line it and punch some holes.

This one is not a commission, so it's going to be in the store in a few days I think.

Also been working on my first 10 gunslings. I plan to get a table at a local craft mart or two this fall so I want to have 20 or 30 of these ready to go by then. The "Gordon" one will be a gift to a local mechanic who has served my wife and I very well over the years. I think if I give'r at this I can probably make four a day but I still want to make guitar straps too, actually prefer making those.

I simply have to find a way to make this endeavor pay a few more bills than it is already is to be able to keep doing it,
so I figure I'll try branching out a bit. Tried setting up an etsy store yesterday. OMG makes setting up a reverb store seem like a walk in the park!
Never could finally figure out it, and the help system there is brutal. Reverb not that great anymore either, but still better.

I figured I'd want to have a bunch on the table with some names or words on them to show folks what can be done. The craft show scene up here still gives a fellow a couple of weeks to take custom work for the Christmas season. But I am also hoping some cool non-mongrammed ones should sell too, fingers crossed!

Open to your ideas on other lettering I can put on straps which anyone might want to purchase. I think I am going to do a "Lucky" in the next few days and probably a couple "Alberta" "Saskatchewan" province name versions too. Maybe add a provincial flower to them or something.

 

[LiveeviL2000]

I opened a package the other day and this black serpent coiled around my Warbeast and permanently affixed itself to it. Bonding with it. Serpent and Beast. The aura of hard driving metal now fills the air.

Brad’s strap lab does it again. This strap is like super soft silky snake skin. Comfy as hell and if I wanted to, I could let out the adjustment and play down by my knees! Why would I do that you ask?
BECAUSE THATS WHAT METAL PLAYERS DO. we don’t care about posture or the lasting effects of carpal tunnel. It just looks cool. But not as cool as the coiling strap on my beast below.
Thanks again Brad. It takes a lot to make a plain black strap look good. You knocked it put of the park.

 

[TVvoodoo]

Funny story... the sunflower carved strap shown earlier got a resist coat then I carved a whole bunch of smallish detail lines (decorative cuts for those in the know). I then set upon smearing a goopy antiqueing paste all over it, jamming it into all the cracks and crannies, then quickly rubbed it off.

AAAAAHHH!!!!

All the blue parts absorbed just enough of the antique paste colour to turn the colour of burrito puke. It was awful. I admit I spaketh the Lord's name out loud, and it weren't no prayer. It was so dang hideous I dared not even take a photo. I fretted over it for a few hours, took a little walk, kicking rocks, then decided to go for the Corey Hart "Sunflowers at Night" direction by overdying all the blue with deep black with a small paintbrush. It was about the only thing I could do to save the hours and hours of work already in.

Clearcoated it with leather finish, padded it out, and sewed an olive velvety lining on the back.
It's not what I hoped for at the start, but it's got it's on interesting vibe going on with the old yellow, muted greens and dark black.

I need to figure out a better resist method! This one going up on Reverb tomorrow.

 

[TVvoodoo]

What the heck is all this crazy gadget tomfoolery? This thing is definitely not like the others. Customer says he wants a vegan strap with no leather, and prefers this sort of locking/attachment system. Went with slightly metallic gray snakeskin denim. He says he has a couple of vipers with headstocks that seem to be drawn earthwards by black hole level gravity, so his custom will get an extra-heavy-duty antigravity lining, utilizing two powerful magnetic field generators and about fifteen feet of heavy cable rated for 220V plug.

The thing is, a big heavy leather ladder system on the back end would offer a neck-diving guitar a lot more balance-friendliness than this tiny little cliplock assembly and 1" wide poly strapping.

I don't like the look of extra poly hanging on the frontside, so I simply shore it up real tight on the front button, keep it as short as possible and leave all the adjustment on the back end. Those that like this system, really like it, so who am I to argue? Funny story though, these clips came off one of those kind of straps but that fellow wanted to get rid of them and make his strap a more traditional type. Oh us fickle guitarists!!!

Not the biggest fan of the cliplok method various manufacturers have used or adopted, but when you say you make custom built-to-order and that's what the fella wants... You go for it. This is only the third such type I've made in a dozen years. But I guarantee once he feels the comfort of the main body, it's going to put all the others he uses to shame.

Also on the side, we have a few new "Genocide Series" straps in the pipeline. Haven't made these for many months. Forgot how much fun they are 'cause there's so much room for artistic variation. Fancied up skull leather, on a wide leather base.

 

[LiveeviL2000]

Now you're teasing me Brad! Genocide .... Hmmmmmmm! I may need to get a new guitar

 

[TVvoodoo]

Got a custom order in on the weekend from one of our guitar brothers over on TGP, @customguitars87 and I go way way back to the old Agileguitarforum days, he might be close to the most well-hung guitarist of all, (except for myself) was able to complete it today, after my morning project went super smoov - he might be up to about fifteen or so by now.

Custom87 also owns a bitchin' black Suhr with a cool custom paint scheme.. black but silver sparkles sort of drip down the guitar like wax.... he was asking from something in my "Star Power" series with some silver glitter to kick it up a notch... here it is just before sewing

a basic 3" wide Lamb leather base in black with smooth rolled edges. Internally reinforced with thick harness leather on the nose and tail. And, of course, the signature Well-Hung padding in the shoulder, and a grippy interior lining in black velvet.

Fluorescent lights in my shop kind of suck the life out of sparkle fabrics.

over in the StrapLab "studio" the light is more friendly to sparkles

One way you can kind of show glitter is shoot some pix a bit out of focus...

Also heading to the store tonight... Genocide Tobacco...

 

[TVvoodoo]

New off the bench X-Istental Threat! a whole bunch of X's all over this ultra-soft/velvety black and turquoise twill fabric. 3" wide, rolled edges... lightly padded (though I'll bet $5 my lightly padded straps are still more comfy than other heavy padded straps).

also got in this cool photo from Justin wearing "Stud Service" mid-performance - his posts on f-book tell me he's a real busy sideman/solo artist in the Grand Rapids area... "Amazing strap, Amazing service, these straps are the best." Sayeth Justin - awww shucks...... thank you!!!

Also make sure you go check the Reverb store for more photos on another new Genocide Series strap called "Boneyard" - link in my sig. (turn your phone sideways to see it, device-head!)

Vintage white skulls on black background, all sewed to dark brown suede, contrasting stitch.

 

[TVvoodoo]

It was a struggle, but the fun kind and in the end I somehow won. Sweet Victory, not without some bruises though!
The latest in the much-adored Well-Hung No Prisoners line is "Come At Me Bro!" and the owner best be ready to back
that up!

A Heavy leather braided belt jumps off this thick black cowhide base (w/rolled edges for comfort). The belt is very dark brown, near black under most light (my studio lights are pretty hot). Has some distressy wear showing in browns, sort of a legit workingmans sort of macho patina to it. The texture of the braiding is super-showy how it catches the light and could possibly add up to 43% more testosterone to your system.



Goes up to about 60-61", as short as 46" If you dig throwing cool shapes that triggers juicers this one won't hold you back, probably inspire you for even more! Padded in the Well-Hung way, more robust than most in both look and feel, it'll make your other straps feel inadequate and weak and your guitars will fight over this one. A great example of what I believe is the Well-Hung difference - I'd love a TTR member to own it, and it's a one-of-a-kind sort of thing I think any sick guitar bro will treasure.

Coming to the reverb store probably tonight

 

[TVvoodoo]

Been some drama over past months in regards to players in the guitar strap world. One company who's work I've been admiring from afar for pretty much a decade has seemed to implode in a cloud of legal issues and scandalous behavior. Won't mention the name, but what went down to take 'em out of the game could certainly be described as pathos, particularly in how it appears they ended-up treating dozens and dozens of custom order customers.

Maybe you know the story, maybe not, but I definitely respected the arts and craft of what they were doing. Just real sad how the order fulfillment and business ethics part of the whole thing looks to have turned so very sour.

Anyway..... I figured since they seem done like dinner, I'd try my hand at aping that style a little bit. It's obvious at full steam they were doing it way better than I can muster right now, but I fully realize I need to work on my fine / decorative stitching. Here's a way I can start stretching those muscles. Maybe I'll keep this mostly as custom orders and build-to-suit, certainly won't be commanding the prices they were.

Really quite fun to make, the possibilities are endless, but a fellow has to put the good glasses on for sure!

Meet "Red Horse" and "Sapphire" the first two "Prophecy" series straps. One thing I saw they were doing was the sides of the straps looked to be hard chop-offs. No softly rolled edges that Well-Hung users benefit from, so I am sure they must have been vampire straps... that's the kind that like to bite into your neck. I'm gonna take some of my Well-Hung design attributes and borrow some of the other ideas and merge them a little bit. Look for these two to hit the store this weekend probably.

Also coming new in the store tonight will be "Reverse Tangle"

3" wide... kind of a quilted black suede on one side, smooth garment leather on the other. Just as the strap goes over the shoulder, the pattern reverses with the "tangled suede" and smooth leather flipping sides, in sort of a Michael Schenker-ish sort of way if you get my drift

 

[TVvoodoo]

New in the Well-Hung Star Power series... "Peak Glam!"

Most likely gonna get me thrown out of the International Guitar Strapmakers' Guild, this outrageous Weapon of Mass Distraction smashes through the boundaries of good taste and subtlety, and hollers "HEY! LOOK AT ME. OVER HERE! WATCH THIS!!" Your bandmates will hate you, and after the show your autograph signing hand will probably cramp up real bad. Your problem, not mine.

mostly a mix of purple and royal blue sparkles, with golden wavy lines running through. Real long,
real strong, real flashy. Padded for the ultimate in guitar strap comfort in the Well-Hung way.

Batteries neither included, or required. No princesses were harmed in the making. Too feminine?
Maybe notify all those dudes runnin' sparkle guitars and flaky bass boats.

Oh, and this too...

Week in/Week out elsewhere on the web we guitarists can all look look forward to the inevitable strap security discussion amiright?
The bickering will continue 'til everyone visits my reverb store and adopts the game-changing Well-Hung Jumbo Oversize strap buttons of my own design, called Pro-Pins. Find 'em in my Reverb store... link in my sig.

Or, we can keep arguing, dorking around with overpriced gadget-clunk, watching beer gaskets pop off or loosen our buttons, and/or performing toothpick and gluethery.

 

[TVvoodoo]

^^^ Didja watch the cool video above? ^^^ I URGE you to view/like/subscribe 'cause... KARMA! ^^^

Unfortunately I based my retirement on sales of Well-Hung Pro-pins, insuring I'm probably working deep into my 70's LOL!
But honest from me to you my brothers. These things are game changers from all that other gadgetry.

I completed a custom Genocide order for a fellow forum brother this morning... should ship off tomorrow.
Genocide vintage white on black, with a back buckle in my Well-Hung Class Act design

This regular style Genocide "Tarnished" also hit the reverb store this morning

Added this short limited run I call "Dark Garden" in black /textured denim. Got a little creepy with the reverb listing
but man it was fun! The nose leather has a neat batwing goth effect... go see!

This afternoon I accepted a job to custom tool a telecaster pickguard in vegtan leather, so that will be interesting
Coming up next week, keep watching!

 

[TVvoodoo]

World's first Guitar strap able to sustain intense visual high gain and also be able to hang with it physically.
New to the Well-Hung Amp'd line coming maybe even tomorrow... "Goes to Eleven"

3" wide, padded stainless-steely knarlitude.

 

[LiveeviL2000]

View attachment 85454

World's first Guitar strap able to sustain intense visual high gain and also be able to hang with it physically.
New to the Well-Hung Amp'd line coming maybe even tomorrow... "Goes to Eleven"

3" wide, padded stainless-steely knarlitude.

Brad, what material is that made from?

 

[TVvoodoo]

It's a strange material I found in the city last week. It's not fabric, sort of what seems to be an awning material made out of poly.
But it's super metallic, has an amp grill lookl to it. That pic is not really the best of it, but I'll do better with it later today maybe.