TVvoodoo's Straplab

the vintage japastrats
They are tanks. I did rewire them. On/off/on switches. Either pickup on. Both on in parallel, or both on in series. And touch up the scrapes. Mostly sharpie work and clear coat. A bit of fret dressing too. These were my learning pieces. Goodwill finds.

By the time they came to me the insides were rotting. My plan now is to rewire them with mini pots and replace the original knobs.

I wouldn’t call them ‘players.’ But cool regardless. The sound is there. But the feel, not so much.
 
It was one of those days I didn’t plan on buying. But the tone was right on the money. Think it was about 300$. Solid top, huge body. Loud and warm.

It did, does, need a few adjustments. The action was high…. I guess that’s it. So I lowered the nut slots. Still sanding off the top of the nut with every string change. Eventually to lower the saddle as well.
 
Happy as a clam! Just busy. Never seem to take time to shoot for me.

So I hadda go do some shots. I did not even attach to guitar yet!!

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Couldn't be a better match!(y)(y)
 
Two frequent flyer Well-Hung Warriors ordered the same custom guitar strap build at the very same time for two, pretty much equally desirable guitars (my opinion). Now you get to try out your "strap sense" and help me figure out...

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Please note your preference, and why not add a couple words why? Really, both these dudes are stellar TTR and W-H tribesmen, this is just for fun.
Really, who here wouldn't be happy getting fewer votes and owning either one?
 
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Yep @GrooVey , this is the Kawaii/Prestige I had for a bit

I picked it up in a thrift shop for $20, had missing tuner buttons,
missing trem, two strings, was pretty nasty, filth-wise.

Ended up using at tap and die set and modifying a strat trem arm to replace,
took the neck off and abotu 1/8th inch of cigarette package cardboard shims,
used a bunch of contact cleaner and got the neck and bridge pickups switching nice
the middle one, sort of worked, but was beyond my skillset.

Knobs turned nice, though the tone didn't seem to have much sweep to it.
The pickguard was in pristine condition really for a guitar this age.

Anyway, I cleaned it up, buffed the frets, did a more semi-proper set-up, or as good as I could do.
Got it playing pretty well. It had nice sustain but that questionable and weak vintage japa-tone.

I thought it was pretty cool, but the tuning was just really unstable... I manhandle my guitars a bit,
so me and guitars like SGs with whippy necks or anything with a suspect neck joints don't agree.

I do understand folks dig these, maybe sentimental nostagia reasons. I ended up listing and selling it
on Reverb for quite a lot more than I thought it was worth, and the buyer was very pleased to get it LOL!

I just noticed the fabric in the back LOL - some might recognize it

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pretty cool, but the tuning
Ah Dude. You’re bringing back memories. That thing looks Hot. 3 D’Armonds… I’m sure the buyer was happy.

As I said these were my first reconstructions. I remember now. I did refrets, soaked the tuners in salt and vinegar, dremeled all the parts clean. Reamed the tuner holes so they were slightly larger. Tuning was so stiff you could barely twist the keys.

And yes. If you didn’t have a part or piece it’s like finding hens teeth to replace. I had to make the string bar (tree) in the engine room at work for one of them. Still have two under the bench looking for tremolo parts. Maybe one day….

Fun stuff.
 
Post inspired by @Fiesta Red red and his fantastic Luckenbach Texas story - inspiring moment.

So, I was in a pawn shop the other day, wandering around. It's one of those that keeps digital radio on, pretty loud because the owner digs his music
and he don't get much traffic in there, he can do what he wants. Anyway, a couple things about Wednesday are memorable.

One of them, this song by Tim Hicks came on the sound system, just remembered it again after fiestas post.

The song is five damn years old now, I'd never heard it before. Stopped me in my tracks, it did.
I marveled at the simple idea, and how it all came together. One of those "I wish I'd've" songs.
How come I never thought of this? Damn thing, listening to it gets me angry and misty all at the same time.


Anyway, back to the store.

On my way in I had noticed this reclining leather sofa sitting out front, outside in the elements. Seemed to be in ok condition.
I had drove by it a few times, saw it sittin' there for a maybe ten days. Anyway I looked at it. "Palliser" is a higher quality name brand up here.
It had been snowed on lightly once, maybe a bit of light rain to, but leather had been treated, yeah the seating areas got a bit damp.

So back in the store I asked Dale about it, what's the story? He said somebody just dumped it off, and he had no room for it inside, and no help to move it.
Those reclining sofas have a lot of gear inside, and can be pretty darn heavy. He says " You want it? Sell it to ya cheap!"

I say, "Man it's sittin' outside already, and you paid nothing for it - Like HOW cheap?" He says, "Bring a truck, I'll help you load it up, cheap."
I got my dad's truck, he was busy so I just loaded it up myself by standing it on it's end then just flopping it in.

Ducked my head into the store, gave him a twenty. He was grateful to have it gone.

So I drove it home, took me forty minutes to salvage all the leather, then lay the damper pieces out that needed to dry
This was about 3/4s of it. Probably about $170 of pretty nice quality leather here.

I did have to pay $10 dollars more to dispose of the sofa guts and reclining mechanism at the landfill.

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Used to use a quite a bit of upcycled leather for my straps until about seven years ago. Then I found it more economical to just buy new hides, and get what exactly I wanted. But sometimes it's nice to have some spare scrap hide around the shop to use for layering, reinforcement and the like. This is the tan finished side which I probably wont use... but the suede side (one piece turned over), is great! I'll use to line tail straps and such. Makes them stronger, more trusty.

Interesting week for sure!
 
Up in the store is one of my best of 2024, top five for sure. "Ghost Lord" is a No Prisoners Series strap, with big clunky conchos, black with metal wearing through. They are on a fake leather belt, along with some rivets and other bling, all that sits on a highly distressed black crackle on light gray.

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It's 3" wide on the shoulder, strong ends, rolled edges, padded and lined for luxury play.
This would totally destroy on a white paul with black and nickel.

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Jesse in Nashville's busy guy. I mean, showcases, pool parties, regular stage and studio work, all that...
If ever a fella was walking the Well-hung swagger with authori-tay! he's one of 'em.
He bought this "Cowpuncher' strap maybe eight years ago, and it's still going strong.

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So nice of him to take a few minutes last week and and make some public notes after picking up an Axe Warrior, military guitar sling.

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This was one of my design "inventions" of last year, I thought it was a game changer and figured I'd sell dozens... LOL! Didn't take.

If you're looking for something totally different, one that over-delivers on my comfort promise, plus groundbreaking bonus features,
this is one I'd suggest. I just hope it doesn't take dude another ten years to buy his next one!
 
Today's as good a day as any to fly up a new Ol' Glory in the store in the traditional painted denim.

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This is painted denim, in my Class Act form factor, with a handy and secure conway buckle.
Gonna look so good in a few years... like you were born wearing it.

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I also have "Dark Patriot" versions in the store too (the more popular version it seems).

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Made by my own two hands with respect for a bitchin' neighbor!
 
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