TVvoodoo's Straplab
- Thread starter TVvoodoo
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OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
Back at camp for two more nights... normally this lake is pretty calm but tonight a NW wind is blowing ratherc strong making 2.5 - 3ft waves near sunset.
I just got in from bashing my wife's little kayak into the waves for about 25 minutes.... great fun and a lot of splashin'! Stayed about 60 feet from shore... it's still only waist deep there... good thing 'cause I got capsized twice LOL!
Nice to be getting some fresh air... but this nature stuff is kinda exhausting!
I just got in from bashing my wife's little kayak into the waves for about 25 minutes.... great fun and a lot of splashin'! Stayed about 60 feet from shore... it's still only waist deep there... good thing 'cause I got capsized twice LOL!
Nice to be getting some fresh air... but this nature stuff is kinda exhausting!
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
9Today we met a new older and much larger bear who visited our site... this one worries me... he should know better.
For a while there were two around, the original yearling and this older more badass one.
I watched them "playfight" for a bit... maybe a territorial thing... then they separated and just went back to the plentiful berries. This again the same one from the other night... I think he snuck up on our site just before lunch.... I heard twigs breaking as he approached.
There's some other campers here from Edmonton in a tent heavy slavic accents who seem quite worried. I told bikini lady just keep the truck doors unlocked. Get a campfire goin (there's a fire ban on but they'd likely escape any kind of fine).
For a while there were two around, the original yearling and this older more badass one.
I watched them "playfight" for a bit... maybe a territorial thing... then they separated and just went back to the plentiful berries. This again the same one from the other night... I think he snuck up on our site just before lunch.... I heard twigs breaking as he approached.
There's some other campers here from Edmonton in a tent heavy slavic accents who seem quite worried. I told bikini lady just keep the truck doors unlocked. Get a campfire goin (there's a fire ban on but they'd likely escape any kind of fine).
…and there are humans “tenting” on this game trail too?!?!?What goes in, must come out! This pile o' scat about the size of a dinner plate and 4" tall. Still steamin'
That's our camper about 75 yards off.
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
Ok Back home, cleaned up and back to work. But first off a few more camping pics! Pretend you hear laughing loons and
gentle lapping waves as you continue....
This pic didn't load before... probably to large, it was captioned "Ahhhhh" a few posts back.
What's way less scary than a big ol' hungry bear?
A big ol' FAT-ARSED bear who's been eatin' the whole day long. You can see here why they call male bears "Boars"
This was right before he dropped that big pile of scat I took a pic of. They are obviously having a good year.
We had 12 separate bear sightings, that is includeing having two wandering around most of Saturday afternoon.
Only the two males in the campground but my wife and I had five more sightings of sows and cubs driving
in and out of the park, within seven kilometres of our campsite. That's a LOT of bears, now and upcoming.
It does make us re-think our camping choices a bit. We love the wild and natural, but aren't into drama when
we are on holidays. Having them around just puts a bit of a damper on everything, keeps you on edge.
M'lady got some precious time out on the water, no bears to worry about out there
I built this boat out of stuff found beachcombing. It floated way off into the distance. Probably near Portugal about now
Mr. Ranger Danger came by Saturday afternoon and left this behind. I don't know what they are using for bait but it was quite smelly!
Back on the ranch my dad used to throw a half pound of uncooked bacon or opened can of sardines in his homemade 40 gallon drum trap.
Imagine transporting a scared and distressed bear, then having to stop and change a flat. LOL!
New in the Well-Hung Reverb store tomorrow will be "The Rogue" - just built fresh today
And this nice feedback came in....
That's all I got for a monday!
gentle lapping waves as you continue....
This pic didn't load before... probably to large, it was captioned "Ahhhhh" a few posts back.
What's way less scary than a big ol' hungry bear?
A big ol' FAT-ARSED bear who's been eatin' the whole day long. You can see here why they call male bears "Boars"
This was right before he dropped that big pile of scat I took a pic of. They are obviously having a good year.
We had 12 separate bear sightings, that is includeing having two wandering around most of Saturday afternoon.
Only the two males in the campground but my wife and I had five more sightings of sows and cubs driving
in and out of the park, within seven kilometres of our campsite. That's a LOT of bears, now and upcoming.
It does make us re-think our camping choices a bit. We love the wild and natural, but aren't into drama when
we are on holidays. Having them around just puts a bit of a damper on everything, keeps you on edge.
M'lady got some precious time out on the water, no bears to worry about out there
I built this boat out of stuff found beachcombing. It floated way off into the distance. Probably near Portugal about now
Mr. Ranger Danger came by Saturday afternoon and left this behind. I don't know what they are using for bait but it was quite smelly!
Back on the ranch my dad used to throw a half pound of uncooked bacon or opened can of sardines in his homemade 40 gallon drum trap.
Imagine transporting a scared and distressed bear, then having to stop and change a flat. LOL!
New in the Well-Hung Reverb store tomorrow will be "The Rogue" - just built fresh today
And this nice feedback came in....
That's all I got for a monday!
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
I don't know how many of your are cross-forum brothers, but I am one. You might have seen a resurrection of a thread from early this year in the Guitars in General section on TGP where Gear-Pagers were listing and showing favorite "PREMIUM" guitar strap brands.
All the major factory, Europe or Asian import, semi-boutique names came up as you'd expect... as well as a few tiny one-man boutique makers, like myself. There's a lot of variety out there right now. A couple of "no-nonsense" members also expressed thoughts that investing more than $50 in such a basic utilitarian part of our gear stables seems kind of silly. Always gotta have those guys, right?
Unfortunately there was too little discussion on what actually boosts a strap into premium territory. Is it price? Design? Materials? Labour, Country of origin? I mean, I myself have spent hours hand-tooling or hand-painting, or building LED lights inside custom straps costing up and over $400 or more, and well, yes, in the end mine certainly allow you to carry any guitar similar to a $20 poly web strap, but it's like comparing a Suhr to a Monoprice - you can likely fret a passable G-chord on either instrument.
A number of 2" simple sliding buckle web straps shown as "premium" work in that thread was disheartening to me. Those makers know I know, (and now you know too) such straps can be built in about 6 minutes flat on an organized floor utilizing approx. $10-13 in materials. Say $3 in ribbon, $3 in sliding buckle hardware, four feet of poly web for $1.50, some rivets and thread for another dollar and finally, maybe $2.50 worth of leather and that's being generous. Of course, we need to include shop/factory overhead, marketing, labour, all that, but some outfits manage to command quite a lot of extra margin successfully marketing such goods as "premium" straps.
A few thoughts:
If a company stamps in artwork with machine or roller presses, repeating it hundreds and hundreds of times, then calls it "hand-tooled" is that premium? If the sides are just chopped off leather all along the neck area of the strap, not softly rolled-over, or even a hand-burnished edge against you, I have a bit of a hard time calling that premium. Should a guitar strap without even a bare minimum of padding built inside be included as premium? How about any "regular" sized strap ending in under 50" in length? Any strap that does not include real genuine LEATHER ends, really gets me wondering.These are questions I think about when such threads arise.
I honestly don't consider the bulk of my work as "premium," certainly some of it. The rest I would list under
"Trying-really-hard-to-offer-massive-value-being-a-tiny-fish-in-a-very-big-pond" level work.
I do want to thank TTR brother @4406Pack for chiming in, there may have been more from here, but I didn't recognize the handles.
If you are a TGP'r also and Well-Hung, and want to go say an honest word or two, I won't tell you not to... "Premium" Guitar Strap discussion
New in the shop today... Another No Prisoners series strap... "The Villain" - definitely I made this one with @4406Pack in mind JUST KIDDING LOL!
It's ONE ONLY as all "No Prisoners" series straps are.
Definitely hand-tooled, with braided leather black leather lacing and contrast stitching. All on a 3" wide black garment leather base, with softly rolled edges, and luxuriously padded via layers of carved foam, with a black velvety interior.
It goes 44"-60" max. and has heavy-duty reinforced leather ends. Will it hold up a guitar better than a $15 dollar poly strap? You betcha! And your shoulder will thank you during and after your session.
Gerald in Florida called my work "unusual" I guess I can give him that, at least he 5-starred me! Axe Warrior was inspired by a Canadian Armed Forces issue machine gun sling. It does things no other floating shoulder pad strap can do and yes, I invented it. It's largely made of Australian army surplus cordura webbing. He had a suggestion for improvement too. I like that!
All the major factory, Europe or Asian import, semi-boutique names came up as you'd expect... as well as a few tiny one-man boutique makers, like myself. There's a lot of variety out there right now. A couple of "no-nonsense" members also expressed thoughts that investing more than $50 in such a basic utilitarian part of our gear stables seems kind of silly. Always gotta have those guys, right?
Unfortunately there was too little discussion on what actually boosts a strap into premium territory. Is it price? Design? Materials? Labour, Country of origin? I mean, I myself have spent hours hand-tooling or hand-painting, or building LED lights inside custom straps costing up and over $400 or more, and well, yes, in the end mine certainly allow you to carry any guitar similar to a $20 poly web strap, but it's like comparing a Suhr to a Monoprice - you can likely fret a passable G-chord on either instrument.
A number of 2" simple sliding buckle web straps shown as "premium" work in that thread was disheartening to me. Those makers know I know, (and now you know too) such straps can be built in about 6 minutes flat on an organized floor utilizing approx. $10-13 in materials. Say $3 in ribbon, $3 in sliding buckle hardware, four feet of poly web for $1.50, some rivets and thread for another dollar and finally, maybe $2.50 worth of leather and that's being generous. Of course, we need to include shop/factory overhead, marketing, labour, all that, but some outfits manage to command quite a lot of extra margin successfully marketing such goods as "premium" straps.
A few thoughts:
If a company stamps in artwork with machine or roller presses, repeating it hundreds and hundreds of times, then calls it "hand-tooled" is that premium? If the sides are just chopped off leather all along the neck area of the strap, not softly rolled-over, or even a hand-burnished edge against you, I have a bit of a hard time calling that premium. Should a guitar strap without even a bare minimum of padding built inside be included as premium? How about any "regular" sized strap ending in under 50" in length? Any strap that does not include real genuine LEATHER ends, really gets me wondering.These are questions I think about when such threads arise.
I honestly don't consider the bulk of my work as "premium," certainly some of it. The rest I would list under
"Trying-really-hard-to-offer-massive-value-being-a-tiny-fish-in-a-very-big-pond" level work.
I do want to thank TTR brother @4406Pack for chiming in, there may have been more from here, but I didn't recognize the handles.
If you are a TGP'r also and Well-Hung, and want to go say an honest word or two, I won't tell you not to... "Premium" Guitar Strap discussion
New in the shop today... Another No Prisoners series strap... "The Villain" - definitely I made this one with @4406Pack in mind JUST KIDDING LOL!
It's ONE ONLY as all "No Prisoners" series straps are.
Definitely hand-tooled, with braided leather black leather lacing and contrast stitching. All on a 3" wide black garment leather base, with softly rolled edges, and luxuriously padded via layers of carved foam, with a black velvety interior.
It goes 44"-60" max. and has heavy-duty reinforced leather ends. Will it hold up a guitar better than a $15 dollar poly strap? You betcha! And your shoulder will thank you during and after your session.
Gerald in Florida called my work "unusual" I guess I can give him that, at least he 5-starred me! Axe Warrior was inspired by a Canadian Armed Forces issue machine gun sling. It does things no other floating shoulder pad strap can do and yes, I invented it. It's largely made of Australian army surplus cordura webbing. He had a suggestion for improvement too. I like that!
All we know here in TTR is your straps are awesome. A bunch of us have purchased at least one. Many have multiple straps. To date…. I have not read one review by a TTR member that has suggested maybe they made a mistake. I’ve only ever read praise for your products. Yes. A $20 strap will hang the guitar around your shoulders. But they ain’t art. Yours are!!
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
You just made my soul do a cartwheel.
Nice read!…Prior to my introduction to the Well-Hung world, I enjoyed my Lakota Leathers 3” Bison straps. They were long enough, were squishy soft, and bison is yummy…really…l love me a good bison steak!!!
Now that I have five….yep five….Well-Hung straps…I can’t even imagine going through a gig length session without one. Especially with some of my heavier axes….T-40/T-45/Gladiator GG-258(LP knock off…no weight relief), PRS SE single cut…whatever 10 to 14 Lb beast I may be sporting, Well-Hung is the way for me. Even if it’s not a “Heavy” axe, the extra length on some of the styles is a huge plus. The Old Glory/ Stars N Stripes version that I have(with the DD ring adjustment) is killer for my V, among other axes. It adjusts super long, with ease.
Thanks Brad!!!
Edit: Thanks for this!!!
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Jethro Rocker
Ambassador of Live & Loud Action
Absolutely! I am 10 deep (11?) In WH straps and will get however many I need/want. Nothin like em.
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
Growing up in a rural area, the memories flooded back when I found a set of vintage early 90's truck seat covers, new-in-box at a yard sale. EVERYONE
had these or similar in their half-tons back then.
I simply chopped 'em up, added some black leather and a few conchos, and now we're.... Truckin'!
This is a heavy HEAVY duty tweed fabric in "everycolor" and bound to boost the T-levels of any dude (or dudette) who ducks under a guitar wearing it! And, with all the crazy cool colours in this weave, it's gonna compliment almost anything. Green, amber, purple, blue, gray, maroon, beige, they're all here! I've seen this same fabric used a lot for things like saddle blankets too, super tough stuff.
I also added the heaviest black Latigo leather in my shop for nose, ladder and tail ends, making this beast possibly suitable for a tow rope if you might need 'er that way too. Black velvety lining, nicely padded, 44"-54" - Get your country on bigtime, and make 'em ask where you found it.... now in the Well-Hung Reverb store
had these or similar in their half-tons back then.
I simply chopped 'em up, added some black leather and a few conchos, and now we're.... Truckin'!
This is a heavy HEAVY duty tweed fabric in "everycolor" and bound to boost the T-levels of any dude (or dudette) who ducks under a guitar wearing it! And, with all the crazy cool colours in this weave, it's gonna compliment almost anything. Green, amber, purple, blue, gray, maroon, beige, they're all here! I've seen this same fabric used a lot for things like saddle blankets too, super tough stuff.
I also added the heaviest black Latigo leather in my shop for nose, ladder and tail ends, making this beast possibly suitable for a tow rope if you might need 'er that way too. Black velvety lining, nicely padded, 44"-54" - Get your country on bigtime, and make 'em ask where you found it.... now in the Well-Hung Reverb store
GrooVey
Well-Known Member
You do have an artist’s eye, Sir. Another gem.
I was looking over my W-H straps the other day. They are all well reenforced at the stress points. Couldn’t ask for any better.
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
Thank you so much for affirming @GrooVey - who want's to wear a strap that is sketch? NOBODY!
My TTR brothers 'n others, how's it hangin' eh?
Today new in the Reverb store a re-issue of sorts, been a long time since I offered these, a mainstay of the Well-Hung catalog fro probably eight years or so, and one of the few straps that I repeat, (as often as I actually get around to it, and it's been a few years for this one).
Meet Sum Yung Long Hung Guy! "Long" is the Chinese word for Dragon BTW. The more you know!
one is so long it'll go to 62"! That's crazy long for a ladderback style.
Anyway, you got silky Hugh Hefner dressing gown dragon embroidered silky material, likely gonna impel all the centerfold-types in your life to want to paw you. Beautiful brown oil-tanned pull-up leather and, of course the Well-Hung padded luxe interior. A very sexy strap for very sexy guitarists.
Are you ready to Enter the Dragon?
Some real nice words from Johnny Oh! in Tampa (that's what the gals call him).
Happy Friday! If you have not yet tried a Well-Hung strap, and are out there sittin' on the fence, THIS IS THE MONTH! Get after it, go explore the Reverb store right now!
My TTR brothers 'n others, how's it hangin' eh?
Today new in the Reverb store a re-issue of sorts, been a long time since I offered these, a mainstay of the Well-Hung catalog fro probably eight years or so, and one of the few straps that I repeat, (as often as I actually get around to it, and it's been a few years for this one).
Meet Sum Yung Long Hung Guy! "Long" is the Chinese word for Dragon BTW. The more you know!
one is so long it'll go to 62"! That's crazy long for a ladderback style.
Anyway, you got silky Hugh Hefner dressing gown dragon embroidered silky material, likely gonna impel all the centerfold-types in your life to want to paw you. Beautiful brown oil-tanned pull-up leather and, of course the Well-Hung padded luxe interior. A very sexy strap for very sexy guitarists.
Are you ready to Enter the Dragon?
Some real nice words from Johnny Oh! in Tampa (that's what the gals call him).
Happy Friday! If you have not yet tried a Well-Hung strap, and are out there sittin' on the fence, THIS IS THE MONTH! Get after it, go explore the Reverb store right now!
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GrooVey
Well-Known Member
Oh Cmon…. That is Hot!
Sargeant Preston
Ambassador of The Ninth Chord
That's nice, but on the other hand, we all know how capable you are at taking a plain looking 3" wide natural leather strap and turn into a piece of art like this for example.
Forget Hugh Hefner!
Make a strap with Barbie Fenton's figure on it!
I'd buy it!
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
You know @Sargeant Preston , only a year ago a strap glorifying a classically fit and curvaceous female figure would likely earn me a misogynistic label and get me canceled by certain groups. Thankfully the tide seems to be turning.
