TVvoodoo's Straplab
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OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
Subtle red to orange burst starting at the edges, dye let dry... now able to fill in the background with black dye.
This is my LEAST favourite part. lot of concentration required, one slip of the hand and you can really mess things up.
I always curse myself for leaving the smallest nooks and crannies that require filling, but fine details are showy.
This is my LEAST favourite part. lot of concentration required, one slip of the hand and you can really mess things up.
I always curse myself for leaving the smallest nooks and crannies that require filling, but fine details are showy.
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
Working on the #5 Well-Hung loose replica of the Allman Mountain strap,
Dealing with some sudden medical stuff going on with my mother a little bit has slowed things down, but we have reached the summit of this mountain.
Dark parts have been filled with stain, the stars and moon painted with a few coats. Now we condition and treat it for a long beautiful life. First oil it carefully
with two thin coats, to help replenish and preserve the natural oils in the leather. This changes the colour just a little bit, but as it soaks into all the fibers and cells,
it will lighten up in colour again over time.
The original version is not padded. I try to make the Well-Hung version as comfortable as possible, and add lining and padding, and carefully stitch it all together
with good strong poly upholstery thread.
I burnish the edges of the strap, Punch strap holes in the front and back end for strap attachment and
punch some more holes for the feature brass ring, held in by a couple flapovers and two brass Chicago Screws.
I use a dab of white glue inside the threads, so the owner can still take it apart if they wish, but it minimizes the chance they will loosen under normal use.
Two coats of satin sheen, which locks everything down, dye etc. The a coat of mink oil/silicone boot treatment.
Done!
I think this will compliment the guitars shown above pretty nicely.
Dealing with some sudden medical stuff going on with my mother a little bit has slowed things down, but we have reached the summit of this mountain.
Dark parts have been filled with stain, the stars and moon painted with a few coats. Now we condition and treat it for a long beautiful life. First oil it carefully
with two thin coats, to help replenish and preserve the natural oils in the leather. This changes the colour just a little bit, but as it soaks into all the fibers and cells,
it will lighten up in colour again over time.
The original version is not padded. I try to make the Well-Hung version as comfortable as possible, and add lining and padding, and carefully stitch it all together
with good strong poly upholstery thread.
I burnish the edges of the strap, Punch strap holes in the front and back end for strap attachment and
punch some more holes for the feature brass ring, held in by a couple flapovers and two brass Chicago Screws.
I use a dab of white glue inside the threads, so the owner can still take it apart if they wish, but it minimizes the chance they will loosen under normal use.
Two coats of satin sheen, which locks everything down, dye etc. The a coat of mink oil/silicone boot treatment.
Done!
I think this will compliment the guitars shown above pretty nicely.
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
New today 1969 "Time of the Season" - two of them is all there will ever be.
![[IMG]](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fimages2.imgbox.com%2F2b%2F3f%2Fgb9wArCM_o.jpg&hash=e7e6e6cd225d9501f43ff196d30f3a46 "[IMG]")
Beautiful metallic embroidered paisley on black leather. Padded, 3" wide.
If you find you have a sudden Reverb aversion, there may be another way, but do visit for many more photos and
information on this strap, plus many others and how guitarists generally learn to handle being suddenly Well-Hung.
Also new, the Jabberwock
Beautiful metallic embroidered paisley on black leather. Padded, 3" wide.
If you find you have a sudden Reverb aversion, there may be another way, but do visit for many more photos and
information on this strap, plus many others and how guitarists generally learn to handle being suddenly Well-Hung.
Also new, the Jabberwock
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
Over a little family travel break some new material arrived, I was excited to work with this again. I made a couple years ago out of this, just looks killer, so I finally picked up some more.
Sturdy black 'n Tan amp grillcloth from my friends at mojotone... plus I can use it two ways, innie or outie!
Super sexy stuff, both these made with the same material, turned one side or the other. Doesn't show up in still photos, but it has a very hot little gold glinty action going on, under regular lights... but put it in the sunshine and it just seems to actually glow! This stuff is pretty darn tough too. 3' wide, as usual, heavy leather ends. Below, the dark version... or Black and Tan... with oxblood leather
This is the other side, Tan 'n Black. Each has it's own thing going on. Great luster and texture, soft feel and ultimate Straptone™
You have a goldtop, or black beauty, or maybe a gold strat blackguarded, even a blonde tele? This is your strap!
Sturdy black 'n Tan amp grillcloth from my friends at mojotone... plus I can use it two ways, innie or outie!
Super sexy stuff, both these made with the same material, turned one side or the other. Doesn't show up in still photos, but it has a very hot little gold glinty action going on, under regular lights... but put it in the sunshine and it just seems to actually glow! This stuff is pretty darn tough too. 3' wide, as usual, heavy leather ends. Below, the dark version... or Black and Tan... with oxblood leather
This is the other side, Tan 'n Black. Each has it's own thing going on. Great luster and texture, soft feel and ultimate Straptone™
You have a goldtop, or black beauty, or maybe a gold strat blackguarded, even a blonde tele? This is your strap!
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TCE63
Ambassador of the Northern Lights
Over a little family travel break some new material arrived, I was excited to worth with this again. I made a couple years ago out of this, just looks killer, so I finally picked up some more.
Sturdy black 'n Tan amp grillcloth from my friends at mojotone... plus I can use it two ways, innie or outie!
Super sexy stuff, both these made with the same material, turned one side or the other. Doesn't show up in still photos, but it has a very hot little gold glinty action going on, under regular lights... but put it in the sunshine and it just seems to actually glow! This stuff is pretty darn tough too. 3' wide, as usual, heavy leather ends. Below, the dark version... or Black and Tan... with oxblood leather
This is the other side, Tan 'n Black. Each has it's own thing going on. Great luster and texture, soft feel and ultimate Straptone™
You have a goldtop, or black beauty, or maybe a gold strat blackguarded, even a blonde tele? This is your strap!
Love these with grillcloth , looks amazing.
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
While on my little road trip I was able to hit up a few small town, small city thrift shops. I kind of drive my family crazy insisting on doing this, but they head straight to the book section, and over the last while don't seem to be complaining much. It's kind of like hunting for me, you never know what you will find. I normally head straight to the belt section, because I have a whole strap series based on recycled fashion belts called "No Prisoners."
There are a lot of junky bad belts to be found in thrift stores, but sometimes a nice find makes it worth the stop. Like this gem, found in Lacombe, Alberta...
This is what i call a link belt, made of stamped leather bits that are cleverly tied together with a single strap. Jimmy Page is sort of famous for his black link belt strap, I personally love the hippie old school vintagey look, and it's kind of rare to see these on shoulders nowadays, never mind in a store, so any I make is pretty unique thing. They are deceivingly strong and comfy. So comfy, I have pretty much stopped putting padding behind them, just leaving them as they are, leather right against you. They also always seem have just the right amount of "give" to 'em.
in it's previous life as a fashion belt by Old Navy, it cost some larger lady $40 ( I didn't pay near that much, but it was kinda pricey for a thrift shop). The large/long ones are the best to work with to make straps. This one is 2-3/4" wide. Perfect! The buckle on it was rather cheap and suspect, so it had to go. In the removal, I proved that I too am susceptible to the workshop injury, though nowhere near as what's been reported here of late. Get well soon Hack! Those rolling knives are deadly sharp, as I have proven to myself time and time again. Normally I cut into my fingertips on my fretting hand which sets me back five or six days for guitarin', so this is nothing but a thing.
This here will be the nose part of the strap, I have decided at this point.
On the what will be the back end... we are going to make this a buckle adjuster, so I haul out my buckle collection for a nice buckle more befitting a Well-Hung crafted strap.
Found it - nice medieval look to this one, with a perfect 2" shank, and a very robust tooth, in matching antique brass with built in mojo already.
We are going to need more leather for a tail strap. So I go to one of my leather stockpiles, and pick out something that is real close, just a bit
less lustrous. But it will be alright once I am done with it.
Here I have made a hole for the tooth, and riveted it thricely plus one with matching rivets.
Here it is on the back end of the strap. This buckle climbs up or down, we have about six maybe seven inches of adjustment with the buckle alone.
See that one rivet holding it together? This won't do.
The leather I chose for the tail strap, and on the nose of this strap is strong, and just a thick as your average guitar strap. But, I want to
shore it up just a bit with another layer of thin leather. So, I picked out real stiff some black crocogator cowhide to attach the the backside of
the nose and tail, to give them a little extra body.
Like I mentioned, I was a little leery of how the ends were held to the links. I constantly security for Well-Hung straps, as if I would personally hang my finest guitar on it without a care.
This heavy duty fashion belt was basically held together by one small rivet on each end. I figured a couple of even larger ones would not hurt one bit, plus I'm going to stitch through that center strap once I get
the cowhide on the nose. I smash in a couple rivets first to minimize the chance of metal contact with a guitar, then cover with the gator.
That's it for today probably. Gotta date with ol' red, my rider here in the backyard. My son found a way to throw the drive belt off, so we gotta remove the deck, and see what's going on under there.
Never done it before, but watched a couple youtube vids on it last night. I'm gonna make him help, which will tell him to be more careful in the future.
See my icebucket on the side fender? Capacity of four plus ice. Yes, I am a very stable genius.
There are a lot of junky bad belts to be found in thrift stores, but sometimes a nice find makes it worth the stop. Like this gem, found in Lacombe, Alberta...
This is what i call a link belt, made of stamped leather bits that are cleverly tied together with a single strap. Jimmy Page is sort of famous for his black link belt strap, I personally love the hippie old school vintagey look, and it's kind of rare to see these on shoulders nowadays, never mind in a store, so any I make is pretty unique thing. They are deceivingly strong and comfy. So comfy, I have pretty much stopped putting padding behind them, just leaving them as they are, leather right against you. They also always seem have just the right amount of "give" to 'em.
in it's previous life as a fashion belt by Old Navy, it cost some larger lady $40 ( I didn't pay near that much, but it was kinda pricey for a thrift shop). The large/long ones are the best to work with to make straps. This one is 2-3/4" wide. Perfect! The buckle on it was rather cheap and suspect, so it had to go. In the removal, I proved that I too am susceptible to the workshop injury, though nowhere near as what's been reported here of late. Get well soon Hack! Those rolling knives are deadly sharp, as I have proven to myself time and time again. Normally I cut into my fingertips on my fretting hand which sets me back five or six days for guitarin', so this is nothing but a thing.
This here will be the nose part of the strap, I have decided at this point.
On the what will be the back end... we are going to make this a buckle adjuster, so I haul out my buckle collection for a nice buckle more befitting a Well-Hung crafted strap.
Found it - nice medieval look to this one, with a perfect 2" shank, and a very robust tooth, in matching antique brass with built in mojo already.
We are going to need more leather for a tail strap. So I go to one of my leather stockpiles, and pick out something that is real close, just a bit
less lustrous. But it will be alright once I am done with it.
Here I have made a hole for the tooth, and riveted it thricely plus one with matching rivets.
Here it is on the back end of the strap. This buckle climbs up or down, we have about six maybe seven inches of adjustment with the buckle alone.
See that one rivet holding it together? This won't do.
The leather I chose for the tail strap, and on the nose of this strap is strong, and just a thick as your average guitar strap. But, I want to
shore it up just a bit with another layer of thin leather. So, I picked out real stiff some black crocogator cowhide to attach the the backside of
the nose and tail, to give them a little extra body.
Like I mentioned, I was a little leery of how the ends were held to the links. I constantly security for Well-Hung straps, as if I would personally hang my finest guitar on it without a care.
This heavy duty fashion belt was basically held together by one small rivet on each end. I figured a couple of even larger ones would not hurt one bit, plus I'm going to stitch through that center strap once I get
the cowhide on the nose. I smash in a couple rivets first to minimize the chance of metal contact with a guitar, then cover with the gator.
That's it for today probably. Gotta date with ol' red, my rider here in the backyard. My son found a way to throw the drive belt off, so we gotta remove the deck, and see what's going on under there.
Never done it before, but watched a couple youtube vids on it last night. I'm gonna make him help, which will tell him to be more careful in the future.
See my icebucket on the side fender? Capacity of four plus ice. Yes, I am a very stable genius.
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
My son and I got under that thing, and found a really twisted up and jammed drive belt. But she's back together and mowing again! Phew!
Took us about an hour and half, not bad for first time at that. Lunch!
Sorry to tease you fellas but it was 100% yum and a spur of the moment TVvoodoo culinary invention out of stuff quick on hand.
Great big green salad laced with smoked salmon, bacon ranch dressing, couple slices of garlic toast on the side, a Chelada for quenchment factor and an apple for dessert
Hunger sated, back at the strap. Wasn't but another half hour to sew it all together, tjhen treat the new leather to better match the older leather, then
and put 'er up on Reverb for sale. Meet "Vrikdarok" of the No Prisoners series, name courtesy of the orc name generator
Not the most efficient day's work, but good enough for me... super beautiful day out there today, think I'm gonna go hit some balls into the bush.
Took us about an hour and half, not bad for first time at that. Lunch!
Sorry to tease you fellas but it was 100% yum and a spur of the moment TVvoodoo culinary invention out of stuff quick on hand.
Great big green salad laced with smoked salmon, bacon ranch dressing, couple slices of garlic toast on the side, a Chelada for quenchment factor and an apple for dessert
Hunger sated, back at the strap. Wasn't but another half hour to sew it all together, tjhen treat the new leather to better match the older leather, then
and put 'er up on Reverb for sale. Meet "Vrikdarok" of the No Prisoners series, name courtesy of the orc name generator
Not the most efficient day's work, but good enough for me... super beautiful day out there today, think I'm gonna go hit some balls into the bush.
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
Seems to be a bit of a running trend among a few barbaric pro players. So why not offer my own version?
Today was a day for getting a kinda nutty, even a little ferocious in the StrapLab.
Time to enter "Beast Mode"
A couple of loveable, hairy and fiercely individualistic straps, but no actual beasts harmed in the making. Um... scratch that. One moo cow was definitely seriously affected.
Feelng OCD? Wear it neatly brushed or combed, such as shown on the right. Or, wear it all bushy and randomized when "crazy carnivorous wildman" is more your mood.
This I guarantee... If you've never got the heavy petting by wimmenz before, you definitely will when you wear this thing.
Also, new owner of the Well-Hung Allman Mountain #5 checks in, sportin' it on his tele. Very cool.
I would say we have a pretty nice match. I like how the brass ring works in this case. Details.
Today was a day for getting a kinda nutty, even a little ferocious in the StrapLab.
Time to enter "Beast Mode"
A couple of loveable, hairy and fiercely individualistic straps, but no actual beasts harmed in the making. Um... scratch that. One moo cow was definitely seriously affected.
Feelng OCD? Wear it neatly brushed or combed, such as shown on the right. Or, wear it all bushy and randomized when "crazy carnivorous wildman" is more your mood.
This I guarantee... If you've never got the heavy petting by wimmenz before, you definitely will when you wear this thing.
Also, new owner of the Well-Hung Allman Mountain #5 checks in, sportin' it on his tele. Very cool.
I would say we have a pretty nice match. I like how the brass ring works in this case. Details.
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
Over on another forum I frequent there is a long-running joke about the so-called "Richman's Bastards" able to easily purchase premium name-brand guitars like Gibson, Suhr, PRS etc.
As an alternative, the originator of the phrase, a rather eccentric and salty Swede, chose instead to purchase multiple "Hardly Dented" guitars from Germany and swap B-stock righties for lefties with little concern about "intonationing." He did this so he was able to retain extra money for a steady diet beer, babes and BBQ. I can't remember if anybody asked him about Swedish BBQ, probably grilled meatballs or whatever.
Anyway, to escape Reverb's wordifying rulemaking (which I have had some experienced before), I named the strap Richman's Illegitimate Son.
It's not the kind of strap just anyone would pick up, but sometimes I find it's fun to just throw out a "Hail Mary" once in awhile.
As an alternative, the originator of the phrase, a rather eccentric and salty Swede, chose instead to purchase multiple "Hardly Dented" guitars from Germany and swap B-stock righties for lefties with little concern about "intonationing." He did this so he was able to retain extra money for a steady diet beer, babes and BBQ. I can't remember if anybody asked him about Swedish BBQ, probably grilled meatballs or whatever.
Anyway, to escape Reverb's wordifying rulemaking (which I have had some experienced before), I named the strap Richman's Illegitimate Son.
It's not the kind of strap just anyone would pick up, but sometimes I find it's fun to just throw out a "Hail Mary" once in awhile.
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
Got a shipment of new leather in the other day. Sigh. One of the large hides had a nasty looking wrinkle/scarring section, not in the middle of the whole hide, but kind of the side. Anyway, the more I looked at it the oblong aberration, the more I started to dig it... So...earthy? unique? organic? Helps tell an important part of the story of the massive beast that formed it. And, it's just freakin' cool. Never saw this before, maybe never see anything like this again. Didn't see much use in trying to send the hide back or fretting about it.
So, I decided to cut a uniquely badass strap around it.
No padding, no stitching, just thick, beautiful, (and gorgeously ugly) dark black buffalo leather. And heavy duty too... like 4.5mm, or 3/16" thick. That's strong! The wonderful thing about this kind of buffalo hide, it's also still somewhat soft and flexible, unlike vegtan cowhide. So, not all stiff like a board to start. Plus, this hide has just a bit of "give", say nearly an inch of springiness, adding greatly to the comfort level of a 3" wide solid leather strap.
There are makers that specifically rely on buffalo, or water buffalo hide because it's real tough and yet pliable.... wonderful stuff to work with. It does have one problem they never mention or talk about. Over a period of time, if you make the nose and tail holes too big, it'll slip off pins like crazy because it is so flexible - you will want to become a straplock guy on those straps as they age. When I make these, I am sure to make the button holes a bit smaller than a standard size to help counteract this... I do think if you are a straplock guy, buffalo hide is a perfect choice.
So, I decided to cut a uniquely badass strap around it.
No padding, no stitching, just thick, beautiful, (and gorgeously ugly) dark black buffalo leather. And heavy duty too... like 4.5mm, or 3/16" thick. That's strong! The wonderful thing about this kind of buffalo hide, it's also still somewhat soft and flexible, unlike vegtan cowhide. So, not all stiff like a board to start. Plus, this hide has just a bit of "give", say nearly an inch of springiness, adding greatly to the comfort level of a 3" wide solid leather strap.
There are makers that specifically rely on buffalo, or water buffalo hide because it's real tough and yet pliable.... wonderful stuff to work with. It does have one problem they never mention or talk about. Over a period of time, if you make the nose and tail holes too big, it'll slip off pins like crazy because it is so flexible - you will want to become a straplock guy on those straps as they age. When I make these, I am sure to make the button holes a bit smaller than a standard size to help counteract this... I do think if you are a straplock guy, buffalo hide is a perfect choice.
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I was all about the buffalo straps for the last few years. Love them for the give and comfort. I use the beer washers with them.
That strap is pretty awesome looking!
That strap is pretty awesome looking!
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
Picked up a new leather stamp tool over my holiday break, kind in the gruesome/badass category. Figured I'd try it out this morning on some 3" wide vegtan. At first I thought I would try to match up the upper points of the spades side-to-side, but then decided to alternate them. As sometimes happens in leather pattern stamping, you end up with unexpected and interesting surprises... Had no idea this was going to form a cool jagged wave down the middle, but gotta say I frickin' love it!
One problem, the stamp I picked up is more suitable for a mechanical emboss press rather than hammering, due to the larger (1" wide) surface area. I don't have one of those doggone presses... yet. As a result, my hammering arm is killing me LOL! I had to really smack that stamp hard and many many times to get decent impressions, and they still could be a little better... but it is what it is.
Name of this strap will be what else but... "Ace of Spades"
Starting out, I was pretty sure this was going to end up a pure black on black strap. Subtle. Now I am wondering about that. If I can dilute my black dye I have enough, maybe I can get a grey effect in the middle then fade it to black on the edges. I'm still learning this stuff. Want to try to highlight the sawtooth down the middle a little bit.
I could also fade black to to colours, blue, yellow, green, or orangey/brown. Could drop some studs on it too. thinking white stitching.
Any other ideas? Open to 'em if you got em.
for the listening pleasure...
One problem, the stamp I picked up is more suitable for a mechanical emboss press rather than hammering, due to the larger (1" wide) surface area. I don't have one of those doggone presses... yet. As a result, my hammering arm is killing me LOL! I had to really smack that stamp hard and many many times to get decent impressions, and they still could be a little better... but it is what it is.
Name of this strap will be what else but... "Ace of Spades"
Starting out, I was pretty sure this was going to end up a pure black on black strap. Subtle. Now I am wondering about that. If I can dilute my black dye I have enough, maybe I can get a grey effect in the middle then fade it to black on the edges. I'm still learning this stuff. Want to try to highlight the sawtooth down the middle a little bit.
I could also fade black to to colours, blue, yellow, green, or orangey/brown. Could drop some studs on it too. thinking white stitching.
Any other ideas? Open to 'em if you got em.
for the listening pleasure...
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
Got it on the front porch to dry out before dyeing, been doing some thinking. I like that idea suggested above, but that's a little more detail than I wanted to put into this strap. I'm trying to consider the end customer will probably be somebody who won't really want a lot of futzy detail on such a dark themey strap, and frankly it's quite a bit more work than I want to put into this one LOL!!! at least for the price point I plan to offer it at.
So, what I am going to try, is first dye the whole thing gray. Try I say, because after my research, grey seems to be a vegtan colour real hard to get, and I boy do I love me a challenge.
Two ways to do it. Vinegaroon, which is not only a terrifying scorpion-like insect, but also a homemade, old-timey concoction I am now brewing with steel wool in a jar of vinegar.
According to youtube and so-called experts on the leatherworkers forum, the iron acetate created reacts with the tannins in leather, and turn it black. The longer the wool sits in the vinegar the darker it gets so I'm only
going to do it for seven or eight hours. they say if you want it even darker, just reapply the solution, so erring on the lighter side seems smart thinking to me.
The other method is by using heavily-diluted black dye. I will be testing the two methods tonight on some scrap before attacking the main piece, which is smarter than I usually play it.
Once I have a base grey coloured leather, I think I will try to put some dye resist on the insides of the spades to keep 'em grey, but burst in black from the edges a little bit, and preserving most of the zig-zag gray.
So, what I am going to try, is first dye the whole thing gray. Try I say, because after my research, grey seems to be a vegtan colour real hard to get, and I boy do I love me a challenge.
Two ways to do it. Vinegaroon, which is not only a terrifying scorpion-like insect, but also a homemade, old-timey concoction I am now brewing with steel wool in a jar of vinegar.
According to youtube and so-called experts on the leatherworkers forum, the iron acetate created reacts with the tannins in leather, and turn it black. The longer the wool sits in the vinegar the darker it gets so I'm only
going to do it for seven or eight hours. they say if you want it even darker, just reapply the solution, so erring on the lighter side seems smart thinking to me.
The other method is by using heavily-diluted black dye. I will be testing the two methods tonight on some scrap before attacking the main piece, which is smarter than I usually play it.
Once I have a base grey coloured leather, I think I will try to put some dye resist on the insides of the spades to keep 'em grey, but burst in black from the edges a little bit, and preserving most of the zig-zag gray.
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