ninjaking67
Ambassador of Good Will
TVvoodoo's Straplab
- Thread starter TVvoodoo
- Start date
-
- Tags
- guitar straps
I am happy to announce that I have joined the league of Well-Hung strap ons. Yes ladies and gentlemen, my snake is Well-Hung!
OK, now I think I need to buy an amp to match my snake skin strap
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
One of our esteemed guitar brothers (who is an incredible artist himself) has asked me to begin work on a project that will suitably sling his own creative undertaking: scratch build a neck through LP
Well in a week saturated in sadness, much of the story behind this fella's lutherie is also rooted in family tragedy and his ongoing personal efforts to make sense of it all while rebuilding himself. Not going to get into all that here, but let's just say I am completely honoured. His skills is indisputable, how he does what he does remains almost unfathomable to me. Probably a step or two above my skillset to adequately match this guitar, but I'm gonna try my best.
This is the colour he's plans to go with, one of his own special mix formulas. Sky wants me to see if I can't match or come close to matching the finish he's chosen, which is going to be another challenge. I think I am going to want to watch him stain/dye the instrument before I move ahead too far, so I can do that. I believe he's getting close to starting the finishing process.
Which blue is it to you? I'm trying for French/Sapphire/Yale territory, or somewhere in that realm. But maybe it's cobalt? Dying leather for me is more art than science, I'm going to have to sneak up as close as I can with multiple dye applications I think. Plus the plan is to use that colour more as a base/ undercoat and lightly touch it with black on a textured top
We've been messaging back and forth for months now, and finally a few weeks ago a design started to come together...
Chris is really into Japanese culture, and the instrument he's building features detailed inlay work of a samurai warrior etc. reflecting that. There is a Bushido Kanji (way of the warrior, or code of conduct), on the headstock and he wanted those on the front of the strap as well. Apparently these symbols are representative of honor, discipline, faithfulness, bravery etc. Don't ask me, I don't read Japanese one bit! Could mean "Leave the wife be, eat more sushi" for all I know.
I pitched him an idea with a Samurai sword over the length of the strap, but apparently I defiled the Samurai culture with my artwork, so Chris gently steered me in a different direction.
Anyway with the design ideas salted away, over the past couple days was able to plan it out, get the strap shape cut, transfer the patterns and begin to get the carving and tooling part out of the way. Now, I never once claimed to be a pro leather carver / tooler, more a developing intermediate, so, if there are any pro-level or amazing serious hobby carvers out there, consider that I'm still learning at this, still pretty much something new in every new project.
First thing is, once you get the basic strap shape all cut out, you need to get that moisture content WAY up in the leather, "casing" it's called. Basically what I do is soak it about 2/3 through with a wetted sponge, then roll it up loosely and put it in a clean plastic ice cream pail. I also drop a large saturated sponge in the middle, and seal it up overnight. When it comes out, it's real easy to press in stitch guidelines, and transfer the pattern on the computer onto this piece of cow.
Once the basic lines are in, the swivel knife gets an good edge on it, and I commence to carving.
As you can see there is a bit more involved here than Japanese symbols, we are also going to have a roaring twisty dragon
Once the lines are carved. The beveling begins. This is a tool that softens one side of a cut, and presses down sharper into the cut on the other side.
Beveling properly can be a bit of a mind-bender particularly on this twisty subject. A lot of small turns and sharp corners will make it a total pain in the butt. My rule of thumb is you bevel OUTWARDS from the main subject to the background, but it also depends on the situation, what you want to accent more. But this process really helps start bring things to life by giving it a little extra dimension and 3D-ness.
The tooling on this strap is now close to 1/3 done, I figure. But this was a lot of of the hardest stuff needing to be done, about three hours work, two Oasis records one Blur. Then, back in the pail it went, hope to do some more on it this weekend. If I do too much in one sitting, my pounding arm gets a weird repetitive stress injury so I have to rest it a bit.
The rest of the strap will be textured probably over the weekend, and we will have to put some more texture on the dragon.
You know there will be updates here!
Well in a week saturated in sadness, much of the story behind this fella's lutherie is also rooted in family tragedy and his ongoing personal efforts to make sense of it all while rebuilding himself. Not going to get into all that here, but let's just say I am completely honoured. His skills is indisputable, how he does what he does remains almost unfathomable to me. Probably a step or two above my skillset to adequately match this guitar, but I'm gonna try my best.
This is the colour he's plans to go with, one of his own special mix formulas. Sky wants me to see if I can't match or come close to matching the finish he's chosen, which is going to be another challenge. I think I am going to want to watch him stain/dye the instrument before I move ahead too far, so I can do that. I believe he's getting close to starting the finishing process.
Which blue is it to you? I'm trying for French/Sapphire/Yale territory, or somewhere in that realm. But maybe it's cobalt? Dying leather for me is more art than science, I'm going to have to sneak up as close as I can with multiple dye applications I think. Plus the plan is to use that colour more as a base/ undercoat and lightly touch it with black on a textured top
We've been messaging back and forth for months now, and finally a few weeks ago a design started to come together...
Chris is really into Japanese culture, and the instrument he's building features detailed inlay work of a samurai warrior etc. reflecting that. There is a Bushido Kanji (way of the warrior, or code of conduct), on the headstock and he wanted those on the front of the strap as well. Apparently these symbols are representative of honor, discipline, faithfulness, bravery etc. Don't ask me, I don't read Japanese one bit! Could mean "Leave the wife be, eat more sushi" for all I know.
I pitched him an idea with a Samurai sword over the length of the strap, but apparently I defiled the Samurai culture with my artwork, so Chris gently steered me in a different direction.
Anyway with the design ideas salted away, over the past couple days was able to plan it out, get the strap shape cut, transfer the patterns and begin to get the carving and tooling part out of the way. Now, I never once claimed to be a pro leather carver / tooler, more a developing intermediate, so, if there are any pro-level or amazing serious hobby carvers out there, consider that I'm still learning at this, still pretty much something new in every new project.
First thing is, once you get the basic strap shape all cut out, you need to get that moisture content WAY up in the leather, "casing" it's called. Basically what I do is soak it about 2/3 through with a wetted sponge, then roll it up loosely and put it in a clean plastic ice cream pail. I also drop a large saturated sponge in the middle, and seal it up overnight. When it comes out, it's real easy to press in stitch guidelines, and transfer the pattern on the computer onto this piece of cow.
Once the basic lines are in, the swivel knife gets an good edge on it, and I commence to carving.
As you can see there is a bit more involved here than Japanese symbols, we are also going to have a roaring twisty dragon
Once the lines are carved. The beveling begins. This is a tool that softens one side of a cut, and presses down sharper into the cut on the other side.
Beveling properly can be a bit of a mind-bender particularly on this twisty subject. A lot of small turns and sharp corners will make it a total pain in the butt. My rule of thumb is you bevel OUTWARDS from the main subject to the background, but it also depends on the situation, what you want to accent more. But this process really helps start bring things to life by giving it a little extra dimension and 3D-ness.
The tooling on this strap is now close to 1/3 done, I figure. But this was a lot of of the hardest stuff needing to be done, about three hours work, two Oasis records one Blur. Then, back in the pail it went, hope to do some more on it this weekend. If I do too much in one sitting, my pounding arm gets a weird repetitive stress injury so I have to rest it a bit.
The rest of the strap will be textured probably over the weekend, and we will have to put some more texture on the dragon.
You know there will be updates here!
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
Keepin' on, keepin' on after a pretty busy weekend! Hey most of you are observing a memorial weekend, and probably some kickin' back too I expect.
leather was in the high moisture zone plastic pail over the weekend, so it didn't take much to get it in shape to continue tooling. First things first, kind of to get my flow back... "backgrounding" which helps further lift up and separate the main subjects, and just plain adds a cool texture
This can go fairly fast, but you have to keep turning the tool a little bit or a pattern will emerge, and it won't look as random as it' s supposed to look. To get in the real tight places, you have to tilt the tool a quite bit of an angle, to use maybe half or a1/4 of the tool, and give it much less a "tap" due to the smaller amount of surface area. I like this effect, because it gives some nice options later during the dye stages. Oh and there will be dye stages.
Next we have some scaling going on with the classic "Mules Foot" tool, but used as a repetitive pattern.
Wasn't near as perfect as I'd hoped looking at it this damn close... oh well, the body of the dragon is planned to be solid dyed, so scaling imperfections of the type shown above LOL! won't be real apparent.
Going back in with the swivel knife for a different kind of line texture on the back spines, fins, or mane or whatever you dang call it on a reptile/dinosaurish beast.
Actually, I felt compelled to look it up. They are each called a "scute" ...there's a wordle for ya.
Anyway, this beast now has striated scutes via a bunch of small slashes.
So here we have the front pretty much there
And a dragon has taken shape, and is looking somewhat beastly.
Now it's time to think colour scheme. It was pitched that this strap be dyed the base blue pretty much everywhere and a light brush on top of the mottled part would give it a light overcoat on the blue but the real blue would shine through in the low spots and generally keep it as blue-ish.
The dragon was planned to be black, with gold on the underbelly scales, a red tongue. I think I want to make the scutes a different colour than black, but not gold. Red? Maybe silver? maybe keep that as solid blue, or should the dragon be solid blue with a black overcoat... I think the characters on the front are going to be solid blue. Hmmmm need to think about this, because the dye stages are touchy on how it can be done. Not required to rush on this one, so that's good! But if we want more red than the tongue, I'll have to do that first probably and protect it, before any major blue.
But I like the idea of metallic gold and silver incorporated. Or some red maybe? Probably going to spend some time looking at some classic oriental dragon art for some guidance I think. But there might be too many colours too, less is more. Probably MLP dude is going to have some valuable input too, I expect! He's paying for it, so he probably should get his two cents in LOL
Happy monday you bunch of noisy guitarin no-goods
leather was in the high moisture zone plastic pail over the weekend, so it didn't take much to get it in shape to continue tooling. First things first, kind of to get my flow back... "backgrounding" which helps further lift up and separate the main subjects, and just plain adds a cool texture
This can go fairly fast, but you have to keep turning the tool a little bit or a pattern will emerge, and it won't look as random as it' s supposed to look. To get in the real tight places, you have to tilt the tool a quite bit of an angle, to use maybe half or a1/4 of the tool, and give it much less a "tap" due to the smaller amount of surface area. I like this effect, because it gives some nice options later during the dye stages. Oh and there will be dye stages.
Next we have some scaling going on with the classic "Mules Foot" tool, but used as a repetitive pattern.
Wasn't near as perfect as I'd hoped looking at it this damn close... oh well, the body of the dragon is planned to be solid dyed, so scaling imperfections of the type shown above LOL! won't be real apparent.
Going back in with the swivel knife for a different kind of line texture on the back spines, fins, or mane or whatever you dang call it on a reptile/dinosaurish beast.
Actually, I felt compelled to look it up. They are each called a "scute" ...there's a wordle for ya.
Anyway, this beast now has striated scutes via a bunch of small slashes.
So here we have the front pretty much there
And a dragon has taken shape, and is looking somewhat beastly.
Now it's time to think colour scheme. It was pitched that this strap be dyed the base blue pretty much everywhere and a light brush on top of the mottled part would give it a light overcoat on the blue but the real blue would shine through in the low spots and generally keep it as blue-ish.
The dragon was planned to be black, with gold on the underbelly scales, a red tongue. I think I want to make the scutes a different colour than black, but not gold. Red? Maybe silver? maybe keep that as solid blue, or should the dragon be solid blue with a black overcoat... I think the characters on the front are going to be solid blue. Hmmmm need to think about this, because the dye stages are touchy on how it can be done. Not required to rush on this one, so that's good! But if we want more red than the tongue, I'll have to do that first probably and protect it, before any major blue.
But I like the idea of metallic gold and silver incorporated. Or some red maybe? Probably going to spend some time looking at some classic oriental dragon art for some guidance I think. But there might be too many colours too, less is more. Probably MLP dude is going to have some valuable input too, I expect! He's paying for it, so he probably should get his two cents in LOL
Happy monday you bunch of noisy guitarin no-goods
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
Ready for your daily dose of immune system fortifying vitamin strap? The science is proven that Well-Hung men can fight off pretty much anything, what with with our superior genetics, alpha attitudes and self-medicating know how
Today I felt like changing things up a little but, but staying in a black theme. Two new one-of-a kinders resulted... didn't quite get time to complete, had other things on the go in the background too... but here's "Stitch" and "Weave" - both real long, pillowy-padded, 3" wide badassers.
I figure I can get these both up in the reverb store tomorrow if things go my way.
Today I felt like changing things up a little but, but staying in a black theme. Two new one-of-a kinders resulted... didn't quite get time to complete, had other things on the go in the background too... but here's "Stitch" and "Weave" - both real long, pillowy-padded, 3" wide badassers.
I figure I can get these both up in the reverb store tomorrow if things go my way.
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
Comes to mind with "Stitch" well, you should have seen the other guy! Basically it's kind of a creepy-cool sort of Tim Burton-ish / BDSM sort of thing in semi-gloss shiny PU vinyl, sturdy cord, married to good black harness leather front and back.
Goes long to about 63" which gives you the room to make all those cool stage moves to truly win over Mr. Arms-Crossed Guy, staring you down from back near the bar. Then he tries to move in on your girl too, what a dick!
As many of you might already know, I really don't like crafting black guitar straps much. There are just so so many out there and they all look pretty much the same - absolutely no character at all. So, when I go to work in the none-more-black theme here in the StrapLab, it's my mind Well-Hung has to offer something at least a little special and stand-out.
Brings to mind "Weave" also new in the Well-Hung Reverb boutique today
Another blackie with a great vintagey look. Not fakey embossed weave, but real and true weave. Way to difficult and expensive for strap manus to bother with. But Hell, I'll offer one up. 5 strips of 1/2" black PU, in a cool diamond pattern. Great texture that catches the light so nice!
Your guitar peers are gonna ask you about these, I do hope you torture them for a suitable amount of time before revealing how they too can become Well-Hung guitarists, just like you.
Both straps 3" wide, pillowy padded allowing you to play longer in comfort, and help negate those painful-grimaces your current straps are probably causing. Then again, that could also just be your regular look
Goes long to about 63" which gives you the room to make all those cool stage moves to truly win over Mr. Arms-Crossed Guy, staring you down from back near the bar. Then he tries to move in on your girl too, what a dick!
As many of you might already know, I really don't like crafting black guitar straps much. There are just so so many out there and they all look pretty much the same - absolutely no character at all. So, when I go to work in the none-more-black theme here in the StrapLab, it's my mind Well-Hung has to offer something at least a little special and stand-out.
Brings to mind "Weave" also new in the Well-Hung Reverb boutique today
Another blackie with a great vintagey look. Not fakey embossed weave, but real and true weave. Way to difficult and expensive for strap manus to bother with. But Hell, I'll offer one up. 5 strips of 1/2" black PU, in a cool diamond pattern. Great texture that catches the light so nice!
Your guitar peers are gonna ask you about these, I do hope you torture them for a suitable amount of time before revealing how they too can become Well-Hung guitarists, just like you.
Both straps 3" wide, pillowy padded allowing you to play longer in comfort, and help negate those painful-grimaces your current straps are probably causing. Then again, that could also just be your regular look
Last edited:
LiveeviL2000
Ambassador of Pentagonal Pentatonics
It looks to me like a Azure Blue with some Cyan.One of our esteemed guitar brothers (who is an incredible artist himself) has asked me to begin work on a project that will suitably sling his own creative undertaking: scratch build a neck through LP
Well in a week saturated in sadness, much of the story behind this fella's lutherie is also rooted in family tragedy and his ongoing personal efforts to make sense of it all while rebuilding himself. Not going to get into all that here, but let's just say I am completely honoured. His skills is indisputable, how he does what he does remains almost unfathomable to me. Probably a step or two above my skillset to adequately match this guitar, but I'm gonna try my best.
This is the colour he's plans to go with, one of his own special mix formulas. Sky wants me to see if I can't match or come close to matching the finish he's chosen, which is going to be another challenge. I think I am going to want to watch him stain/dye the instrument before I move ahead too far, so I can do that. I believe he's getting close to starting the finishing process.
Which blue is it to you? I'm trying for French/Sapphire/Yale territory, or somewhere in that realm. But maybe it's cobalt? Dying leather for me is more art than science, I'm going to have to sneak up as close as I can with multiple dye applications I think. Plus the plan is to use that colour more as a base/ undercoat and lightly touch it with black on a textured top
We've been messaging back and forth for months now, and finally a few weeks ago a design started to come together...
Chris is really into Japanese culture, and the instrument he's building features detailed inlay work of a samurai warrior etc. reflecting that. There is a Bushido Kanji (way of the warrior, or code of conduct), on the headstock and he wanted those on the front of the strap as well. Apparently these symbols are representative of honor, discipline, faithfulness, bravery etc. Don't ask me, I don't read Japanese one bit! Could mean "Leave the wife be, eat more sushi" for all I know.
I pitched him an idea with a Samurai sword over the length of the strap, but apparently I defiled the Samurai culture with my artwork, so Chris gently steered me in a different direction.
Anyway with the design ideas salted away, over the past couple days was able to plan it out, get the strap shape cut, transfer the patterns and begin to get the carving and tooling part out of the way. Now, I never once claimed to be a pro leather carver / tooler, more a developing intermediate, so, if there are any pro-level or amazing serious hobby carvers out there, consider that I'm still learning at this, still pretty much something new in every new project.
First thing is, once you get the basic strap shape all cut out, you need to get that moisture content WAY up in the leather, "casing" it's called. Basically what I do is soak it about 2/3 through with a wetted sponge, then roll it up loosely and put it in a clean plastic ice cream pail. I also drop a large saturated sponge in the middle, and seal it up overnight. When it comes out, it's real easy to press in stitch guidelines, and transfer the pattern on the computer onto this piece of cow.
Once the basic lines are in, the swivel knife gets an good edge on it, and I commence to carving.
As you can see there is a bit more involved here than Japanese symbols, we are also going to have a roaring twisty dragon
Once the lines are carved. The beveling begins. This is a tool that softens one side of a cut, and presses down sharper into the cut on the other side.
Beveling properly can be a bit of a mind-bender particularly on this twisty subject. A lot of small turns and sharp corners will make it a total pain in the butt. My rule of thumb is you bevel OUTWARDS from the main subject to the background, but it also depends on the situation, what you want to accent more. But this process really helps start bring things to life by giving it a little extra dimension and 3D-ness.
The tooling on this strap is now close to 1/3 done, I figure. But this was a lot of of the hardest stuff needing to be done, about three hours work, two Oasis records one Blur. Then, back in the pail it went, hope to do some more on it this weekend. If I do too much in one sitting, my pounding arm gets a weird repetitive stress injury so I have to rest it a bit.
The rest of the strap will be textured probably over the weekend, and we will have to put some more texture on the dragon.
You know there will be updates here!
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
An important part of working with different leathers is "burnishing" the edges so they look shiny and finished. I know my game could use some improvements there, short of going mechanical/electric. The main feat is figuring out how to hold the pieces steady while you rub the heck out of and get that friction/heat going which gets those nice edges.
So today, I invented this gadget, which for now I'll just call a working prototype:
My edge burnishing is mostly done along long sides for straps and tail straps... so basically what I need is a lengthy jig/clamp that won't damage my craftswork, but still hold it secure. Also the ability to open and close the jaws hands-free was another factor I wanted incorporate - this way I can properly place the work inside the jaws with both hands before going to work on it.
Had some leftover composite/laminate flooring bits with a nice thin padding layer on the undersides, and a some medium duty spring clamps, bits of mdf trim etc... and voila! It works not too bad! I can open and close the jaws by leaning in on the front bar, but I think I'm still going to want a bit more leverage in the next version.
Anyway, maybe I spent too much time on this, (some other things I tried early in the day that didn't work too well), but in the end this is going to help me get some real nice edges in the near future!
Now taking suggestions on a suitably cool name for this contraption
So today, I invented this gadget, which for now I'll just call a working prototype:
My edge burnishing is mostly done along long sides for straps and tail straps... so basically what I need is a lengthy jig/clamp that won't damage my craftswork, but still hold it secure. Also the ability to open and close the jaws hands-free was another factor I wanted incorporate - this way I can properly place the work inside the jaws with both hands before going to work on it.
Had some leftover composite/laminate flooring bits with a nice thin padding layer on the undersides, and a some medium duty spring clamps, bits of mdf trim etc... and voila! It works not too bad! I can open and close the jaws by leaning in on the front bar, but I think I'm still going to want a bit more leverage in the next version.
Anyway, maybe I spent too much time on this, (some other things I tried early in the day that didn't work too well), but in the end this is going to help me get some real nice edges in the near future!
Now taking suggestions on a suitably cool name for this contraption
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
Today the output of the StrapLab was PATHETIC! I spend most of my day frickin' around on some guitar forum trying to get something started.
Gird thy loins, and join the guitar streetfight. The only thing that might get hurt may be your ego, (or your sides from laughing way too hard).
But anyway, this morning I did whip up and send out two pairs of Old School Straplocks, or StrapMasters as I like to call em. Most of us greybeards know of these, but anyone who's still wet behind the ears probably thinks it's gotta be made of chinese pot metal and be able to put a real nice ding in your guitar to be any good. Or maybe they think a 25 cent rubber beer gasket is the best insurance for that $1,700 guitar. In my opinion, nuh-uh!
Sometimes the old ways are the best ways. and I believe my version of these are superior to the ones we remember from the early 80's. Plus, for those annoying store-bought straps running 3" too short, these absolutely solve that!
Gird thy loins, and join the guitar streetfight. The only thing that might get hurt may be your ego, (or your sides from laughing way too hard).
But anyway, this morning I did whip up and send out two pairs of Old School Straplocks, or StrapMasters as I like to call em. Most of us greybeards know of these, but anyone who's still wet behind the ears probably thinks it's gotta be made of chinese pot metal and be able to put a real nice ding in your guitar to be any good. Or maybe they think a 25 cent rubber beer gasket is the best insurance for that $1,700 guitar. In my opinion, nuh-uh!
Sometimes the old ways are the best ways. and I believe my version of these are superior to the ones we remember from the early 80's. Plus, for those annoying store-bought straps running 3" too short, these absolutely solve that!
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
Look like another time for Game of Tones, couldn't get 16 interested. We will do it when the community is ready
Happy Monday! As you probably already know, I actually first invented the idea of putting a lightning bolt on
a strap, it's a great way to exude a kind of electric/power sort of vibe, and as you know only Well-Hung offers them for sale.
Ok, ok... would you believe I actually didn't invent it? It's pretty hard to find a guitar strap company that DOESN'T make the damn things these days. Honestly, they are get decent interest for me too, once I finally gave in, and began offering my own version. My version is way more padded than any other zap, and unlike many others, the bolt can be is a bit more subtle, more style too.... and running not up/down the whole length.
But no less electrifrying! You're gonna need rubber soled shoes, your hair might frizz up something awesome, but that's rock 'n roll for ya!
I am officially dedicating today and the next four days as "Zap! Week" here in the StrapLab. Gonna make nothing but a whole bunch of different visually charged straps for the Reverb store. If you want a custom-made in any kind of goofy color or pattern combo you desire? This is your week to hit me up!
Above we have a Zap! Black Leopard and Black bolt on highly distressed leather. Both 3" wide, padded, leather on leather, and floatin' between approx 46-58" which is way longer than Big Strap sees fit to make by about 7 inches.
Watch for more electrical surges all week long!
Happy Monday! As you probably already know, I actually first invented the idea of putting a lightning bolt on
a strap, it's a great way to exude a kind of electric/power sort of vibe, and as you know only Well-Hung offers them for sale.
Ok, ok... would you believe I actually didn't invent it? It's pretty hard to find a guitar strap company that DOESN'T make the damn things these days. Honestly, they are get decent interest for me too, once I finally gave in, and began offering my own version. My version is way more padded than any other zap, and unlike many others, the bolt can be is a bit more subtle, more style too.... and running not up/down the whole length.
But no less electrifrying! You're gonna need rubber soled shoes, your hair might frizz up something awesome, but that's rock 'n roll for ya!
I am officially dedicating today and the next four days as "Zap! Week" here in the StrapLab. Gonna make nothing but a whole bunch of different visually charged straps for the Reverb store. If you want a custom-made in any kind of goofy color or pattern combo you desire? This is your week to hit me up!
Above we have a Zap! Black Leopard and Black bolt on highly distressed leather. Both 3" wide, padded, leather on leather, and floatin' between approx 46-58" which is way longer than Big Strap sees fit to make by about 7 inches.
Watch for more electrical surges all week long!
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
Lighting struck twice yesterday. Miraculously I survived. Thought I was ok, but then it hit me twice more today!
I blame BIG Strap. Those multinational companies play for keeps. Good thing saw fit to keep my rubbers on 24/7 this week!
Fresh off the bench, "ZAP!" BassMan powers you up without the risk of loaded caps waiting to fry you like a bug on the zapper.
Genuine F-grill has that subtle silvery glint, and extra visual wattage. Can't see it in the pic, but it's there guaranteed!
Zap GlamiGator has shiny black gator emboss on black leather, if felt it needed a bit more, so I outlined one side in nickle metallic faux leather... visually it really grabs ya, like a toothy old gator might too, if you give him half a chance
typical 3" wide cadillacky Well-Hung comfort and real North American man-size length.
Already have a comfy strap, you say? Not like Well-Hung you don't. Some dude named Lindell keeps calling me day and night begging me to reveal how I make 'em so dang pillowy. Sorry MIke, I'll never tell.
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
Had a quick 1969 "Crystal Blue Pursuasion" custom order sort of derail my ZAP! Week plans a little bit, but in the end can't say no to making a very cool strap, and I can't say no to a guaranteed sale, thank you Mitch in Cali! How many other strap-makers can get a super comfy and well-built custom order shipped the same day it's ordered? I aim to please!
I was also able to wrangle in one ZAP! today as well ... milk-chocolate coloured leather, (showing a bit darker here than normal as it was freshly conditioned just before pics), 3" wide, and a stunning gator bolt in a very light metallic copper, almost more nickel actually
Calling it a Champagne Ranch ZAP! Very sharp! 3" wide, padded up to 57" long. I should have this on up on Reverb tomorrow.
I was also able to wrangle in one ZAP! today as well ... milk-chocolate coloured leather, (showing a bit darker here than normal as it was freshly conditioned just before pics), 3" wide, and a stunning gator bolt in a very light metallic copper, almost more nickel actually
Calling it a Champagne Ranch ZAP! Very sharp! 3" wide, padded up to 57" long. I should have this on up on Reverb tomorrow.
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
The week-long electrical storm festival in my head (and outside the shop actually) continues with two more fresh "ZAP!" discharges from the StrapLab bench... Each of these emit at least one megawatt of coolness, but they're both a little unusual. I do hope your resistance is against them is low. Should be available in the reverb store tomorrow.
We have ZAP Leo, with a bolt made of actual hair-on cowhide dyed in a baby leopard pattern, (but you can tell everyone you murdered a helpless baby leopard if you wish, see where that gets ya). And, a Zap Dirty Honey Python with a snake embossed chunk of cow. It's almost like a dang trip the the zoo here, ain't it?
Changing it up a bit with these two using heavy duty "vegan" black leather base, rolled edges 3" wide.... Really nice stuff, it does not feel or look plasticky like some vinyls can. Probably easier care than actual leather, maybe longer lasting too. It helps me cut the price down a little bit too.
Rest assured I did go with heavy REAL heavy-ass harness leather on the nose and tail where it really matters.
Another change-up... both of these are what I'd call "half-padded" at least as far as my typical plush padding goes. Even so, I'll bet they're still more comfy than the most popular comfort strap out there. If that wasn't enough, I also opted for smooth lining on both of these, which I hardly ever do. Some twisted dudes like it all slip 'n slidey, y'know.
Both of these close in on 61" for length, long enough to accommodate any ridiculous rockstar move you can think of, and I'll bet you have plenty of them, don't you?
We have ZAP Leo, with a bolt made of actual hair-on cowhide dyed in a baby leopard pattern, (but you can tell everyone you murdered a helpless baby leopard if you wish, see where that gets ya). And, a Zap Dirty Honey Python with a snake embossed chunk of cow. It's almost like a dang trip the the zoo here, ain't it?
Changing it up a bit with these two using heavy duty "vegan" black leather base, rolled edges 3" wide.... Really nice stuff, it does not feel or look plasticky like some vinyls can. Probably easier care than actual leather, maybe longer lasting too. It helps me cut the price down a little bit too.
Rest assured I did go with heavy REAL heavy-ass harness leather on the nose and tail where it really matters.
Another change-up... both of these are what I'd call "half-padded" at least as far as my typical plush padding goes. Even so, I'll bet they're still more comfy than the most popular comfort strap out there. If that wasn't enough, I also opted for smooth lining on both of these, which I hardly ever do. Some twisted dudes like it all slip 'n slidey, y'know.
Both of these close in on 61" for length, long enough to accommodate any ridiculous rockstar move you can think of, and I'll bet you have plenty of them, don't you?
Last edited:
ninjaking67
Ambassador of Good Will
Nice job Brad! Looks great!
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
I envisioned this one as a strap suitable for like a cherryburst but, would look fine on most any black or white guitar too I think
The genocide leather gives it an extra badass touch, If you find a more comfortable guitar strap that don't look like it belongs
in a rest home, I'd love to hear about it. 3" wide, padded, leather, leather and more leather.
The genocide leather gives it an extra badass touch, If you find a more comfortable guitar strap that don't look like it belongs
in a rest home, I'd love to hear about it. 3" wide, padded, leather, leather and more leather.
LiveeviL2000
Ambassador of Pentagonal Pentatonics
I actually cringed when you started the grinder.
Nice work!!
OP
TVvoodoo
Ambassador of The Comfortably Slung
WARNING:
Sensitive viewers may find some of the following photos disturbing
Received a package in the mail with a whole bunch of vintage goodness...
Marcus asked me to assess his collection of retired vintagey straps for renovations to make them useable again.
I absolutely love looking at these old pieces, and I think in many cases it's a very worthwhile project to renovate antiquey straps, particularly if they hold sentimental value, and need a little help to be put back into active service.
Now some straps you are probably better off not renovating like say an old ACE as worn by (insert boomer artist here), to retain what can be significant value, but in this case my man wanted to make sure they were useable again so he could wear them and not keep them in a box on a shelf. I agreed in this case that was the best approach... I couldn't recognize any brand names except on KENT branded one.
First out of the package were these three hootenanny style straps, all with jaw-droppingly thin and floppy ends.
Question: Anyone else here dealing with worn out, loose and dried up old holes, both front and back?
This is most likely the result of overuse by you and maybe even some of your bandmates.
OMG!!!! Absolutely on the verge of bustin' out and dropping your precious.
I could easily see why he retired all three of these, I wouldn't trust even a beater guitar on any of them. Generally solid construction, but those ends? They just got old. Terrifying. Dry rot is an awful thing. PRO TIP: You can actually head some of this off with some regular conditioning with quality leather products.
Anyway, I pitched him some ideas, new ends on all for sure... remove the metal rings and rivets... replace the sharp metal buckles with ABS plastic. The lining on this one was worn almost through... and was separating from the main ribbon. So I added a new black crushed velvet lining. It also had sharp/cutty sides on the ribbon, so I left the new lining stick out a wee bit on each side so it won't bite into his neck any more. I use way better thread than most strapmakers too, about twice as thick.
All of these were at or near max adjustment at about 51" so I guessed he might like a little more ajustment on them. I couldn't make more ribbon of course, but I could make the ends a bit longer than the original...
I was able to add about 2.5" on the back end, about 1.5" on the nose end on each so a total about four inches extra on the renovated straps. He'll definitely be able to find his comfort zone now.
I used my regular black leather on all of them, which is roughly about twice as thick, maybe a tad more, and has a little stiffness to it. Not shown above, I triple sewed the leather ends to the ribbon and lining, opting to not use any rivets, getting rid of the metal loops and now good ABS sliding buckles, instead of your typical sharp metal ones.
All three completed today... I just love the idea of putting these vintage beauties back to work with confidence. I wanted to add some padding into the body of the strap, but he said he wanted to keep them close to original, and I can't fault a fella for that. I REALLY wanted to make these into wider more comfy straps and offered him a smoking deal, but... nope LOL!
I mentioned there were four straps in the package.. more like 3 and a half. The other half a strap Marcus sent me was this super funky old ACE brand floating pad... with a bit of tail strap and the original buckle. I expect that the other part of the strap busted and got chucked.
Super skinny, only about 1/2" wide which is a little scary to me. But I couldn't put anything wider through the loops, and keep it close to stock. I selected some quality veg-tan from my stash (a little heavier than the original) and am now in the beginning stages of replacing the skinny straps. For extra fun, Marcus also gave me the go-ahead to tear into the pad and replace the padding inside that as well...
I absolutely offer any repair/renovation services for your old straps, at what I think reasonable prices. You folks already know, show your gear a little love, it will definitely love you back.
Stay tuned!
Sensitive viewers may find some of the following photos disturbing
Received a package in the mail with a whole bunch of vintage goodness...
Marcus asked me to assess his collection of retired vintagey straps for renovations to make them useable again.
I absolutely love looking at these old pieces, and I think in many cases it's a very worthwhile project to renovate antiquey straps, particularly if they hold sentimental value, and need a little help to be put back into active service.
Now some straps you are probably better off not renovating like say an old ACE as worn by (insert boomer artist here), to retain what can be significant value, but in this case my man wanted to make sure they were useable again so he could wear them and not keep them in a box on a shelf. I agreed in this case that was the best approach... I couldn't recognize any brand names except on KENT branded one.
First out of the package were these three hootenanny style straps, all with jaw-droppingly thin and floppy ends.
Question: Anyone else here dealing with worn out, loose and dried up old holes, both front and back?
This is most likely the result of overuse by you and maybe even some of your bandmates.
OMG!!!! Absolutely on the verge of bustin' out and dropping your precious.
I could easily see why he retired all three of these, I wouldn't trust even a beater guitar on any of them. Generally solid construction, but those ends? They just got old. Terrifying. Dry rot is an awful thing. PRO TIP: You can actually head some of this off with some regular conditioning with quality leather products.
Anyway, I pitched him some ideas, new ends on all for sure... remove the metal rings and rivets... replace the sharp metal buckles with ABS plastic. The lining on this one was worn almost through... and was separating from the main ribbon. So I added a new black crushed velvet lining. It also had sharp/cutty sides on the ribbon, so I left the new lining stick out a wee bit on each side so it won't bite into his neck any more. I use way better thread than most strapmakers too, about twice as thick.
All of these were at or near max adjustment at about 51" so I guessed he might like a little more ajustment on them. I couldn't make more ribbon of course, but I could make the ends a bit longer than the original...
I was able to add about 2.5" on the back end, about 1.5" on the nose end on each so a total about four inches extra on the renovated straps. He'll definitely be able to find his comfort zone now.
I used my regular black leather on all of them, which is roughly about twice as thick, maybe a tad more, and has a little stiffness to it. Not shown above, I triple sewed the leather ends to the ribbon and lining, opting to not use any rivets, getting rid of the metal loops and now good ABS sliding buckles, instead of your typical sharp metal ones.
All three completed today... I just love the idea of putting these vintage beauties back to work with confidence. I wanted to add some padding into the body of the strap, but he said he wanted to keep them close to original, and I can't fault a fella for that. I REALLY wanted to make these into wider more comfy straps and offered him a smoking deal, but... nope LOL!
I mentioned there were four straps in the package.. more like 3 and a half. The other half a strap Marcus sent me was this super funky old ACE brand floating pad... with a bit of tail strap and the original buckle. I expect that the other part of the strap busted and got chucked.
Super skinny, only about 1/2" wide which is a little scary to me. But I couldn't put anything wider through the loops, and keep it close to stock. I selected some quality veg-tan from my stash (a little heavier than the original) and am now in the beginning stages of replacing the skinny straps. For extra fun, Marcus also gave me the go-ahead to tear into the pad and replace the padding inside that as well...
I absolutely offer any repair/renovation services for your old straps, at what I think reasonable prices. You folks already know, show your gear a little love, it will definitely love you back.
Stay tuned!
Last edited: