TVvoodoo's Straplab

[TVvoodoo]

Don't know exactly why I've been obsessed lately with trying to make my own "Skinny/vintage" style strap. They really don't fit in with the whole Well-Hung comfort theme that I've tried so hard to establish for a dozen years. Still, here I am, having another stab at my own, standout version.

I think it's just the challenge to make something different, try to make it a little better - and a unique version I can call my own.
Though, it's happened a few times before where I make something new and cool, then one of the larger companies happens to
"borrow" my Well-Hung idea a few months later.

My second try at this is "Throwback" Basically, it's a handmade 1-1/2" heavy black cowhide belt. Heavier than you'll find in stores. Cut it myself out of 9 oz vegtan hide, dyed it black, oiled it, buffed it out, sealed it with leather finish, burnished the edges. Then I sewed some 1" wide vintage guitar strap-looking ribbon to it, in that vintage black, amber/brown and white theme. No lining, just raw flesh side rough suede leather.

To me it mimics your typical vintage hippie strap, but lower profile. You also have that skinny heavy leather groove happenin' at the same time. Front or back buckle, but it adjusts best between 52" to 55" - this, in my experience, suits most guys between 5'11" to 6'1", normal hang.

This is a prototype. Unsure if I will do it again, really depends on market reaction. Also wondering if anyone might like want a plain belt like this, that carries the guitar strap theme along with it. It would be the type of belt that would really outlast those awful cardboard-filled bonded leather junk things we see everywhere these days.

 

[TVvoodoo]

Maybe you feel like your current strap situation is plenty comfy and secure. If so, why are you reading this? LOL!
Three new ones in the Well-Hung Reverb store, up right now. Gonna change your guitar game forever.

Purple Playa

"Stained"

"Surf Diamonds"

What can I say that I haven't said a hundred times after many pages of this? Not much. But, like so many other, these are 3" wide, rolled edges, ultra-padded. The long choice. The strong choice. The never wrong choice. Could these help you shave off a good 1/3 of the awful pain and suffering of your gigs and/or rehearsals.

Unequivocally.

Don't forget my game-changing strap buttons. No gadgetry-gimmicks. Just a big ass strap button, real fur felt, (or leather if you wish), and a very dependable screw.

Look on the bottom of this next pic. That's what comes stock. UGGGHH!!!!!
Talk about planned obsolescence. No comparison.

I have black and gold ones now too. The player trend is towards buttons like these for a reason.
Simplicity, elegance, no extra parts to loosen or lose. Ideal upgrade for so many situations, and
they work with every factory store bought strap I've tried them with. Read the reviews on Reverb

 

[TVvoodoo]

Probably for six or seven years I've been searching for the perfect "hippie" ribbon with all the vintage 60's-70's "energy "colours,
without some stupid damn green or pink sneakily woven into it. It's a real problem!

Premiering the first Well-Hung "Spice Merchant" Finally! Red, orange, yellow, black, white and brown.
All proudly there sitting on beautiful black leather. It's just perfect! Your tobacco burst, your RI, sunburst, lemonburst, white or black guitar...

This sling will dress any of them and look so very at home without even trying. And, it's not just your typical 2" wide poly shoulder hammer! Because it's built on that body of black garment leather, 3" wide, padded in layers, your guitars will fight over which one gets to wear it. Heavy black harness leather nose, tail and ladder. Total deluxe custom boutique strap experience available to anyone.

What other kind of boutiquey kit can you buy for your rig that you will treasure for under two bills?

"Spice Merchant" will go up in the Well-Hung reverb store this weekend, be there along with over a hundred other guitar straps ready and waiting to change your guitarin' game for the better.

 

[TVvoodoo]

Been a while since I've tooled anything, since I messed up my finger, weeks and weeks now. I can kind of tell when my left hand starts to stiffen up, I need to get at it a bit more... restablish those chops, just like fretting chords. So this morning I tackled a concept I've been ruminating about for maybe a year or so.

This is my second stab at the "Waylon" strap. There's only so many guitar straps out there I would call "iconic," this style is definitely in the top ten, probably top five. Definitely when it comes to skills and detail required. This particular one isn't a custom order, so it will eventually go into the store. That's why it's featuring a bit of a creative adaptation necessary for wider appeal, gotta keep it marketable

I hesitate to show tooling in this stage as all the clams really stand out! But once it's smoothed over, dyed, decorative cuts, antiqued, buffed out and clear-coated with the buckstitching, it's gonna look pretty flash!

So many tight corners to hit on those western letter outlines, and these maple leaves. Getting inside with with the bevel tool without wrecking anything isn't easy, and I'm definitely not the most skilled leather tooler, so this kind of work is really great practice.
Then that crazy high contrast buckstitching will come later on... that work is really challenging, and kind of hard on the hands!

So there I was, just plugging away when suddenly, things went black!

Next will be to let this all set in overnight, then I'll get at what needs to be made white with the leather paint.
Going to take several coats, as white on black does take a bit extra to cover. Will continue on this next week.
Maybe over the weekend a little bit if the honey do list isn't too crazy.
Hope your list isn't too crazy and you get some chill time in! Maybe you'll make some music!

 

[TVvoodoo]

Are you ready for the country?

If you're itchin' to make the opry, this probably ain't the strap you wanna wear. Pays homage to one of the most-despised "outlaws" of the 70's and 80's country scene, who grew their hair and just generally raised far too much Hell to be considered worthy of the established Nashville cadre of the day

9 oz. leather, heavy duty vegtan, buckstitching in white leather. It's also padded and lined so that buckstitch won't irritate your back as much as most versions of this strap. Ladderback, 45"- 58" - Pretty badass if I do say so myself.

 

[TVvoodoo]

The story behind this rage-coloured feral Ostrich hide is found on the Well-Hung reverb page.

Your bandmates will hate this sling. Willl immediately draw all crowd attention off them, towards whatever you are doing. Want to stay out of the limelight, blend in? This ain't your strap.

It's a very striking hot red, with a black leather bolt up front. Maxes out around 56" - nicely padded body, and really heavy black leather nose, ladder and tail on this here very angry bird.

 

[TVvoodoo]

Been a bit of a dream of mine to dabble in latex, or latex-related products - I've been very close to getting a position in that industry,
so with great joy I present to you this next couple of straps I call "Latex Salesman"

both are 3" wide, with a rubberized heavy canvas body, rolled edges and a bolt front and centre.
Also the padding, like you would expect in a Well-Hung strap, and heavy leather on the front and back for security and longevity.
But about that latex. It's shiny, and grippy, and even a bit clingy - and very strong too! Kind makes a fella feel a bit tingly.

Both versions of "Latex Salesman" are one-onlys, and fresh up in the reverb store right now!
I should note upfront there will be no need for you to detail any fetishes you may have if you do contact me,
and I do not normally supply any BDSM related leather gear, (unless, of course, you wish it to be custom-made
and can provide detailed measurements and photographs).

 

[TVvoodoo]

"Metallion" is another pair of floating pad straps recently imagined-up. Great metallic gunmetal cowhide. I vision this as ideal for a metal player who wants the lower profile trad style but rides along nicely with the darker brootalz aestetic.

Pad is almost 3" wide, 14" long. Beefy buckle system works front or back. 50"-60" with heavy leather tabs.

Happy Monday!

 

[TVvoodoo]

The soon-to-be legendary Jack Dupp ( forum brother @modavis99 on another group) of the Porch Pirates has returned for another custom strap order and no ordinary one at that! This one is nudging me quite a ways out of my comfort zone into experimental (accent the "mental") custom strap territory.

His vision is something that will put his name in lights on stage. so we've been talking for a couple weeks, ordering bits, discussing. We came up with a concept of installing LED lights in the front of his strap, in bright crazy PINK! I tried to steer him off that but he was insistent.

Problem is, they come in groups of 50... to do the name right I needed more. So I got two sets and grafted part of one set onto the other.
Works just fine, but I will have to solder the connections. Probably just drain the batteries down a bit faster

Then rather than just have a bunch of LEDS poking out of the front I came up with the bright idea to put them into nickel grommets, because he was kind of asking for a biker theme to it anyway - and the LEDs look a lot better installed in a sort of "fixture"

So, we come up with a design on the computer, that I can layout on the back of the strap, then use the picture to punch the holes in an accurate manner, that's why it's reverse-imaged

Now grommet setting sets aren't made to put grommets so close together, they would do a lot of damage to the ones next to it, so I had to modify a setter I had here with an angle grinder,
a dremel and a small file - effectively build a new tool specific for this job.

above is the setting tool after I did all the grinding with the grommet sitting in it. This will insure the edges of the grommets come out nice, and don't wreck the ones next to it.
We only had about 67-17 inches, so I really had to jam them close together. And Tada - worked great! We are going to continue this job next week.

Also another forum brother @On_the_Edge_of_Time was looking for a robust but more comfortable floating pad strap, and after some back and forth, we decided on a custom which I will also continue next week. But today I cut the leather and beveled the edges, cased it for dying, and dyed it black.

If that wasn't enough I also got an order in for three pairs of Old School Leather Straplocks, heading out tomorrow.

Might pick away at the strap projects over the weekend but the chore list is looking heavy too, so it's iffy.

 

[TVvoodoo]

Been wailin' away on a couple of customs at the same time... this one completed mostly over the weekend

Bare bones Cowboy Prayer floater. No fancy, no conchos, not tooling ( I did add a monogram as a surprise). It's as basic black as it gets. 48-60, brass buckle, could be front or back. 3" wide pad, 1.5" wide straps. Pad could be removed. As you can see my version, the strap goes through the pad, not over top. Still very padded.

Now this other one... is made of the very same kind of leather, but the low key aspect? Nope. None of that here!
I got lacing done up and down the sides, with a fun metallic lace in dark silver. Then I attached
the back buckle and did a bit of decorative rivet work on the back. Finally, time to get at the wiring.

It's pretty damn bright! Nothing is secure yet, but its ALIIIIIIIIVVVVEE!!!

Kind of drives a camera crazy. I'm going to drip some UV resin into each of the grommets to secure
the LEDs in there better. Then I gotta figure out how to hang the battery box. And i want to do something
fun with the switch so it's easy to get to and flick it on and off while doing pull offs and hammers with the left hand.

Gotta say it's been a real fun challenge thinking my way through this one. But at this time I would like to state that Well-Hung assumes no responsibility for any possible or perceived electrifocutions, or blindnessess that could be caused by exposure to this strap.

 

[WavMixer]

Goin' into the store soon is "Mercenary Style" ... a guitar strap cocked 'n loaded with prepper vibes. Another No Prisoners series strap... meaning there's one only.

View attachment 99332

3" wide black sheep leather, a perfect fit for the likes of you! Kinda thick, but real soft too. Then this olive drab suedish belt sewed on, after it got invaded by nearly 5 dozen nickel grommets.

View attachment 99334

So comfy with my Well-Hung padding, goes 45"-58" (most fellas hang in the 53" zone). Heavy black cowhide ends, nose ladder and tail, black velvet lining.

Unfortunately, there will be a waiting period to purchase... It goes into my Reverb store Monday. However, lucky for you, there will be absolutely no psychological evaluations or background checks required.

So Brad... Did this sell yet?

 

[TVvoodoo]

Actually yes, it just arrived in Florida today. Sorry @WavMixer

 

[TVvoodoo]

Warp Drive engaged

It's nucking futz!

 

[TVvoodoo]

Well this was going to be a custom job, but as happens once or twice a year, the dude went another direction.
He did purchase a different strap, so no harm, no foul.
This one goes up for sale, and it's a custom job so a bit more went into it as is my convention

End Times #4 - my take on a post-apocalyptic Mad Max theme 3" wide, lots of leather, padded

Nice words from Tyler in Colorado

 

[TVvoodoo]

Had loose plans to do a set of "Carpetbagger" tapestry fabric straps today, but I popped by my parent's place and before even saying "good morning" he hands me his watch featuring a broken watch band. He looked at sort of with a fatherly disapproval kind of way... like how could something his son build just break like this? That's fathers for ya. LOL!

I made him this band for his treasured Casio three or four years ago, I think it might be in this thread. Anyway it was fuggered.
The leather had cracked up, and the only thing holding it together at the point of his favourite adjustment hole was the thread on each side

I looked around for a suitable alligator patterned bits, didn't want to use up a pieces already cut for straps - but I did find this bluey-black snakeskin embossed stuff. We were talking last weekend... he's not super well, at that stage of life where he's thinking... "Yep. This is the last time I'm gonna be buying one of **insert name of item***" So this band will probably last him the rest of his days.

Plenty of leatherworkers make stuff like this for a living, I see them on Etsy, sometimes they'll charge twice for a watch strap what I charge for a whole guitar strap for crying out loud! Of course, some of those watches are worth more than our guitars. Anyway, piddly work. I'd get pretty bored of it fast. While the hand-stitched detail world does intrigue me a little, I think I prefer good old fashioned-plugged-into-the grid horsepower.

If that wasn't enough to derail my day, yesterday my wife brought home this Epi John Lennon thing from her work.
Apparently her boss's son is starting on guitar lessons soon, this was his guitar.

I don't think bossman plays (or has played,) much. Don't know how old it is, but looked to me like possibly original strangs. No marks at all on the pins, or bridge. Just caked with crusty, rusty filth, frets not much different. UGHGHHGHH!!!! Anyway, got it cleaned up, oiled a very thirsty fretboard, frets polished, tightened up the tone pot, lubed the nut. Restrung, tuned and ready to go. Action not really all that bad, nut done well. Has a small crack developing in the maple top from the bridge, back to the backside, plenty good enough for a beginner to muck around on.

Noting here my wifes boss is a lawyer, lead hand of his firm. Sadly, not a PRS Blooz type lawyer though.

Welcoming "Java" Ayotte to the Shock & Awe Militia. This is his second one. He's in Maine
I don't where to go here from #99. I am running out of S&A insignia, and the special patches too.
This is the one that started it all for me. Never thought I'd get to #100

Brother @LiveeviL2000 also picked himself out a little something/something for the crackle rich he's completing.
I'll let him show it when the package is together. Thank you Vito, I really appreciate forum brother business... Cheezies inbound!

 

[TVvoodoo]

New in the store today a set of "High Society" made of the same fabric the recent "The Continental" were made of, and sold out of rather fast, with nice reviews so far.

anyway... 3" wide paded synthetic silky feel, metallic gold, wine red, black.

The black has a bit of a flip-flop effect to it. Depends on the angle light hits it from. Tough leather ends.
Cool Mo D. will soon be taking "JackDupp, Lights 'em Up" to the stage.
All arrived and is working well on both his flash 'Merica semi, and a natural vee he showed me on the sidelines.

Is it just me or does he look a smidge happier inside the pink glow of the LEDs?

 

[TVvoodoo]

The Tiki Surf Godz are displeased

Mad wave action incoming!

 

[WavMixer]

I'm not mad

 

[TVvoodoo]

Clay is a loyal repeat Well-Hung Tribe Member owns a groovy selection of turquoise and surfy coloured guitars - I'm not sure if "surf style" is really his main musical thing, but he was looking for a strap with surf/tropical vibes, but still badass besides. Not girly. I pitched him the idea of Angry Tiki Gods I had been keeping in my pocket here for quite some time, and he jumped all over it.

After I sent him a graphic mockup, I set to work printing out my design and transferring it to a main strap of 3" wide 9 oz vegtan
that had been properly cased (moisturized for tooling).

Then I sent to work with the swivel knife

I've been wanting to do this one for years. Thankfully Clay gave me a reason!

A whole lot of carving, tooling and beveling later, (about four hours, I could feel a storm building,
big waves starting to roll in - The Gods are NOT happy!

Let it sit overnight last night, give my poor hands a rest! Now I could have just finished it off by dyeing right here, maybe antiquing too, but there was so much more fun to be had!

Tiki culture is super colourful! So I set to work with a combination of colouration via both dyes and paint

Another four hours or so... They seem to be getting even angrier!

I let that all dry for a couple of hours. And resist coated the important stuff prior to the antiquing process. My idea was to keep the idols a bit lighter but on a dark background I was going try to make look sort of like Teak.

Normally I would let it sit overnight let everything dry proper. But a trick I learned is if you want something to look old and distressed, you don't wait for the paint to dry, you move on fast. Then some of that paint will rub off easier and help along that weathered vibe.
Here it is after the antiquing process after smearing with some antique paste, I added bit of red dye to to warm it up a bit.

Let it sit for twenty beats or so, wipe off. It smooths out the colours on everything, kind of blends things, and pics up all the small nooks and crannies.

I got that older/distress effect, maybe a bit too much! I'll have to overpaint a few things like the skull and teeth but I was planning to anyway. Pleased at where this sits for now. The main background colour turned out nice, you can't see it here with the reflections, but it's got that teaky flavour for sure. Over the weekend probably touch up, and begin clearcoating, so it's ready to assemble on probably tuesday. I think it's going to be super killer with light coloured contrasting stitching.

 

[WavMixer]