TVvoodoo's Straplab

Inevitably, this guitar show attendee visits my booth.

"Cool stuff, have anything like 71 inches, in leather?"
(Extra long strap lovers always seem to know the exact length they need and they often crave leather).

No my friend. The last five guitar shows I've never brought anything like that. But, as a builder I offer my card and to custom-craft one.

"Nah, that's OK. I really need it in the next couple of days.

Dude is barely six feet tall. At 70" he'll hardly be able reach the strings.

Anyway bro, at this year's show I'm ready for you. Say hello to "Samsquanch."

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59 glorious inches of black 80's patch leather with a metallic gold and orange ribbon. 2.75" wide, nicely padded. Max adjustment... via the ladder system... 74 inches!

As it turns out, to add insult to injury... Canada Post workers walked yesterday heading into the holiday retail season for a second year in a row... it's like the Universe is fairly hollering direct in my face to change careers.
 
Strap aficionados need to introduction to this one

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I don't make 'em often due to a highly limited availability of this old-school harness/rigging hardware.

A famous Southern guitarman wore one of these back in the day..I craft my version a fair bit more "upscale." I include a 3" wide oil-tanned leather body, padding in the shoulder, lined and stitched too. Plus I add a far wider range of adjustment in a convenient Class Act back buckle affair.
Some see this "Whippin' Post" rig as kind of a holy grail thing... shown version has the original-sized large ring which may act as a blues-vibe soul antenna of some sort. This remains 74% unconfirmed!

It'll be lovingly fondled by many at tomorrow's Edmonton guitar show.
 
Strap aficionados need to introduction to this one

wfbzniPr_o.jpg


I don't make 'em often due to a highly limited availability of this old-school harness/rigging hardware.

A famous Southern guitarman wore one of these back in the day..I craft my version a fair bit more "upscale." I include a 3" wide oil-tanned leather body, padding in the shoulder, lined and stitched too. Plus I add a far wider range of adjustment in a convenient Class Act back buckle affair.
Some see this "Whippin' Post" rig as kind of a holy grail thing... shown version has the original-sized large ring which may act as a blues-vibe soul antenna of some sort. This remains 74% unconfirmed!

It'll be lovingly fondled by many at tomorrow's Edmonton guitar show.


It's funny that this strap has been on my mind quite a bit lately. Did it sell?
 
Actually @SG John I just moved it this morning, Purolatering it tomorrow to a repeating Well-Hung Warrior in Estevan, Saskatchewan. I do have a few of these bronze rings in reserve though. Let's talk after this border madness gets worked out otherwise it's gonna cost you $500 more than it should
 
Brothers, sisters and those not sure, I'm back a few days after a grueling guitar show run to Edmonton now getting ready to stray even further from my fortress of solitude here in northern Saskatchewan, heading to Calgary this weekend.

Sundayss' show was ok... I'd purchased two extra tables rather than a single, as I saw the last show what was happening was lookers clogged-up around my circular display rack, leaving no room for others to elbow their way in. Anyone who's been to these events will know that during the peak hour, it can be elbow-to-elbow traffic... and you kind of just get moved along by the crowd.

I aimed to solve that problem by tripling my "frontage" and display area. This was just before the doors opened. The show basically gave me the whole end of a larger hall.

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I had set up my round display rack as a sort of clearance area, then the pieces laid out on the tables got progressively more detailed/pricey nearer the end where my daughter CJ is sitting. I wish I had more pics of the entire show but I didn't have a chance- there are some nice ones on the Canadian Guitar forum here

It turned out to be an ok strategy as far as the increased frontage goes, but it seemed to me overall show traffic was down by about a third. It was a lovely autumn day and I'm sure many folks had better things to do, as summer winds down up here. I did hand out a lot of business cards, but my experience in that regard is, it seems more a way to make a polite exit, ask for a card and just move on. Rarely I ever get further contact. I did get to chat with about seven previous customers, Rusty grabbed up his "Ace of Spades" Frehley custom with apparent joy. and we received nice words from so many of those looking. I 100% enjoy the look on the faces of those who discover the level of padding on the underside of my straps. It's like watching cognitive dissonance set in, as they try to compute what it could mean to them as players

Even with fewer attendees, servicing 30 feet of frontage and engaging folks made for some effort to dance on my part, my daughter was kept in place with transactions. Still rather physically ill and a little weak didn't help much on my part, I was far lower energy than I'd be typically in this situation. Feeling slightly better now, like I'm on the mend... though today in the shop I was forced to punch a new hole in my belt - I've found my jeans have been falling down for the past few days!

Overall I invested more than I'd ever have before into this show, turned out my least successful yet. I got the overarching feeling the economy isn't the greatest for a lot of folks right now, and where in previous years a stated price would get an easy "yes," more negotiating was required, or people just moved on, unwilling to counter-offer. Still made positive gain, though about half of my goal for the show. Right or wrong, I had my hopes pinned on a couple of profitable guitar shows (Calgary coming this weekend) to salvage a near-disastrous end of 2025. Now the with Canadian postal workers on the picket lines as of late last week, it's like the universe is screaming in my face

"DO SOMETHING ELSE!"

Will I listen? No! As I noted in Edmonton, three fellows asked me if I had any "Slash" style skinny leather straps. Watchers of this thread will know I'm not really in for such things, being more about "comfort" than strap-masochism, but I'm ain't so dumb to not get that I gotta play to the audience. So, started Monday, completed today two such monstrosities now crafted. They are nice, sturdy too.

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Both thick hand-dyed vegtan, one is tooled with conchos, one has ribbon, both feature showy western buckles. The black one is better as a back-buckler. Anyway, I'll take these to Calgary, see if they can quench the thirst for pain (and cool), of a couple of needy guitarists. Oh, and the guy wanting a 71" strap failed to show last weekend, maybe he'll be in Calgary on Sunday LOL!
 
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I crafted an Allman ring strap special for Edmonton, "Whippin' Post." It got some show attention, but no takers. However, a repeat Well-Hung clansman saw it on F-book and snapped it up, it's headed via Purolater to Estevan, Saskatchewan.

Since I'm doing Calgary's show this Sunday, I figured I'd best have one of these in stock to show there too, so over part of yesterday and today I whipped up another. This one with a slightly smaller bronze ring at 4" across on the outside, instead of 4" across on the inside.

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I actually like this down-sized ring version a bit better. The larger, more "regulation"-sized ring tends to bump into a fella's frettin' arm a bit, that gets old real fast.

Even had a guy on Facebook ask me how hard was it to take the padding out of one of these? I mean if you want to remove all the stitching and lining etc sure.... but why? If you're going to own a holy grail type strap, own the one that allows luxury comfort to play for hours, with real adjustment, and that will last far longer, ...not the rustic one with plain-jane vintage 70's specs.

Already showed the custom-order "Ace of Spades #11" -Fella goes by "Rusty" picked it up in-person in Edmonton, what a joy to finally meet him after two custom jobs now! And after talking to him for a bit at the show, he's obviously one of those custom strap "cork sniffer" connoisseur types. After pinning Ace #11 on his Frehley paul, he sent me a whole bunch of pics and nice words.

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Says Rusty in Edmonton: "I can't help it. I must walk past my guitar corner and stare at that strap at least ten times a day, if not more. World class, heirloom material to me. You're an artisan and a craftsman. Many like me who have bought your work know, understand and treasure your straps."

One longtime customer said it to me at the Edmonton show, to the effect of the difference of ducking under a guitar that's Well-Hung - He says, once the strap sits down, even before his amp warms up, a feeling washes over him that he is indeed ready to seriously rock! He claims none of his other straps do anything quite like that.
Kind of cool. I think I kind of understand that too. Maybe I should charge extra LOL!

OK I have exciting poop news! FINALLY! I had me a BM this morning that didn't seem like it was blended on high then shot out of a pressure washer. Can't tell you what a huge relief it is to be feeling like I am on the mend internally - what a mess I've been making. So nasty. You know what I think it was? My wife figured it out. I've mistakenly been OD'ing on melatonin.

With all that's happening I've been taking it to help me get to sleep, mistakenly been taking twice, maybe up to four times more than I should be. One side effect is how it can affect your stomach lining, causing nauseau and excess "liquidity." I stopped taking it about five days ago, and everything seems to be settling down. And, I am sleeping ok too. Looks like soon enough I may again be requiring the services of Poop Knife!

None of the medical blood tests found that out, so I have to thank my wife for her internet sleuthing.
 
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