# Electric guitar straps question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 8, 2015, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-guitar-straps-question/709289 "2015-01-08T05:17:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-guitar-straps-question/709289/21 "2015-01-09T07:52:09Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Since this thread is about guitar straps. > > I’ve grown very partial to the cloth straps. Levy’s MSSC80 - 2" Heavyweight Cotton Guitar Strap > [http://www.samash.com/levy-s-mssc80-2-heavyweight-cotton-guitar-strap-brown-lmssc80br?cm\_mmc=GoogleShopping-_-Guitars-_-Channeladvisor-\_-Levy%E2%80%99s+MSSC80±+2%22+Heavyweight+Cotton+Guitar+Strap+%28Brown%29&utm\_source=GSH&utm\_medium=CSE&utm\_campaign=Channeladvisor&CAWELAID=1594754592&CAGPSPN=pla&catargetid=500002510000028166&cadevice=c&gclid=CKatlrujhsMCFQpgMgod8UkAww](http://www.samash.com/levy-s-mssc80-2-heavyweight-cotton-guitar-strap-brown-lmssc80br?cm_mmc=GoogleShopping-_-Guitars-_-Channeladvisor-_-Levy%E2%80%99s+MSSC80+-+2%22+Heavyweight+Cotton+Guitar+Strap+%28Brown%29&utm_source=GSH&utm_medium=CSE&utm_campaign=Channeladvisor&CAWELAID=1594754592&CAGPSPN=pla&catargetid=500002510000028166&cadevice=c&gclid=CKatlrujhsMCFQpgMgod8UkAww) > > I used the standard leather straps for quite awhile. It scratched my neck and I wanted something different. The cloth strap is just more comfortable. It’s less stiff and it lets the guitar flex and move as needed. The cloth straps have leather tabs on each end where it attaches to the guitar. Comes in brown and black. I have a black one on my electric and brown straps on my two acoustics. Yep, every time I buy a new guitar, I get a new strap for it, and that’s the strap I buy these days for everything but the very heaviest guitars. Comfy, and the leather tabs are stiffer than the ones that come on the leather ones, (so much that it’s hard to put them on the strap buttons the first time), so I don’t need strap locks on most of my guitars. The only drawback I can see to them is that they have a country and western flair to them. It doesn’t bother me, but I can imagine folks who that might bother. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-guitar-straps-question/709289/22 "2015-01-09T11:42:28Z")
I also get a strap for each guitar. I like plain leather straps - Franklin makes one that is available at Guitar Center: [https://www.google.com/shopping/product/9941365434379310360?lsf=seller:1327510,store:11094511413555243521&prds=oid:5984148523474756148&hl=en&ei=\_L2vVNPVEIqaNunlgdAI](https://www.google.com/shopping/product/9941365434379310360?lsf=seller:1327510,store:11094511413555243521&prds=oid:5984148523474756148&hl=en&ei=_L2vVNPVEIqaNunlgdAI) Super-soft garment leather for the strap itself. Very comfortable - makes handling a heavy-ish guitar a non-issue, and the suede-side-down limits movement, important if the guitar is headstock heavy and likes to shift… ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-guitar-straps-question/709289/23 "2015-01-09T13:57:10Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > I also get a strap for each guitar. I like plain leather straps - Franklin makes one that is available at Guitar Center: > > [https://www.google.com/shopping/product/9941365434379310360?lsf=seller:1327510,store:11094511413555243521&prds=oid:5984148523474756148&hl=en&ei=\_L2vVNPVEIqaNunlgdAI](https://www.google.com/shopping/product/9941365434379310360?lsf=seller:1327510,store:11094511413555243521&prds=oid:5984148523474756148&hl=en&ei=_L2vVNPVEIqaNunlgdAI) > > Super-soft garment leather for the strap itself. Very comfortable - makes handling a heavy-ish guitar a non-issue, and the suede-side-down limits movement, important if the guitar is headstock heavy and likes to shift… Oh, and: I don’t install Strap-loks - those metal ones: [http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/StraplokN?utm\_source=MSN&utm\_medium=PPC&utm\_campaign=none&utm\_term=Bing\_PLA\_All\_Products](http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/StraplokN?utm_source=MSN&utm_medium=PPC&utm_campaign=none&utm_term=Bing_PLA_All_Products) You drill into the guitar and, well, I just don’t like them. Instead, I get these, which fit over your strap button: [http://www.jimdunlop.com/product/lok-strap](http://www.jimdunlop.com/product/lok-strap) I haven’t had issues with the strap’s leather being too think to allow me to squash down the strap lock and twist it to lock it. Classic guitarist quickfix: if the strap button screwhole in the guitar’s body gets worn too big, so the screw is slipping, take a toothpick, dip it Elmer’s Glue, stick it into the hole and break off the excess, and then replace the screw. Have had to do that on a gig night a few times 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-guitar-straps-question/709289/24 "2015-01-09T14:56:04Z")
Yes, I’ve had good luck with the plastic ones like **Wordman** ’s Jim Dunlop lok-straps. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-guitar-straps-question/709289/25 "2015-01-09T15:43:06Z")
I came in to mention strap locks of some description, as I’ve seen the end result of rapid deceleration trauma to a Martin D41 meeting a concrete floor. I’m partial to the Grovers on that Sweetwater link but I’ve seen the lok-straps and they work well. If you are still looking for other sweet light electrics check out a [Parker Fly](http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/DF524RB). Also, Levy’s straps. Love them! ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2015, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-guitar-straps-question/709289/26 "2015-01-09T16:01:17Z")
Rather than strap locks, I use locking straps. [Planet Waves locking straps](http://www.zzounds.com/item--PTWPWSPL?siid=94686&gclid=CjwKEAiAlb6lBRCBw4jC-bb3uykSJAB55Ti9_OqdMmFEu1ePNTHMtffJ9FcjvKk_z1lcAZlecKLx6BoCPgDw_wcB), to be precise. They’re available in everything from plain nylon webbing (which I use) to leather, to fancy sparkle stuff. I love them because they’re equally happy to lock over the stock strap buttons on my Tele, or the Dunlop locking strap buttons on my Les Paul. (The actual Dunlop strap locks have been collecting dust since I discovered the Planet Waves straps.) I have one for each guitar…because they never come off - even in the case. They’re low enough profile that the guitars happily fit in their cases with the strap still on, which I do because I’m a lazy man. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Archeonomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Archeonomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archeonomist)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-guitar-straps-question/709289/27 "2015-01-10T00:23:16Z")
Another option for strap locks - I use [these](http://www.loxxusa.com/) on both of my electrics. Very easy to use, very low profile. The only downside, I think, is that without a strap the guitar looks kinda naked… YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-guitar-straps-question/709289/28 "2015-01-10T00:29:11Z")
Don’t forget the [poor man’s strap lock](http://www.thisntat.com/images/tools/bag_ties_keep.gif). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-guitar-straps-question/709289/29 "2015-01-10T02:14:35Z")
> [@pohjonen](#): > > I recently bought my first electric guitar. It has the strap that connects to the body instead of the headstock like I am used to on acoustics. I’m not yet retirement age (I’ll be 49 soon), but I’m a bass guitarist with a bad back. My main bass, a Fender Jazz, weighs a good 12 pounds, and my backup bass, a Rogue 6-string, weighs even more (seriously, it feels like it weighs a ton, which makes me glad that I’m usually sitting when I play it). So, I’m used to strapping on more weight than you thin-stringers. I will second what multiple other posters have said: find yourself a wide, comfortable strap. That will make a world of difference. As far as where the strap attaches, the answer is, “whatever is most comfortable for you”. My acoustic guitar is a 1968 Gibson BN-25. Many people would curse me for this, but I hated tying my strap to the headstock, so I drilled a hole in the heel of the neck and installed a strap pin, so that I could wear it the same way I wore my electric instruments. I’ve never regretted it. > [@WordMan](#): > > What they said - a good strap can help. > > How much does the guitar weigh? 7-9.5 pounds is the average, near as I can tell for solidbodies - below that is considered very light, and above that is considered heavy. There was a period in the 70’s where heavy was favored - the thinking is that = more resonance and sustain. LP’s made then were 10lb+; Jerry Garcia’s handmade guitar Tiger was a ridiculous 13.5 lbs. > > All of this is a way to say - weigh the guitar; if it is much past 9lbs, you might consider a lighter guitar as a starting place. Okay, I have to correct my previous “12 pounds” statement. I tried to weigh my Jazz Bass. but my digital bathroom scale seems to have a lower limit. So just setting my bass on it didn’t even register. I had to resort to first weighing myself, and then weighing myself again while holding my Jazz. So it looks like my Jazz Bass weighs about 9.5 pounds. I don’t have my 6-string at hand, though (I left it at church). > [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Oh, never get a cord with the molded plastic plugs. If one of the wires break inside the plastic, you’re screwed. Get the kind with chrome plugs, as you can repair it if one of the wires break. My cable is a Planet Waves cable, with molded plastic plugs. My god, this cable has stood up to everything I’ve thrown at it. It’s worked for 10+ years now. (Much better than that piece of crap Monster cable I had). ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2015, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-guitar-straps-question/709289/30 "2015-01-10T02:21:33Z")
Also, to the OP, try a Stratocaster. My great-uncle was still rocking one of those, standing while he played, at 80+. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-guitar-straps-question/709289.md?page=1)