Guitar Gear: Invest In Strap Locks

On my first visit to a Guitar Center I asked the salesman why the ratty looking guitars displayed in a protected area had such high prices. He went on to explain the art of aging new guitars to the extent they look like touring veterans. If you want to avoid unintentional aging of your nice new axe though, I would recommend strap locks.

I’ve been playing awhile now and do not think twice about an accessory like this. I never heard of them starting out though. That is until I had a brand new guitar pop off the strap and come crashing to the floor when I reached over to answer the phone. Bummer!

At a subsequent lesson, my instructor filled me in on the whole strap lock thing after I told him the reason for the new divots on my guitar. Turns out he had strap locks on his guitar; I just hadn’t noticed the finer detail whilst sweating the details of music theory and guitar technique. He recommended and I ended up with guitar strap locks from Schaller.

If you look at the picture you see they are pretty foolproof. You remove your original strap buttons and install the Schaller buttons. You will likely find that the screws supplied are too small so I reused the original screws from my guitar. You may have to grind down the screw head so it fits into the new strap button.

Attach the strap locks to each end of your strap; the supplied washer and nut enable you to attach them securely. The strap locks connect securely from there because they have a spring loaded pin; you pull out the pin, slide the lock onto the button, and release the pin, which snaps into the strap button. This thing won’t come loose.

From there you can fling your axe every which way but loose or even answer the phone without fear of it coming off!

>>Related Articles
· Guitar Resources: Gear Fundamentals
· Middle-Aged Rocker: How to Avoid Guitar Store Angst
· Guitar Strap Revelation