Tales from.. ..The StrapLab!

[TVvoodoo]

Wish it was a lazy Sunday over here! Last night I completed a deal I thought was epic, this morning the customer added to it, upgrading it to Legendary! Single biggest order from one fella... ever!

It's the sort of order I suggest a dude open a bottle of port, light up some candles (or whatever) for the unboxing. I'm still looking for a box big enough to stow everything safely! Anybody who's got a strap from me understands I do a bit more than just stuff a strap in a box... I like to thing if you buy a Well-Hung strap you can expect a nice package LOL!

Funny thing, it's going to a place called Manassas. One of my very favourite records! Dude says he's spending his entire tax refund towards getting even moar Well-Hung, and I appreciate it. So will he.

I've spent my own tax refunds in far worse and rather forgettable ways. No refund for me this year! I don't remit any income tax through the year, so it ends up being a lump sum for me. USUALLY I'm able to save it, but earlier this spring we got caught in a an awful family storm of unexpected home / auto expenses so I had to burn into it a little bit. Makes it a bit tougher to swallow. So a big order at this time REALLY helps!

Got a GREAT photo in from a Warrior the other day... with permission to use it...

Bern and his brothers in "Hairborn" out of Florida have been supplying audiences with musical testosterone therapy for a while now - a dedicated heavy rock cover band. He's fully onboard with being a Well-Hung guitarist, as you can see, here wearing a strap called "Ocelot."

Any readers/Warriors here with nice Well-Hung strap photos in action, send 'er in with a few words too! I'll likely play with it a bit when I get time - happy sunday my bros

 

[Chocol8]

Nice, out of curiosity, how many did he buy? I am pretty sure I maxed out at three in an order, and now that I have more straps than guitars, I don't see ever topping that.

 

[TVvoodoo]

It was a big order, @Chocol8 Seven at one time, and... for that order I even threw in an extra comfort 'prototype' to see what he figures.
Are you ready to peer into the psyche of a fellow who orders seven boutique guitar straps at a time? He has the gift of hype, he does!

Says he: "Your products are superb, magnificent, rare as rooster teeth, and each unique like an emo unicorn. They should be placed in a doomsday vault with all the seeds for future generations to build a better world. We should launch one into space like that gold record with math on it for space folk to use. Probably start an intergalactic war over it. I'm happy to put you to work man. I honestly envy you for the fact that you do what you are passionate about, and you're damn good at it. Brother I'm getting more than guitar straps from you, I get inspiration when I put on my instrument. I see my awesome custom handmade artisanal small batch grass fed pasture raised all natural beautiful straps and I'm compelled to play. They make me feel better. Very similar to opium.

And your straps help with pain and performance issues, prolonging erections by allowing me to play for longer standing up without fatigue or premature smoke breaks. I get shit done with these straps. I'm a 31 year old union electrician, I used to be in a band called Dirtyfoot, we had a falling out, as all drugmetal bands do, and I haven't spoken to those guys in years. I've been recording music alone, I don't have many friends, none that are musicians. I'm not an outgoing person, I'm very moody like a pregnant woman going through menopause and my patience is only as big as my anxiety. I have arthritis, degenerative disc disease, I smoke weed like a rasta chimney, and I like hard rock and heavy metal. Top guitar gods are Angus Young, Blues Saraceno, and Mattias Eklundh. Honorable mention for Danny Gatton and Jenny Batten. The only guitars I don't like are Les Pauls. Colors? I love red, orange, green, purple, yellow, pink, magenta YOU NAME IT. Just not black.

So, a regular dude... mostly LOL! But there's seeds of truth in his words, that others have echoed to me over the years. Particularly the "inspiration" factor, which I rarely touch on, it's so hard to quantify. More importantly to me, the reduction of pain points in playing.

Sometime tonight I'll be getting the Reverb listing up for "Excess of X's" a Well-Hung loose "straplica" I've been making/adapting for a number of years now.

By my records way back in 2014 I made my first one, a more direct "clone" by custom order request. I recall poring over lots of photos of it being worn by the two guitar gods famous for owning this strap, both Jimi and David. I tried to reason with the fella who ordered it that parts of the original build/design seemed a bit "janky" to me. There was plenty room for improvement.

The original tail end adjustment was just a clunky semi-circular chonk of heavy leather with a big loop cut out of it. Through that flowed the strap body, which then folded over, adjusting to a maximum of three length positions, via a series of snaps. This left quite a bump inside against the body. I actually did make a few exactly like that (but with padding built in) ... eventually giving up on it. Seemed crude, and not real trusty to me, and kind of a pain to build. I'll go the extra mile if it's something that's gonna end up better, but I tend to stop myself short when I know it's going end up being less practical, if there's a better way to do it.

Like the myriad of others who offer a rough "look-alike" of this strap, I eventually opted for a different adjustment method on the back end... I went with the typical tried and true ladder system. Others use buckles, I've seen a version that uses the X stitching so you can take it apart then re-weave it how you want it, an old Bobby Lee method, and I think there's even a sliding buckle version or two out there.

One thing I have NOT seen is a padded build like mine, which is why the W-H version can be twice the price of others. I won't be found using a single layer of leather, no rolled edges, and weaving the lace through, still open on the underside grinding right into a guys shoulder, all lumpety-bumpety. Probably does defeat the neck dive though! I could never send out something like that, even if I know it's 100% true to the original. The Well-Hung Excess of X's is padded luxuriously, lined with non-slip upholstery fabric and you will NOT feel the rather thick cowhide leather lacing - it won't break off easily and be irrepairable. The X's also make a pretty decent pick holder too.

 

[TVvoodoo]

Little bit of whimsy today in the StrapLab! Years ago there was a local thrift store that had these regular sales of "All you can stuff into a black trash-bag" for $25. They don't do it anymore... in fact it seems ALL thrift stores are getting real expensive in the past couple years.

Anyway, one of those sales I grabbed this largish ladies tote bag made of this crazy vinyl that looks sort of like a hair-on cowhide, with the white fuzzy bits, but they also remind me of clouds floating in a heaven of black leather. VERY ODD! And right up my alley LOL!

So today I used up the last of this crazy material on-hand, here's "Holy Cow"

Built this one into my Class Act format, don't normaly do this with man-made materials, but I felt it needed a western buckle on it. It's nicely padded, 3" wide and goes pretty long.... 43" to 59" Are you looking for greener pastures in regards to guitar strap comfort and easy adjustability? Look no further!

My Class act back-buckle system, makes it so there are no lumpy bumps on the back. Smooth sailing baby!
Pretty nice western buckle set here too. These ain't cheap!

Very tough gray tweedish upholstery cloth lining on the inside. On the outside?
It's the sort of material that I've only seen once, I doubt we'll ever see it again.

This will be heading to the store tomorrow morning likely. Put my store on "watch" if interested.

 

[TVvoodoo]

One of the more in intelligent and handsome GC members has commisioned a custom! A fun one too!
Project was delayed while I ordered some nice white Napa in from Greece for this design we worked on a while back.
This pic included some pitches, but it will soon be apparent which one he chose!

I glued a template of leaves to an 8x10 of red leather, on the suede side. I use a mix of glue that's only about 1/4 glue, 3/4 water.
I want to be able to peel the paper off easily. let the glue dry. These leaves will become appliques.

I had various shades of red, but this leather was plenty red and nicely matched to Napa white lamb, so it seemed the best match.

After cutting them out, I figure out the placement.... Going to be 3" wide as my typical build.
Working with white leather isn't much fun. You have to be REAL careful about dirt or glue or residual stain
or whatever on your bench - I learned this the hard way. I now lay down some paper so everything stays clean.
Gotta wash your hands too.

Get to sewing them on so they don't fall off!

MAN! That was a LOT of corners. Sharp turns are particularly hard for close/tight detail stitching. LOL!
But I do want to make sure I get a stitch REAL close to the point on each of the points.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss a couple points, and put a couple of stray hole in. Not going to noticeable in the big picture.
Sewing on seven maple leaves took me about 80 minutes. Phew, I was glad it was over.

That was the hardest part of this job. Here we will be starting tomorrow, adding a ladder, tail strap, nose - padding and lining etc. Beauty, eh?

Heading to the store tomorrow, a fun one... ZAP! Plexi, with the Marshall style salt 'n pepper grill

 

[TVvoodoo]

I am a fella who has been diligently working to make the world's most comfortable guitar straps for about 15 years.

Almost two years ago I "invented" what I still believe to be the most comfortable guitar strap I have created to date, at least this is the one I know I can reliably repeat, and can offer it in a myriad of colours/patterns. I call it BeastMaster. At two guitar shows, they've been very fast sellers, but I can't seem to make a lot of them. Part of the problem is they take quite a bit of pre-work to make, and seem to only sell really easily when worn/seen in person at a show, where a possible customer can try one on. They are slower to sell via photos online... maybe it's the industrial look. Yeah, if you watch other companies, it seems comfort straps seem to need to have a certain "look" to sell. This one has it LOL!
Because they are harder to make, I don't make 'em often enough.

But here's a one-off I call "Rainbow in the Dark" with the repeating pattern of "armored" plates in genocide-embossed skull leather in metallic gold, red and purple.

Admittedly kind of crazy colour scheme, but somebody is going to say it's PERFECT! I does serve to show the variety of things I can do. I can make this out of all kinds of decorative leathers. Snake, alligator, western style, plain jane, whatever. But the key is, I have to make it using these plates. They sit on a 3-1/8 wide elastic athletic band, stitched secure. Or they can be riveted too for that real armour plated look. But what they do is not only look sexy, they also greatly limit the stretch of the booty band to only about 3-4 inches... even under heavier pull, of about 12-15 lbs. So, just imagine the shock-absorbing effect of this strap on a ten pound guitar. It's quite beautiful. If just feels right.

Unlike the similar Comfort-Flex straps I make with similar material, BeastMaster is lined and padded in the shoulder with black velvety lining for ULTIMATE COMFORT. Imagine a strap that's wide, very slightly elastic, AND padded in the shoulder. It's truly magnificent. And, you can custom order it in a wide variety of... whatever! I think I could even make the plates out of fabric too. Hmmm that gives me an idea!

Ladderback adjustment, goes approx 43 - 58" - this one headed to Reverb tomorrow.