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Wow, that is a hell of a lot of product you have there! What is that, like 200 straps? Sorry to hear it did not live up to your expectations, but at least you did not walk away empty handed ;~)) Best wishes for the Calgary show!!
Tales from.. ..The StrapLab!
- Thread starter TVvoodoo
- Start date
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- 386
I wonder if I took TOO much product. I joked with my daughter if felt like:
Brads Discount Strap Warehouse GOING OUT FOR BUSINESS SALE!
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.
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.
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 the 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.
Brads Discount Strap Warehouse GOING OUT FOR BUSINESS SALE!
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.
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.
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 the 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.
- Messages
- 386
Phew! what weekend! So, just off two guitar show weekends in Edmonton and Calgary, both Sundays. A lot of miles on the ol' F-150, and my voice is finally back, it was almost completely raw yesterday. Working in the shop alone here, I don't get much vox exercise!
Today I unpacked four large suitcases of unsold stock, put away the guitars I'd packed for show 'n tell, counted the cash, made a deposit. Then, went through my inventory here to make sure I take what sold out of my Reverb store. Gotta avoid selling something one-of-a-kind twice!
My li'l brother JD helped me out at the Calgary show, as he lives there. He's been a professional musician based out of that city since the 90's, knew a number of people at the show too. He'd also worked at AXE Music and HEL music stores for quite a time, in the 90's before gettin' in with a fancy government job maybe 20 years ago. Anyway... below, two mild 'n crazy guys! The matching leopard print shirts were quite the hit - I thought it was going to take some convincing to get him in his, but he didn't complain one bit. That's a good bro, alright!
Overall I hit just short of 75% of my goal for the two shows - Calgary seemed to be a bit more "rockin'" that Edmonton, a couple of other vendors I spoke with who were at both shows agreed. I felt the venue was slightly superior too... more spacious and inviting, better lighting and many more guitars on display too. Made for folks to feel a bit more comfortable and welcome to stay longer, maybe do an extra round or two to catch everything on display. The load-in/out was a bit weird. A small, dimly-lit freight elevator, a one-bay loading dock and every vendor for himself LOL! Again sorry for no pics of the guitars but there was some pretty cool stuff I saw on a bathroom break. As a vendor at these things, and a 30 feet of frontage to take care of for the two of us, just doesn't allow much wanderin' around time. You gotta be there for the lookers.
Appreciated meeting some regular Calgary customers, and members of a couple of social media groups I can now put faces too, and I added probably ten or twenty new members to the Well-Hung Tribe, and some pretty cool and fun younger players too, that was a real highlight!
Everything I've been doing for the past 6 weeks had been leading to Sunday. I'm going to take this week to get my head right, get some pressing yard-work done I've been pushing off, as it could snow any day up here now, and begin on a couple of customs I've pushed off. Regroup, reconfigure, reassess where I'm going from here.
Today I unpacked four large suitcases of unsold stock, put away the guitars I'd packed for show 'n tell, counted the cash, made a deposit. Then, went through my inventory here to make sure I take what sold out of my Reverb store. Gotta avoid selling something one-of-a-kind twice!
My li'l brother JD helped me out at the Calgary show, as he lives there. He's been a professional musician based out of that city since the 90's, knew a number of people at the show too. He'd also worked at AXE Music and HEL music stores for quite a time, in the 90's before gettin' in with a fancy government job maybe 20 years ago. Anyway... below, two mild 'n crazy guys! The matching leopard print shirts were quite the hit - I thought it was going to take some convincing to get him in his, but he didn't complain one bit. That's a good bro, alright!
Overall I hit just short of 75% of my goal for the two shows - Calgary seemed to be a bit more "rockin'" that Edmonton, a couple of other vendors I spoke with who were at both shows agreed. I felt the venue was slightly superior too... more spacious and inviting, better lighting and many more guitars on display too. Made for folks to feel a bit more comfortable and welcome to stay longer, maybe do an extra round or two to catch everything on display. The load-in/out was a bit weird. A small, dimly-lit freight elevator, a one-bay loading dock and every vendor for himself LOL! Again sorry for no pics of the guitars but there was some pretty cool stuff I saw on a bathroom break. As a vendor at these things, and a 30 feet of frontage to take care of for the two of us, just doesn't allow much wanderin' around time. You gotta be there for the lookers.
Appreciated meeting some regular Calgary customers, and members of a couple of social media groups I can now put faces too, and I added probably ten or twenty new members to the Well-Hung Tribe, and some pretty cool and fun younger players too, that was a real highlight!
Everything I've been doing for the past 6 weeks had been leading to Sunday. I'm going to take this week to get my head right, get some pressing yard-work done I've been pushing off, as it could snow any day up here now, and begin on a couple of customs I've pushed off. Regroup, reconfigure, reassess where I'm going from here.
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- Messages
- 386
I got my "break" in, tackled the yardwork, checked off all the autumn household, yard and garden autumn things on my list except for a just a few left. Not much to tell, probably much the same as any other homeowner - except maybe my added duties for wood-gathering for my stove, but I only needed to secure one more half-ton load which I managed on Saturday, and I'm now ready!
In the background, I've been working on a custom for Collin. He's a regular, and has been smitten with my somewhat unique "bouquet" design. He sent me a photo of this Musicman style bass made by a company I keep seeing mentioned a bunch lately, Sire. He wasn't sure at first but the more he plays it, the more he says it's staying in his fold, new, it was in that mid-price level, he managed to snag his lightly used and says it manages to punch well above its weight class.
So last week I've been picking away at it. First off releasing the main body from the 8/9 oz hide.
It's going to be 3" wide in the back-buckle format. He initially contacted me during my rush before the guitar shows, but the mail went on strike and I asked if he didn't mind waiting a bit, and I could offer him a bit of a price break for his patience. Now the posties are back at it, at a limited level they say.
Before I cut the tail strap, I needed to know what buckle he preferred so I could cut to fit. Out of my suggestions he chose the aged nickel cowboy set lower right - a bit dressier. If I can, I typically cut the tail strap out of a different hide if I can, that is slightly thicker. For this finish it's not going to make a difference what hide, each element is from. Sometimes it does.
We got to stampin' - this pattern unique in that it only requires two stamps, but a LOT of them!
Mainly it's this very common stamp called a "Camoflage" stamp. Looks a bit like a seashell
Stamping the full body, (about 46" long") and the tail strap took me 2 hours and a bit. Turn the brain off and just GO!
Once stamped and while still damp from the stamping/moisturizing process I do the first dye stage.
This is my fourth strap in this design, my first in jet black. This strap is named "Funeral Bouquet."
Considered naming it "Collin's Funeral Bouquet," but perhaps that's just unnecessarily dark LOL!
Performed one more black dye stage an hour after this, then laid on a good amount of neatsfoot oil to help draw that black even deeper down into the hide.
This morning I burnished the edges, and gave the elements a real serious buff and polish then and began the clearcoat process before final assembly. Looks like that will happen on Thursday. Strange thing, with my recent loss of the US market, Reverb sales have been slow, but today I did get to send a couple away... one to Calgary, one to Regina now that the post office is accepting goods again. It would be such a dream come true for me to further develop the Canadian marketplace for my goods, as I consider what might be possible for the USA.
In the background, I've been working on a custom for Collin. He's a regular, and has been smitten with my somewhat unique "bouquet" design. He sent me a photo of this Musicman style bass made by a company I keep seeing mentioned a bunch lately, Sire. He wasn't sure at first but the more he plays it, the more he says it's staying in his fold, new, it was in that mid-price level, he managed to snag his lightly used and says it manages to punch well above its weight class.
So last week I've been picking away at it. First off releasing the main body from the 8/9 oz hide.
It's going to be 3" wide in the back-buckle format. He initially contacted me during my rush before the guitar shows, but the mail went on strike and I asked if he didn't mind waiting a bit, and I could offer him a bit of a price break for his patience. Now the posties are back at it, at a limited level they say.
Before I cut the tail strap, I needed to know what buckle he preferred so I could cut to fit. Out of my suggestions he chose the aged nickel cowboy set lower right - a bit dressier. If I can, I typically cut the tail strap out of a different hide if I can, that is slightly thicker. For this finish it's not going to make a difference what hide, each element is from. Sometimes it does.
We got to stampin' - this pattern unique in that it only requires two stamps, but a LOT of them!
Mainly it's this very common stamp called a "Camoflage" stamp. Looks a bit like a seashell
Stamping the full body, (about 46" long") and the tail strap took me 2 hours and a bit. Turn the brain off and just GO!
Once stamped and while still damp from the stamping/moisturizing process I do the first dye stage.
This is my fourth strap in this design, my first in jet black. This strap is named "Funeral Bouquet."
Considered naming it "Collin's Funeral Bouquet," but perhaps that's just unnecessarily dark LOL!
Performed one more black dye stage an hour after this, then laid on a good amount of neatsfoot oil to help draw that black even deeper down into the hide.
This morning I burnished the edges, and gave the elements a real serious buff and polish then and began the clearcoat process before final assembly. Looks like that will happen on Thursday. Strange thing, with my recent loss of the US market, Reverb sales have been slow, but today I did get to send a couple away... one to Calgary, one to Regina now that the post office is accepting goods again. It would be such a dream come true for me to further develop the Canadian marketplace for my goods, as I consider what might be possible for the USA.
- Messages
- 386
Funeral Bouquet (#5) - is complete. Should easily arrive in time for Hallowe'en!
8/9 oz heavy vegtan, hand tooled, hand dyed, hand burnished. 3" wide, padded medium lightly, adjusts approx 51"-57" Haven't punched the holes yet, waiting to find out about straplocks.
Got the flash western buckle set on the back in my super convenient easy to adjust Class Act design with the pass-thru that protects your guitar from contact, and it looks pretty boss too.
I'd been toying with the idea of making a black one for the store, before Collin asked, but was holding back for whatever reason. Glad he asked for it and made me make one because it's frickin' SUPA-HAWT! With all them flowers you'd think it'd be a bit girly, but in black especially, and with all that texture and elegant shine, turns out rather macho, if in a vampire/goth/emo sort of way.
Here's feedback from DJ in Elginburg, Ontario...
Hope the week is treating you well!
8/9 oz heavy vegtan, hand tooled, hand dyed, hand burnished. 3" wide, padded medium lightly, adjusts approx 51"-57" Haven't punched the holes yet, waiting to find out about straplocks.
Got the flash western buckle set on the back in my super convenient easy to adjust Class Act design with the pass-thru that protects your guitar from contact, and it looks pretty boss too.
I'd been toying with the idea of making a black one for the store, before Collin asked, but was holding back for whatever reason. Glad he asked for it and made me make one because it's frickin' SUPA-HAWT! With all them flowers you'd think it'd be a bit girly, but in black especially, and with all that texture and elegant shine, turns out rather macho, if in a vampire/goth/emo sort of way.
Here's feedback from DJ in Elginburg, Ontario...
Hope the week is treating you well!
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