Tales from.. ..The StrapLab!

[TVvoodoo]

Well-Hung Cult-members probably know how I feel about plain old black straps. But sometimes I just gotta make them, particularly when by custom order. Johnny Oh! in Tampa ordered this, telling me he's feeling some discomfort, so I am looking forward to his thoughts once he gets a chance to put this through it's paces.

Black Lightning ZAP! is a strange one in "none more black" I used a semi-gloss base leather and very flat leather for the bolt. I honestly wasn't sure about it, but now that I see it, it's actually kind of cool and interesting for a black strap, anyway. Black lightning seems kind of silly really, but then again I've made ZAP straps out of python, skulls and all kinds of patterns so I should just pour myself a tall glass of STFU, then drain it.

While I was crafting this custom build, I also had three more ZAPS! on the bench that I will be listing tomorrow...
Again heavier black moto leather, but with a bolt in subtle gunmetal so it stands out a bit more.

Happy Thursday, not looking forward to tomorrow. Bookkeeping day. Oh JOY! Shouldn't take me too long though.
The past couple months have been a bit slower than I'd like to admit. Definitely a drop in my custom business...
if you have any ideas on something you want me to consider cooking up for a special guitar or guitarist, just let me know!

 

[TVvoodoo]

Afternoon amigos, happy Friday! I managed to get my quarterly numbers done, a little too easy LOL!
And a new listing up too. New ZAP! straps... "Gunmetal" - there's three of them, slightly different lengths.

"Now you see me...

...Now you don't!" Magic Man!

LOL! Not too much else special about 'em, luxe padded, lovingly-crafted by a caring Strapologist, Doctor of Strapology, or Strappier, or whatever else you might name my calling. 3" wide moto leather base with that strange sort of gunmetal metallic bolt stitched up front. It's fully leather,
and only glows when the light hits right, so pretty fun that way.

May the weekend bring all my forum brothers clear sunny skies, refreshing cool brews, and lethargic mosquitos!

 

[TVvoodoo]

A "Bottom Dweller" has arisen from the depths of dark, brackish waters and got hisself made into a pretty cool guitar strap.

Typical build, 3" wide leather reptile emboss, in an interesting pattern I've not seen before and it has no gloss to it. Actually kind of hard to photograph. This would be an ideal strap to put on a guitar with little or no personality of it's own to make it pop a little bit more. And of course you will enjoy the benefit of the macho texture and the padded comfort. 43-59" so goes nice and long too.

Also a flight of fancy I wrassled in today using one of those "found item" No Prisoners belts and more reptile emboss. As much as the one above is low key, this one is the opposite. In fact, the rainbow gem conchos are so dazzling, I suspect it might be distracting for anyone to use this sling as they may find themselves stopping play to admire the crazy rainbow effect of colors sparking off it.

Approx 120 crystal rhinestone gems all up and down, some ball chain, and nickel rivets too. Never-mind the silvery metallic croc embossed it's all sittin' on. I named this one "Puff The Magic Dragon" as I imagined this would be the sort of mystical-metal sort of strap Ronnie James Dio might be inclined to pin on his bass on, if he were still rockin' out.

The trick with this sling will be to find a suitable guitar to mate it with. This piece threatens to overpower almost anything visually, as in this strap will wear the guitar, not vice versa. I'm actually looking forward to the brave strap connoisseur who figures they own a guitar that can pair with this, 3" wide, medium padded, it's fully as as heavy-duty as it is visually powerful and all the bling does give it a bit of heft. I believe this one also goes approx 45"-59" - many more pics and listings for both of these are now up in the Well-Hung store on Reverb.com

 

[TVvoodoo]

New in the store today is another "Alligator Alley" but this time instead of brown leather tail and nose sections, this one has black. I only made one of this type. Goes 45-59", padded, leather.

Happy Hump day!

 

[Chocol8]

Oooh, I like that!

 

[TVvoodoo]

Ok Back home after most of a week off, cleaned up and back to work. But first off a few more camping pics! Pretend you can hear laughing loons and gentle lapping waves as you continue....

"Ahhhhh....."

This yearling blackie dropped by to start cleaning up on the Saskatoon berries all around our campsite on Wednesday night and returned back on friday and saturday for more. This pic from our RV kitchen window.

What's way less scary than a big ol' hungry bear?

A big ol' FAT-ARSED bear who's been eatin' the whole day long. You can see here why they call male bears "Boars." This is the second much older bear that showed up on Saturday, right before he dropped a big pile of scat. You can see our camper in the background - ten sites in the campground only us and another couple way on the other end, they were tenting LOL, but were doing fine!

The bears are obviously having a good year. This guy was a big 'un

About the size of a dinner plate, and four or five inches tall. Hardly even digesting all the Saskatoon berries. We watched the boar above also totally tear up large red anthill a few feet where he dropped this pile o' poo. Lapping up ants and dirt and whatever else for five or six minutes, then he just rambled on.

We had 12 separate bear sightings, that is including having the two shown wandering around back and forth of the campground most of Saturday afternoon. The older more "cinnamon" black bear who we only saw on Saturday, and the young black yearling who returned over and over again through the week. I even saw the old bear and the young bear have a small altercation, a territorial thing. The older one got a nice swipe in on the small fella... sent him off into a different direction

Only the two males we saw inside our campground but my wife and I had five more sightings of sows and cubs driving in and out of the park, within seven kilometres of our campsite. The cubs, for some reason seem to like to play on the road, then make a break for the forest when you approach. That's a LOT of bears, now and upcoming.

It does make us re-think our camping choices a bit. We love the wild and natural, but aren't into this kind of drama when we are on holidays. Having these fellas around just puts a bit of a damper on everything, keeps a person on edge. You want to hike and explore less, stay closer to the camper. That's not much fun. If the bears move around inside the trees, you can generally hear them coming, but when they are brave enough to just walk around in the open, you won't hear them over the waves from the he lake until they are right up on your site. And as you might imagine, surprise and bears don't mix too well. We do understand this is their home, not ours. We are the guests - but we've camped in this spot annually for the past five years, without any concerns. My wife really loves to pick the berries too, but we only came back with a half gallon this time.

But, m'lady did get some precious time out on the water, at least no bears to worry about out there

I built this floaty out of random stuff found beachcombing. It sailed way off into the distance. Probably near Portugal about now

Mr. Ranger Danger came by Saturday afternoon and left this behind. I don't know what they were using for bait but it was rather smelly! Back on the ranch when I was a kid, my dad used to throw a half pound of uncooked bacon or an opened can of sardines in his homemade 40 gallon drum trap. Ranchers don't like bears much.

Imagine transporting a scared and distressed bear, but then having to stop and change a flat. LOL!

New in the Well-Hung Reverb store tomorrow will be "The Rogue" - just built fresh today

And this nice feedback came in....

That's all I got for a Monday!

 

[TVvoodoo]

New in the shop today... Another No Prisoners series strap... "The Villain"
It's ONE ONLY as all "No Prisoners" series straps are.

Definitely hand-tooled, with braided leather black leather lacing and contrast stitching. All on a 3" wide black garment leather base, with softly rolled edges, and luxuriously padded via layers of carved foam, with a black velvety interior.

It goes 44"-60" max. and has heavy-duty reinforced leather ends. Will it hold up a guitar better than a $15 dollar poly strap? You betcha! And your shoulder will thank you during and after your session.

Gerald in Florida called my work "unusual" I guess I can give him that, at least he 5-starred me! Axe Warrior was inspired by a Canadian Armed Forces issue machine gun sling. It does things no other floating shoulder pad strap can do and yes, I invented it. It's largely made of Australian army surplus cordura webbing. He had a suggestion for improvement too. I like that!

 

[TVvoodoo]

Growing up in a rural area, the memories flooded back when I found a set of vintage early 90's truck seat covers,
new-in-box at a yard sale. EVERYONE had these or similar in their half-tons back then.

I simply chopped 'em up, added some black leather and a few conchos, and now we're... Truckin'!

This is a heavy HEAVY duty tweed fabric in "everycolor" and bound to boost the T-levels of any dude (or dudette) who ducks under a guitar wearing it! And, with all the crazy cool colours in this weave, it's gonna compliment almost anything. Green, amber, purple, blue, gray, maroon, beige, they're all here! I've seen this same fabric used a lot for things like saddle blankets too, super tough stuff.

I also added the heaviest black Latigo leather in my shop for nose, ladder and tail ends, making this beast possibly suitable for a tow rope if you might need 'er that way too. Black velvety lining, nicely padded, 44"-54" - Get your country on big-time, and make 'em ask where you found it.... now in the Well-Hung Reverb store