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

 

[TVvoodoo]

Hey my TGF brothers 'n others, how's it hangin' eh?

Today new in the Reverb store a re-issue of sorts, been a long time since I offered these, a mainstay of the Well-Hung catalog fro probably eight years or so, and one of the few straps that I repeat, (as often as I actually get around to it, and it's been a few years for this one).

Meet Sum Yung Long Hung Guy... "Long" is the Chinese word for Dragon BTW. The more you know!

one is so long it'll go to 62"! That's crazy long for a ladderback style.

Anyway, you go silky Hugh Hefner dressing gown dragon embroidered silky material, likely gonna impel all the centerfold-types in your life to want to paw you. Beautiful brown oil-tanned pull-up leather and, of course the Well-Hung padded luxe interior. A very sexy strap for very sexy guitarists. Are you ready to Enter the Dragon?

Some real nice words from Johnny Oh! in Tampa (that's what the gals call him).

Happy Friday! If you've not yet tried a Well-Hung gatstrap, and are out there sittin' on the fence, THIS IS THE MONTH TO DO IT!

 

[TVvoodoo]

Weird but fun story.

Paul ordered a Brown and gold dragon strap on Saturday, told me he had the black and red one in his cart a long time ago, but never pulled the trigger and they sold out. I told him I had some black and red ones on the bench for this week, offered a deal on a pair of them, and got one finished on Sunday, and put the Black/Red custom listing up on Reverb for Paul to add to his Brown/Gold package which, due to the holiday weekend, couldn't ship until this morning.

However, Tom who has also been desiring a Black/Red one for quite some time and somehow also knows Paul, (both being absolute players down there in Vegas), in fact, Tom tells me Paul introduced him to the Well-Hung line-up a number of years ago, so both have several of my pieces now.
Anyway, evil buddy Tom saw the custom listing clearly labelled "IF YOU ARE NOT PAUL, DO NOT BUY THIS STRAP!!!" and he bought it anyway. LOL! Because he too has been desiring one long time.

Actually his move turned out to not be evil, but an honest mistake. Came up hot in his feed, he was so hyped he didn't even read the listing just yanked the trigger. Then, he turned rather apologetic finding out it was actually supposed to be for his buddy Paul. So, I had to cancel that order, refund his money and then relist. Sigh.

Anyway, I wanted Tom to be a happy camper like Paul, so I mentioned I had a few more black/red Sum Yung Long Hung Guys on the bench set for completion this week... he immediately affirmed he also wanted one. Good for me! Then I asked him if he preferred slippy? Or grippy? He said he take one of each. Even gooder for me! So his custom order suddenly became today's project

Two single sales morphed into doubles. I tell you my customers, the Well-Hung tribe, never fails to impress me be cool customers.
So, here's Tom's custom pair. ready to ship tomorrow.

Very slippy satin red lining on one of them. But it had to have a bit less padding because the way I pad a strap also really helps with the "stay-put" factor, not just the grippy velvet lining.

Two more Red/Blacks in the store tomorrow, just have to punch holes and such. Happy Tuesday!

 

[Chocol8]

People who want slippy are demented!

 

[Fireproof]

Wow - your work is awesome. Just ran across this thread.

Welcome to the group!!

 

[TVvoodoo]

@Fireproof thank you, @Chocol8 I absolutely agree!

I got another No Prisoners done yesterday but was distracted from taking pics and listing it (likely tomorrow), because I had a wave of somethign come over me that it was time to make a run of Well-Hung "Shakeys"

I'm not sure if it has anything to do with Young, or possibly world events, but I can tell you there was a definite sort of strange "push" sent to my to head and hands in this regard. Whatever that may signify, if anything at all- let's hope it may signal some good news.

I don't make these often, frankly they are quite a pain... takes about twice as long to make than any others (except for tooled straps), but one of my best, most-loved by owners. I think it's been a few years now since I had any in the store. Every one is different.

You see while many other makers do something similar, NOBODY sews individual embroidered patches. More often just a quick silk screen sort of thing. I had these patches made special for me, and they are both HOTFIXED in place AND sewn. Gives the strap a whole new level of tactile karma, AND I think Neil would be proud and pleased to wear one if he could ever find me.

His original Peace/Dove strap was an ACE hootenanny type, but somwhere along the line he had somebody modify it from 2" to approx 3" by sewing some denim, (and likely some padding) to it giving it it more surface area and comfort to handle the beastly Ol' Black. Over the years it's become worn out, ratty and ragged, but also definitely "iconic." I can only hope one mine becomes as well-loved in the future.

Once the patches are sewed onto strips, they are then affixed to extra wide bases. I am also going to pad this particular run of five to an "OVER-STUFFED" level of comfort. When complete they are something else. Hope to finish these five tomorrow. I'm about 65% there.

I also designed and ordered a small metal sign I will screw to my truck box thingy I showed earlier
as well as sturdy padlock hasp hardware in black

The action I mentioned earlier is over, and the winning bid was phenomenal! Congrats to the winner over in North Carolina, sorry the Saskatoon berries spoiled on the way there. I am pleased that he is happy with his winnings! I put together quite a package besides just the strap.

Hope Thursday is treating you right, it's also International Lighthouse Day.

 

[TVvoodoo]

As mentioned yesterday, I did get "HammerFall" the latest No Prisoners series strap photographed and listed in the Reverb store.

Padded, black leather, 3" wide goes to about 59" - about as badass as it gets.

Also the first of five new "Shakey" straps... each one is different. Super wide at over 3-1/4", and over-stuffed in regards to padding. You know how at the end of a long day when you settle into your recliner? This is much like how it will feel when that heavy bass settles down on your shoulder.
It's actually closer to a golf bag strap ready to handle 35-40 pounds, Actually would get a lot of comments out on the links.

Jamdogg is a returning warrior from days long ago when I called my little affair "Strap ATTACK!" He tells me the slings I made back in 2012 are still running strong, which is great news to me, because admittedly, the first couple years some of them were a bit sketch, as I was finding my legs LOL!

Happy National Tarantula Day!

 

[TVvoodoo]

Matty (Hazmat777) plays "Slash" in North Carolina based "Shotguns & Roses" He's had a Swamp Bottom Python for a while now, and posted a short vid on instagram, which I have no idea how to embed. But .... here's a rather low rez screencap.

"Got to try out my new Well-Hung Snakes In My Brain “Swamp Bottom Python” guitar strap this past Friday and it was perfect for wielding such a massive instrument like mine

It’s not only comfortable but it looked beautiful under the lights during “Patience” and “Used To Love Her” for @shotgunsnrosesband

"

 

[TVvoodoo]

Got a message from Nate the other day who purchased a No Prisoners "Kingmaker" purple gator with bling strap for his ernie ball purple burst bass... Well, strange thing (he said), he bought an identical bass for a backup and wanted another identical strap.

Problem is, the No Prisoners promise is each is unique, individual, never to be copied. He wasn't into commissioning a custom, but I told him I like to have a couple purple themed straps in the store anyway and would get after building a couple he could consider this week. Here's the result

"Kingsman" on the left, and "Purple People Eater" on the right - he'sgot a preview photo, and I'll give him a bit to decide if he wants one, but otherwise both (or the one he doesn't pick) will be live tonight in the reverb store.

Also going live tonight is one of the Shakey straps I completed Friday... this one with charcoal adn black miniature houndstooth all up and down the middle, on black faux leather, 3=1/4" wide and extra long, like 62".

Happy Monday!

 

[Chocol8]

"Kingsman" on the left, and "Purple People Eater" on the right

My left and right or the decapitated black dude's left and right?

I am a big fan of no prisoners straps, but I don't have a guitar that would match either of them. Also, I think the hues of the purple are different enough that if the kingmaker was a good match, the purple people eater won't be, so tell Nate I said to buy the kingsman.

 

[TVvoodoo]

He did!

 

[TVvoodoo]

Fresh off the factory floor (LOL! just one guy here) a set of three customs for Spencer in Manassas, (what a great place!). Spencer has purchase a few before, but I'm thinking maybe shorter ones, because this set he ordered started at approx 36"-47" in length. That's closer to a regular factory strap than my regular, which are regularly 10" longer than most.

Anyway, built custom for him, a Sum Long Hung Yung Guy, a High Society, and a Denim Demon.

I sometimes forget that everyone isn't like me demanding longer straps, but I'm always happy to make custom if folks ask, and I have the right materials stashed away, (I'm kind of a pack rat).

Andrew in North Carolina rolled the dice and picked up a couple for his first trial of Well-Hung slingage. 100% appreciate the trust and the buy-in and he wasn't disappointed. Gotta say through messaging, this dude is one crazy cat! _heathen_projections if you instagram.

Today, is World Elephant Day, so a great day to treat your pet elephant to a nice scrub.

 

[Dave Lewis]

@Boudoir Guitar thank you for showing interest in the "Paisley Royale..." I admit I posted that thing for a little bit of guitary "shock value" but nobody took the bait

It all started fall 2018 when I decided I needed to create a new kind of paisley tele. At the same time I was also gassing for a sparkle/flake guitar so I decided why not attempt to create the most outrageous pink paisley ever seen by human eyes?

I started with a regular Allparts alder body, sealed it and painted typical rattlecan silver.

Then I took almost a year trying to figure out how to make this stupid sparkle paisley, without watersides or a flake gun like I've seen done before. There were various test attempts at using sparkle glue which were horrible fails. Then I lit on the idea of using crystal gems. Once I got them in, figuring out how to make the pattern, how to secure them to the body, and even just plain handling these miniature gems were all serious problems that needed solving.

In the meantime, I got in a thinline style pearloid guard and modded it accordingly to the final unique hybrid look I was shooting for.

I also dremelled open a tele neck pup for that rarer and open slug hot rod look I love so much

Doing what I wanted to do required me to pretty much line up all the hardware and bridge before actually finishing so I could figure out exactly where I could place the crystal gems and where I could not.

I then printed out some paisleys and planned out the overall pattern. Changed a bit in the end but this was an extremely helpful step.

At first, I tried various ways to handle the gems. They'd stick to my fingers, even just breathing hard would move 'em around. They were all over the damn place . It seemed impossible to get anywhere with my fat old fingers in the way.

Tried various different glues, but it took me about six months to finally figure out using clear UV activated resin was the way to do this proper.

I finally figured out using a splinter of a popsicle stick and a damp sponge allowed me very precise placement control gem-by-gem. Put some resin down, plop the gems on top, arrange, smack 'em with the ultraviolet light, repeat.

It affords a fellow plenty enough working time to position the gems, then you hit each small section for a couple minutes with the UV. It's very strong. I know this because I had to remove a couple small sections to redo them! Not that easy. Plus they all lock to each other in the end. Super secure.

I did have to smear a thin coat of silver sparkle glue all over my beautiful silver top to give the surface some "tooth" for the gems and the resin to be able to stick to.

To address the issue of getting the gems into a repeatable pattern, I cut a small plastic frame of the shapes, which I used to form the outlines of the paisley butas, then infilled in my decided-upon pattern and colour combo.

Decided to stay in the traditional pink paisley realm with hints of green, pink, magenta and small brassy gems, and all those white gems in the background.

The main trick is, get your outside border rows done... be extra careful with that. Then, outline all your hardware, and fill.

Next time I do this, I will dremel down the outside edge just a bit so the first two outside rows are down flush with wood. They are secure now, with extra UV glue to sort of smooth it, but the outside edge ridge is not quite as pretty as it could be. Live and learn.

in late 2019 Covid hit us all, and I got laid off my regular job. I suddenly had more time to work on this than I wanted. I made the decision to go hard at strapmaking at that time also. What was I gonna do? Watch Netflix?

I could actually only work on this top for a beer or two a time or so. My old eyes would go totally buggy as I was also using magnifying craft glasses to do it right. I could usually get about one paisley pair done a session I think less than that actually

Then filling the spaces. I figure 50 or 60 hours to place all these tiny frickers.

Underestimated how many white gems I needed so work stopped for a couple months so I could acquire more.

These are flat-backed crystal gems commonly used in the ladies fingernail decorating industry. They come in every colour you can imagine and a bunch of different sizes too.
But, I've refinished several guitars and I can tell you the cost of 30,000 of these gems is less expensive than 6 rattle cans LOL! But, obviously a bit more time consuming to properly apply.

Once the top and headstock were done... I gave into my sudden deep urge to carve in a tummy cut. Should have done it first off, but hindsight is 20/20. I now wish I would have done an arm bevel too, all you tele purists be damned!

So, one nice sunny day just I had at 'er



To be continued...

You need one of these Warm Audio Foxy Tone Boxes