Using a quick release strap holder

Squawk

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At the request of our esteemed participant, West R. Lee, here's a step-by-step guide to installing a quick release strap holder - so you can use a strap without drilling holes in the heel. I'm using the Planet Waves brand - but there are others and all work similar.

First, this the device as it comes out of the package. Note a small-strapped part and a large-strapped part that click together:

[IMG:800:444]http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k271/squawkman/closed-1.jpg[/img]











By squeezing the little release buttons on the female connector (Coastie just woke up), the lock will open where the male connector is on the short-strapped side and the female on the long-strapped side:

[IMG:800:476]http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k271/squawkman/open_2.jpg[/img]













For right-handed guitars, slip the long strap under the strings from high to low E as shown:

[IMG:634:800]http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k271/squawkman/under-strings-3.jpg[/img]

























Now bring the female connector around the back of the neck and slip it through the loop and pull tight - the headstock part is now done:

[IMG:800:484]http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k271/squawkman/headstock-done-4.jpg[/img]













Slip the loop end of the short-strapped male connector through the back of the strap hole, then bring the male connector around, loop it through and tighten:

[IMG:800:363]http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k271/squawkman/strap-5.jpg[/img]











Click the male and female connectors together (still awake, Coastie?), and it's complete:

[IMG:800:325]http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k271/squawkman/complete-6.jpg[/img]















As a rule, you would keep the strap adjusted shorter than if you used a heel pin. Also, if you're using a left-handed guitar, the headstock installation is opposite (you knew that).

BTW, the model is my fantastic Corona D50 I rave about on LTG. Quick releases work on Westerlys too (as well as Martins). It is strung with Thomastik Spectrum 11s - which has bronze-colored plain strings.
 

Squawk

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At the request of our esteemed participant, West R. Lee, here's a step-by-step guide to installing a quick release strap holder - so you can use a strap without drilling holes in the heel. I'm using the Planet Waves brand - but there are others and all work similar.

First, this the device as it comes out of the package. Note a small-strapped part and a large-strapped part that click together:

[IMG:800:444]http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k271/squawkman/closed-1.jpg[/img]











By squeezing the little release buttons on the female connector (Coastie just woke up), the lock will open where the male connector is on the short-strapped side and the female on the long-strapped side:

[IMG:800:476]http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k271/squawkman/open_2.jpg[/img]













For right-handed guitars, slip the long strap under the strings from high to low E as shown:

[IMG:634:800]http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k271/squawkman/under-strings-3.jpg[/img]

























Now bring the female connector around the back of the neck and slip it through the loop and pull tight - the headstock part is now done:

[IMG:800:484]http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k271/squawkman/headstock-done-4.jpg[/img]













Slip the loop end of the short-strapped male connector through the back of the strap hole, then bring the male connector around, loop it through and tighten:

[IMG:800:363]http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k271/squawkman/strap-5.jpg[/img]











Click the male and female connectors together (still awake, Coastie?), and it's complete:

[IMG:800:325]http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k271/squawkman/complete-6.jpg[/img]















As a rule, you would keep the strap adjusted shorter than if you used a heel pin. Also, if you're using a left-handed guitar, the headstock installation is opposite (you knew that).

BTW, the model is my fantastic Corona D50 I rave about on LTG. Quick releases work on Westerlys too (as well as Martins). It is strung with Thomastik Spectrum 11s - which has bronze-colored plain strings.
 

West R Lee

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OK, I'm with you Squawk. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.

Thanks for posting this.

West
 

West R Lee

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OK, I'm with you Squawk. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.

Thanks for posting this.

West
 

Squawk

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Actually a shoelace is better than a leather thong as it stays tied better and is a little easier to adjust. But the quick release device won't stretch, slip or untie at all - and is actually easier to attach to the strap and guitar than a single length cord - and there's no knot to get in the way. You can also put on and remove the guitar by unlocking rather than slipping it over your head - less chance to ding the guitar if you're in tight corners (ever play in NYC?) Not a bad little device for $4 less a penny.
 

Jeff

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I use this Leather Martin strap button on the F20 & the old Classic. It felt a bit "In the Way" at first, similar to using a capo. The feeling was more imagined than real. I have become accustomed to them & no longer notice they are there.

Both the shoe strings I used previously & these straps are causing minor gradual finish wear along the edges of the headstock. The leather strap more evenly. Wouldn't be happening if strap pins were installed.

Like West, I can't bring myself to drill a hole in the F 20.

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/ ... 15_2843958

I was told by a pro player & guitar salesman it's more difficult to keep a guitar in tune when the strap is attached to the headstock. Especially a heavy guitar, when hanging from the headstock. Pretty easy to get a bending effect by applying moderate pressure.
 

john_kidder

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I make braided leather straps (old cowboy habits die hard) - on the end I have an adjustable thong of rawhide or buckskin that I loop over the headstock. I can make them shorter or longer by a little pulling through loops, but mostly I find that I can adjust the overall length simply by placing the loop so that it's held by the tuning pegs at any of the three possible positions.

I've also heard about neck strain, but various informants seem confident that a well-made guitar neck is handling such enormous tension from the strings that it won't be affected by a little additional weight. Thoughts??
 

Jeff

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All you have to do to see what I'm talking about is strum a nice big fat chord & put a little pressure on the guitar like you would if you were putting some emotion in a phrase.

The bending will show right up. I just watched Tommy Emmanuel do it deliberately for the bending effect. He had a strap buton by the way & did it by flexing the neck. He's good enough it sounds like a Bigsby.

This entire discussion is purely academic at my skill level.
 

Mr. P ~

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Jeff said:
I was told by a pro player & guitar salesman it's more difficult to keep a guitar in tune when the strap is attached to the headstock. Especially a heavy guitar, when hanging from the headstock. Pretty easy to get a bending effect by applying moderate pressure.

I wrote this while Jeff was refuting what I was about to say!!

I have not used straps much over the years, but the only one I ever used a headstock strap on was a 12 string Yamaha. I had tuning problems......but geez, it was a 12 string and that is the name of the game.

From a technical standpoint, I find the concept a little hard to believe. Think about it, most necks are thinner from the front of the fret board through to the back of the neck than they are from E to e. Try it, it is fairly easy to bend the neck back towards you, but try to bend it down towards the little e string, or up towards the big E. The neck is roughly 1 inch through front to back, but it is 2 inches or more across the finger board.

Another thought, when you are playing with a strap, you are making chords with one hand and picking with the other. How much downward pressure can you really put on the neck that way. I think very little.

Just my thoughts....throw rocks if you like....just don't hit my guitar!


[IMG:60:54]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y34/MrP_at_Large/Devilish.gif[/img]
 

Squawk

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If the strap is adjusted properly, I can't see how you are adding strain to the neck as the strap is not taking all the weight and pressure.

Having said that, an end pin is better - but I could not imagine playing without a strap for fear of dropping the guitar. Maybe it's just me (and my geezer-ness).
 

dreadnut

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I've done straps both ways, and I really don't buy the added stress argument either, but I don't like the strap going up by the headstock because sometimes it got in the way of my hand when playing on the first couple frets.

So I drilled holes in my beloved Guilds and installed strap buttons on the heel. It was a simple, painless operation. They're great guitars, but as my buddy said when I lamented the fact that I needed to drill a hole in my old D-25: "Hey, it ain't no freakin' Stradivarius!" :D
 

Jeff

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"Hey, it ain't no freakin' Stradivarius

Exactly !!!! That's why I drilled a hole in the DC 5 as soon as I got the pin from Don.

Meanwhile watch the ending of this version of Heartbreak Hotel,

Tommy Emmanuel bends the beejeebers out of the strings by stressing the neck. He has another tune where the effect is even more dramatic.
I just can't find it again.

My F20 is out of tune now from trying it myself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVFt5sS4 ... 20Angelina
 

dreadnut

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Tommy must have more money than me. I try not to deliberately stress the neck...
 

Mr. P ~

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I don't know how much money you have, but I bet he has more than me!!

Did you see how the top is sanded by 200 grit guitar pick?!!!
8)
 

Jeff

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Did you see how the top is sanded by 200 grit guitar pick?!!!

Top my eye !!! The sides, the back, the headstock, good Lord, the man uses the thing as a percussion instrument. I'd guess Tommy's guitars have a service record pages long. Makes Willie Nelson's old gutar look mint.

But I'll tell ya, If it would make me play like Tommy, I'd take out a mortgage on a D 100 or borrow West's DV 72 & just pick the paint right off it.
 
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