The useful advice thread

I definitely don't have a "performance career," assuming that means playing professionally. That said, I've never had issues with non-cheap straps playing live, standing up, front of others. The crappy cheap straps? Sure, those aren't great, but once I started buying decent-quality straps and figuring out that I like my guitar slung high-ish, not low, I stopped being worried about straps giving way. My Henry Heller straps are all solid and well-made.
 
switchman said:
I don't doubt it but I can't quite picture what you mean..

What's odd is I was about to say I literally have 30 years old Schaller Straploks which work the same as they always did. And they were made at least a few years before I bought them bccause they were still stamped "Made In W. Germany." I have 5 sets of different ages all the older style that tighten to the strap with a hex nut. That nut can definitely loosen over time but the spring lock is rock solid.
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Yeah the older style is fine, it's the new design, machining / whatever that's problematic. See one of the issues I experience with some of mine in some other guy's video below, start around the 3 minute mark. Not only the button doesn't drop all the way into the pin, locking the strap in place as it should. But when it drops all the way in, the U lock part attached to the strap starts rubbing badly against the pin screwed into the body, sometimes it even gets stuck in completely and I have to wriggle it up and pull up on the button with significant force to detach it. That's just not good enough.
And another well articulated opinion on the rubbing / binding problem: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/schaller-strap-lock-unscrewing-itself.1623915/#post-27835997
 
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AdrianSD said:
Yeah the older style is fine, it's the new design, machining / whatever that's problematic. See one of the issues I experience with some of mine in some other guy's video below, start around the 3 minute mark. Not only the button doesn't drop all the way into the pin, locking the strap in place as it should. But when it drops all the way in, the U lock part attached to the strap starts rubbing badly against the pin screwed into the body, sometimes it even gets stuck in completely and I have to wriggle it up and pull up on the button with significant force to detach it. That's just not good enough.
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Well that's just nuts. Seems like he pretty clearly shows the problem is with the new button and screw head - not the new lock. The screw sits too high inside the button for the pin to engage properly. When he put the new thumbwheel lock on the old button it worked properly. I've seen this happen with the old style locks too if the wrong screw was used. Although in that case, usually the button can't be tightened flush to the body. How they could ship like that I don't know.

The business cynic in me wonders if this is a failed attempt at changing the design of the screw and button to sell an entire new product instead of just locks that work with the millions of old screws and buttons already installed out there....

If I had a bunch of unusable S-Locks, I might try buying the All Parts button and screw clones to see if they work.
 
weepingminotaur said:
My Henry Heller straps are all solid and well-made.
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Do you mean their regular straps or the Lock-It straps with something like a strap lock built in?

People have different experiences but guitars have been falling off straps for decades. It's just the physics of how they hang. A typical player has the guitar about 45 degrees angle to the ground. On a double cutaway where the upper strap button points towards the headstock or inwards some, its not such a problem. But on a Les Paul the strap button points outward, almost upwards when the player wears it.

I've repaired a couple of LP headstocks that broke because the player put them on and they immediately fell off the strap straight to the ground. Not because of stage antics or cheap straps. A couple of my sales friends wouldn't let a new LP out the door without strap locks installed first. They got tired of young players or parents coming back with their first LP in pieces two weeks after buying it begging for help.

It's hard to find old clear photos but before strap locks came out, players and techs had all kinds of hacks. Removing the strap button then screwing the strap to the body with the strap button and a washer was pretty common. Or cutting a new small hole in the strap and screwing it down that way. Or using a P-Bass string retainer. Or the beer bottle grommets. On and on...
 
Yeah, talk to anyone in the guitar tech business about how many guitars they had to repair due to strap buttons not working correctly. Had this been addressed at the start, we wouldn't have the mishmash of designs we have now all solving the issue of straps not staying on the guitar securely. And you are right, people used to come up with all kinds of solutions back in the day because of this failure in design. From EVH's eye bolts to duct tape (I've seen it).
 
AdrianSD said:
Yeah the older style is fine, it's the new design, machining / whatever that's problematic. See one of the issues I experience with some of mine in some other guy's video below, start around the 3 minute mark. Not only the button doesn't drop all the way into the pin, locking the strap in place as it should. But when it drops all the way in, the U lock part attached to the strap starts rubbing badly against the pin screwed into the body, sometimes it even gets stuck in completely and I have to wriggle it up and pull up on the button with significant force to detach it. That's just not good enough.
And another well articulated opinion on the rubbing / binding problem: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/schaller-strap-lock-unscrewing-itself.1623915/#post-27835997
Click to expand...

I have a few S-locks, and have never seen any of the problems shown in the video.

There's plenty of space for the locking pin to drop into. None of the screws that came with my guitars worked with the S-lock strap button - they had heads that were too wide to fit properly into the button. I had to use the screws that came with the package with the buttons. Maybe that's what this guy did?
 
weepingminotaur said:
Regular straps.

I'm not saying guitars never fall off straps. Of course they do. I just don't personally find it to be a huge problem.
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Doesn't have to be a huge problem or a common occurrence. My 335 came off the strap and dropped to the floor once in four years of playing. Once was enough to move all my guitars to some sort of strap locking method.
 
Clean your ears. I just got back from my ENT guy. (Ears, nose, throat.) I haven't been able to hear out of my right ear for five days. I don't mean to sound gross, but he cleaned out some junk.

Never use a Q-Tip. You just push whatever's there deeper. Periodically, go to a proper specialist. All my guitars, and my stereo, sounds better.
 
GuitarStv said:
I have a few S-locks, and have never seen any of the problems shown in the video.

There's plenty of space for the locking pin to drop into. None of the screws that came with my guitars worked with the S-lock strap button - they had heads that were too wide to fit properly into the button. I had to use the screws that came with the package with the buttons. Maybe that's what this guy did?
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Have you watched the entire video? The black screw in the guitar to the left certainly looks like the correct one, the image is blurry when he films from up close but it appears to be an allen head there, which is what comes with the s-locks. Maybe some of us are just unlucky. Just pulled all I have from the drawer last night to play with them and all 6 - bought 3 sets haha - are problematic: there's significant friction & binding on all when I rotate the U lock against the screw in the locked position, no wonder the screw comes loose. On top it it, on one the locking pin doesn't drop into position completely and sometimes, when I pull up to release, it doesn't clear completely to slide the screw out of the U lock, it takes several attempts.
 
Artie said:
Clean your ears. I just got back from my ENT guy. (Ears, nose, throat.) I haven't been able to hear out of my right ear for five days. I don't mean to sound gross, but he cleaned out some junk.

Never use a Q-Tip. You just push whatever's there deeper. Periodically, go to a proper specialist. All my guitars, and my stereo, sounds better.
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Douch em out with warm water once a month
 
AdrianSD said:
Have you watched the entire video? The black screw in the guitar to the left certainly looks like the correct one, the image is blurry when he films from up close but it appears to be an allen head there, which is what comes with the s-locks. Maybe some of us are just unlucky. Just pulled all I have from the drawer last night to play with them and all 6 - bought 3 sets haha - are problematic: there's significant friction & binding on all when I rotate the U lock against the screw in the locked position, no wonder the screw comes loose. On top it it, on one the locking pin doesn't drop into position completely and sometimes, when I pull up to release, it doesn't clear completely to slide the screw out of the U lock, it takes several attempts.
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Yeah, weird. I've had none of these problems. The last S-locks I bought were probably four or five years ago though? I wonder if this is a new thing.
 
8 string ukulele is just the top 4 courses on a 12 string guitar tuned up one 5th. It can be used as a stand in for a mandolin if you don't want to bother learning new scales or chords.
 
Chistopher said:
Also 4 string uke almost always sounds like a toy, 8 string does not.
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I was inspired to get a Uke from MF's SDOTD, after watching a couple Jake S. video's. The fact that the strings aren't tuned in frequency sequence drives me nuts. I haven't messed with it much.
 
Artie said:
I was inspired to get a Uke from MF's SDOTD, after watching a couple Jake S. video's. The fact that the strings aren't tuned in frequency sequence drives me nuts. I haven't messed with it much.
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I've been fiddling around with a 8 string recently, and that's what made me realize the only weird thing about the tuning is that the low string is an octave up from what it "should" be. You could easily change that without having to buy custom strings by finding a roll of fishing line that is slightly thicker than the C string and tuning it to a low G
 
Chistopher said:
I've been fiddling around with a 8 string recently, and that's what made me realize the only weird thing about the tuning is that the low string is an octave up from what it "should" be. You could easily change that without having to buy custom strings by finding a roll of fishing line that is slightly thicker than the C string and tuning it to a low G
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Yeah. I've seen there are alternate tunings that are more copacetic to a guitar player. I just haven't messed with it much.
 
Swapping a wiring harness out today...Flat wide shoelaces from Converse or other sneakers are great for removing super tight press-fit knobs. Wrap the lace around and pull up gently like a strap from both side. It might seem little awkward on push-pulls but still works

shoelace.jpg
 
The easier something is, the more important it is to get good at it. Or to apply it, the best next thing you should practice is the easiest thing you haven't mastered yet. This is coming from a guy who learned how to shred all 8 modes before I even figured out how to use the circle of fifths to strum around a campfire.
 
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