The Perfect Strap Button
For many years (decades?) I never put a strap on a guitar without replacing the factory lugs with a set of strap locks. Schallers were my go to, but I have used both Dunlop and Ernie Ball as well. They do what they all say that they do and I have come to the realization that I hate them all.
Wait, what?
All of these strap lock systems end up protruding from the guitar. The way that I now hold my guitars and basses means that the strap attachment in the rear bout of the guitar is pressing into my inner thigh. That means an ongoing pain, and often a bruise. Nope.
Yet most factory lugs, with the exception of those that came, and may still do, on PRS Core guitars, are not trustworthy. If a strap goes on the lug easily, by definition it means that the strap comes off easily and gravity always works. I have been using for the last few years, rubber washers as strap locks that I bought on Amazon. I started with ones from Fender which were great but really expensive for what they are, and I don’t give excess gas for a logo on a rubber washer. So I went no name and got about 20 for the price of 4 with the Fender logo.
They work and I will continue to use them, until I don’t. For the moment, I can use them with every guitar that used to have a strap lock on the strap itself because those have all gone into a little blue bin in the shop.
But There is a Better Answer
Perhaps you can order the PRS Core strap buttons. I have never checked and don’t know. What I did find was something as good and a bit more versatile. When I was building my JEM project guitar, I kept the body and the neck from the kit, but changed out pretty much everything else. All the fittings are finished in gold and the provided buttons were not acceptable to me. I was down at Solo Guitars and one of the fellows who will nerd out on kit as much as I will said that they had these new strap buttons from Planet Waves and that they came in gold.
As you can see from the images below, the head of the button is an oval shape. The slit in your strap easily goes over this button. The trick is when you mount the button to the guitar, you set its angle to be perpendicular to the most common angle of the strap slit and voila! The strap is not coming off unless you rotate it ninety degrees and then remove the strap with intent.
It is massively simple engineering. A brilliant design, without a logo tax or ridiculous price tag. I’ve provided the links to Solo Guitars for each set, just click on the image to go to page. Note that each set comes with felt spacers to protect your guitar finish. In case you are not aware, Planet Waves is just package name for some products from D’Addario, makers of excellent kit.
At $10.99 CAD for the Chrome or the Black and $11.99 CAD for the Gold, you cannot lose with these strap buttons. No more protruding and expensive locking systems, no more rubber washers to lose, and gravity held at bay.
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