How many of you own a leather strap you like, but wish it were longer or easier to adjust without having to take the strap apart to check/re-check the length?
I have a Levy's leather strap that is wide and comfortable and have had it for decades now. I used to wear my bass up high, and I lowered it as much as possible, but I wanted it even lower now than my leather strap would allow, and I didn't want to buy another strap. I know they make straps that are adjustable like this, but this was a very cheap and easy mod to my strap.
I took off the adjustable leather part (adjustable only if you remove it and redo it) and made an adjustable part out of strapping material with plastic snap-in connections and buckle adjusters (cost me $2.29 at a local hardware store
).
Now I can adjust it on the fly and go as low as my knees if I care to (I don't), or even higher than I used to wear it, by simply pulling on the strap end (to raise it), or tilting the buckle adjuster (to drop it lower) all while wearing it. It also adjusts length-wise from both ends..from super long to very short. Something not possible with the stock leather strap end.
There are some songs that having it higher makes it easier to play (more complex songs that really do benefit from a higher worn bass)...but now, right before a song like that I can just grab the strap end and pull it up to where I want it...and go right back down to where I prefer it now, without even having to remove my bass. And I still get the comfort benefit from the nice wide leather upper part of the strap.
This adjustability also allows me to alter my arm/hand position/angle to keep me happy and healthy...between songs, sets or gigs. I posted another thread about how I wear my bass now, so we can get into the "
How high to wear your bass" or "
What height is best for my wrist/elbow" thing here...
Wearing my bass lower...improved play
This was such an easy fix, without having to buy another expensive strap that still might not be long enough (or short enough). This allows you to customize it to your liking.
