Hootenanny button screw — is it the same length as any other strap button screw?

[brennanmcnally]

So, I got a project '66 P Bass that has the old hootenanny button hole on the back of the headstock. Is it just exactly the same length screw as the strap buttons? Seeing vintage strap buttons/screws on Reverb, but I'm not about to try to screw something into the headstock if it's too long a screw. If anyone has any guidance on screw length for a 1966 hootenanny button, I'm all ears! And realize this is possibly the most niche and cosmetic question being asked on TB today, hahah.

 

[walterw]

Of course not!

a regular strap button screw is like an inch long, it would come out the front and that would be bad

not 100% sure but it might just be a pickguard screw

 

[96tbird]

It’s the same size as the string retainer screw. C’mon man.

 

[Lownote38]

The correct part is a pickguard screw. Fender used as few different types of screws as possible, so the string retainer and headstock strap button use a Fender pickguard screw

 

[brennanmcnally]

The correct part is a pickguard screw. Fender used as few different types of screws as possible, so the string retainer and headstock strap button use a Fender pickguard screw

Awesome answer — thanks!

 

[walterw]

also, "hootenanny button"?

i've never heard it called that; i've heard of hootenanny straps, the old-style ones with the fancy patterns on them

also also, what was that button even for? i've experimented and could not find one reasonable way it was playable with a strap attached to that button

 

[Watchootognbout]

also, "hootenanny button"?

i've never heard it called that; i've heard of hootenanny straps, the old-style ones with the fancy patterns on them

also also, what was that button even for? i've experimented and could not find one reasonable way it was playable with a strap attached to that button

 

[walterw]

View attachment 4996872

i mean yeah, i guess

that way seemed far more awkward than the normal way

 

[micguy]

i mean yeah, i guess

that way seemed far more awkward than the normal way

The world was, at that time, full of acoustic guitars that used straps that went to the headstock. That's how guitar straps worked back then, so when Fender came out with these newfangled plank electric guitars (there were a LOT more acoustic guitars than electrics in the 50's and 60's), people expected they would put a guitar strap on them the same way. Actually, when you have a real neck diver bass or guitar, it's an excellent idea - it doesn't look cool nowadays, but back then, it was perfectly normal.

Oh, and by the way, it reduces the reach to the first fret. If you're looking at short scales because of a reach problem, it's a simple (and cost effective) way out of that bind, using a full scale instrument.