Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Oversized round strap buttons (instead of straplocks)
- Thread starter FretRiff
- Start date
I used those on my fretless build a couple of years ago and love them. No worries about the strap coming loose.
These are the ones I was talking about on page one. Always worked.
Gotoh EP-B3, always and only. The screws that come with them are fully adequate. Drill to fit the screw, no issues. The description may say "stap button," but they work great for straps, too.
www.philadelphialuthiertools.com
GOTOH EP-B3 Strap Button - Oversized - Set of 2 - Philadelphia Luthier Tools & Supplies, LLC
GOTOH EP-B3 oversized stap button for guitar or bass.
My PRS Custom 24 has oversized strap buttons. As mentioned earlier, they're bass string trees. They work well. Everything else has generic silicone washers with standard strap buttons.
does the bobbin (idk what else to call it, the trunk of the tree so to speak) fit skinny into the typical strap hole? or is it oversized there too
songwriter21
I have an obsession for wood. The musical kind.
Yes there was, and I'd forgotten all about it until I saw your post just now.
Anyway, I recently ordered a couple of oversized Gotoh buttons black.
My Steinberger L2 has really oversized buttons, such that I can’t use the typical plastic washer-like locks. I also can't replace the buttons for Schallers or Dunlops. Never had any issues with the strap coming loose.Looking for experience with oversized buttons. As much as you mightluurrvve
your straplocks and Grolsch tabs etc, I'm trying to hear about experience with oversized buttons.
Actually I can't remember any time my strap came loose before I started using straplocks.
No, I'm not asking for ANY comparisons whatsoever, Aloe. I'm specifically and solely asking for feedback about oversized buttons, it's just that you and some others mistakenly misread my question:
I'm asking about experience with oversized buttons -- and I'm specifically excluding alternatives like straplocks. Not interested in discussing them, didn't ask about them. There are plenty of discussions of straplocks and their benefits/demerits and which ones people use. This is not one of those questions. I mentioned them as an alternative I'm not interested in discussing since those discussions fly far afield of the topic I'm interested in. If you weren't happy with yours that's good to know but telling me it's apples and oranges misunderstands what I was asking.
Last edited:
I included a video that got me thinking about oversized buttons, which were his favorite. Just because it was a review and comparison doesn't mean that I was asking for comparison reviews here. That should be obvious but to you it apparently wasn't, even though my question (and subsequent questions) were solely about buttons. Please stop arguing with me. Thanks.
It was totally obvious, but only if people pay attention to all of what you said, which is a weakness among people wanting to derail conversations into areas they'd rather talk about.
I'm a fan of both approaches and though I still keep some of the DiMarzio solutions on a couple of instruments, have several others with larger strap buttons instead.
The DiMarzio cliplocks resemble hardware I've used on heavy camera gear for decades. But I'm attracted to the reviewer's listed advantages of oversized strap buttons with no moving parts (and no plastic).
Gotoh is probably the best known brand of the companies I've seen currently selling oversized buttons but I thought I'd ask around because I don't like choosing simply on brand name. The buttons from different brands all have slightly different designs and I wonder if one design is superior, and also of the quality of the included screws.
Don't want a cheap screw that can strip or break off inside the bass, etc. I could of course theoretically buy my own screws but that opens a can of worms: hardwoods can take stronger, slightly thicker screws but what's optimal? How do I determine the current screw diameter without tools? Do I go for hardened steel, or stainless, and if hardened do I choose nickel/chrome-plated or black oxide? What brand, eg StewMac/D'Addario/Lowe's? Ultimately it would be easier to make a button choice with a screw that could be trusted.
Yeah, same here but after looking at as many choices as I could, Gotoh is what I went with.
^^^This is what I was going to recommend (although tbh I did not know they were bass string trees! but that makes sense). Whatever PRS uses on their guitars, they are the only* strap button I've ever used that didn't require any additional "assistance" (aka a Grolsch beer bottle washer)
Really? Were they stock? My 1982 Steinberger L-2 came with bog standard normal-sized strap buttons
...although, surprisingly, the Earth-branded woven nylon strap with leather ends that came with my Steinberger when new is still in minty-fresh condition, shows no signs of wear, and stays snugly on that bass even after 43 years of intensive gigging...*and no Grolsch washers required here.
:shrugs:
So would garden hose washers do the same thing (without, of course, the free beer)?Just pick up 2 bottles of Grolsch, you'll see why.Nobody sells straplock washers with free beer but Grolsch.
