Show off your bass straps...

[Ghastly]

Hi,
I looked around and didn't see another thread but I'd be interested to see the straps people are using. We have a bunch in the house here. I'll post my pics soon.

 

[lancimouspitt]

Just got my strap from heavy leather nyc the other day. Some one on TB recommended them. Can't remember who it was now but thank you!

 

[BassHappy]

Almost 40 years ago, I had an elderly Native American statesman and jewelry maker in New Mexico make me five "heartwing" pins. They were cast out of sterling silver, mother of pearl and blood stone. I like to feel that winged heart over my heart when I play. It is very sentimental and reminds me intuitively of things which are sacred to me. I have always used these pins on my straps but the clips holding them on always fell off and got lost and keeping the pins intact was always a hassle. I was so thankful to find out about the ideal guitar straps handmade by Bob at Brookwood Leather. Above are the two straps he made for me. Bob and I came up with a great solution, which was to bend the pins over and sew the back lining layer of leather right over the pins so they can't come out.

Before I discovered Brookwood, I have always thought that my bass straps were a compromise. I had a number made by several custom leather crafter's over the years, but when the straps came back I was always disappointed. The problem may be that custom leather shops - as good as they may be at their craft - don't always have the knowledge and insight to know the subtle features that need to be part of a quality world-class bass strap. It may seem like a simple process on the surface, but like most everything, the devil is in the details. I don't like adjustable straps, although as you can see below, most of the rest of the world does. My strap length doesn't change from bass to bass. For me, this eliminates about 95% of the straps you find in the stores. I finally stumbled on to the Brookwood Leather web site by accident one day, and I couldn't be happier with my bass strap situation.

I am sure you will appreciate the quality and durability of the custom straps created by Brookwood. Bob is a genuine craftsman and there is no end to the detail and level of customization he will provide for you. I will post a little of his strap porn below - but he has a great website here.

To really understand what goes into a world-class strap - Bob has a five part YouTube series of videos about the process here which are really worth taking a peek at:



If you would like to see more, the other four parts are here:

Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

 

[twinjet]

I was born and raised in Juneau, AK. Every year for over 40 years, the Alaska Folk Festival has taken place in downtown Juneau. It's a wonderful week-long celebration of music, music, music!

Until my recent move two years ago, I had participated every year since starting bass guitar. I have a pin marking my participation, too. The strap is nothing special as I borrowed it from my high school and busted it while using it. I never got around to replacing it, but maybe that's what I'll do for Christmas...

It's missing a 34th button, but when I find it I'll upload a new picture.

 

[tzohn]

3-inches, leather, padded. Heavy bass?... no problem any more.

 

[Rickenbottom]

Wow some of these straps are so nice.. I'd be more concerned about the strap than my bass at a gig..lol

 

[howlin]

I have two Mono Betty straps currently not in use. One Neo-tech that I use on my 9# Tele. An Air-Cell that I use on an Epi Nighthawk RI and this Duo-strap from GruvGear:

I actually ended up hating this strap when I originally bought it to use on a S.U.B. 5-er. It didn't resolve the problem of the bass being too heavy and actually added some issues of it's own: Chicago screws for strap length adjustment; over-engineered & over priced; and it dug into my shoulder blade. Obviously, it ended up in the pile of unused items that seems to accrue over time - until recently.

I've been moving away from playing exclusively with my fingers to using my thumb and a pick. The problem I then encountered was a preference for two different places for the bass to hang when in one or the other mode. I've been using those Dunlop strap-lok buttons just for hanging the strap on but then realized that I could utilize the one at the base of the body to resolve my problem. Instead of two strap buttons at the base of the body I now have two strap-lok pins set at two different lengths on the strap. Now my bass sits perfectly at the exact heights I need. Aesthetically & up close it looks like a$$ but it's black and I always wear black on stage so it blends right in.

Someday I'll probably replace it with another Neo-tech strap modified with an extra strip of leather to be able to insert the two strap-lok pins into. Why? For the same reason I stopped using the two Betty straps. There is metal in places that can & do rub up against the body. Or they leave dings in the finish, etc. This strap has two Chicago screws right where it can rub against the body so I had to put gaffer's tape on them for protection[you can't see in the photo because of the way I set-up the strap].

For what this strap [and the 2 Betty straps] cost this shouldn't be an issue IMHO.

 

[Mechayoshi]

My bass is heavy to me. (Before you call me a weakling remember I'm a young girl. ) So I chose this.
D'Addario Planet Waves Polypropylene Bass Guitar Strap

http://data:image/webp;base64,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

It's adjustable on both sides and cheap. The pad could be better but I'm upgrading to a better one some day.

 

[Watchootognbout]

Comfort Strapps on all three of my basses.

 

[mapleglo]

A few of many...

 

[Ghastly]

Wow, great response! I wasn't sure anyone would care about the topic, but it's become quite a challenge for me at times to find the right strap. I've been curious what other people like and are using. I'm dying to post some pics but it's pouring rain and I want to lay my straps out in the sunlight for some pics.

 

[Burwabit]

I admit it, I'm a strap whore. It's a problem, but I've slimmed down quite a bit. Sadly, I equate this to my wife buying purses. I like nice leather... what can I say.

For my basses:
Levy's MSS90 brown/black
Levy's MSS2-4 black
Italia acorn brown suede backed
Levy's MSS1 black
Levy's MSS2 black
Mono GS1 Betty short clay
Neotech Mega bass

For my guitars:
Ace Vintage
Fender Vintage 50's reissue
Levy's Fender F7GP
Levy's Pink Suede MSS3-ROS
Planet Waves 3" Padded Comfort strap

All the ones I use wear Dunlop Dual Design straplocks.
No pics because most of these are in storage since we're moving.

 

[AshInAmsterdam]

I won't bother with photos. I have a variety of cheap Ernie Ball nylon straps in various colours depending on my mood. All fitted with strap locks because otherwise they fall off.

I did buy my first leather strap the other day. €30 by stagg. Was the longest one there and barely drops my bass below my bellow. I like it low. Only got it cos they threw it in with my new p bass.

 

[HTSMetal]

I have a Franklin Glove Leather strap on my Fender Deluxe P-Bass Special. It does a fabulous job of distributing the weight of that behemoth on my shoulders during a multi-hour practice or show:

 

[crucislancer]

Levy's M4 3.5 inch straps. The one on the left is the one I've used for around 23 years now. It's seen almost as many gigs as I have. It's hard to see, but I had to put some tape on small end because I discovered a small tear while setting up for a gig recently. This prompted me to get a replacement, the one on the right. I'll be breaking in the new one for a while. Despite the fact that neither strap has padding, I find them comfortable, even when using my 10 lb Precision.

 

[Maruun]

i just cut up a pair pants, it was actually just an emergency solution but it fits really nice so i kept it.

 

[Hot Rats]

This is my most cherished musical item. My friend gave this to me in 1980 when I started playing bass as he was starting guitar. It's a MusicMan strap and I have used it almost every day since receiving it.

 

[Maruun]

 

[ExaltBass]

All Moody - all 2-1/2" leather/leather backed.

 

[Lava]

Sadowsky NeoStrap. My back pain from 30 years of playing light and heavier basses was making gigs a very unpleasant experience. I've tried nearly every brand and style throughout the years but after trying one of these on a whim when I bought a Metro I've never looked back. Totally changed my life. I highly recommend this or any similar type of wider neoprene strap if you experience back and/shoulder pain from your bass.