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Strap Locks

#8
My "scary failure" with the Dunlops involved a fairly clean 1958 Les Paul Special. By this point, I'd used Dunlops for the previous 10+ years, and I KNEW that the pin was seated and checked it. It just slipped right out- I just happened to have a good grip on the neck.

Years before I tried some Schallers, the nut on the strap end came undone and I dropped a 65 Jazzmaster (no damage done) and swore off Schallers.

It wasn't until the Dunlop failed that I looked at the way they work and I think the Schaller is just a better unit. On the Dunlop unit it's either 2 or 4 spring loaded bearings that are bearing the weight of your instrument. There's too many things to go wrong with that system- if there's gunk in the trough in the female end of the straplock, if the shaft wears on the male end and it's cocked crooked- the bearings may not seat properly when weight is on the unit, a bearing could fall out...

On the Schaller system, the strap button sits in a cup, and is held there by a spring loaded plunger. Even if the spring loaded plunger fails, the button is still held in the cup by gravity. The two weak spots in the system are the nut that hold the strap end on- a dab of loc-tite or clear nail polish will keep the nut from coming off. The other thing that can happen is that the button will wear down so that it doesn't get caught in the cup. Hoever, that's noticable- and I've been using the Schallers on all my gear for the past 6 years or so, and have evidenced no noticeable wear on the buttons.
 
#10
I've used Donlops for years, and have only had one incident when it gave way (luckily, I caught the bass before it fell). I still have Dunlops on one of my basses, but I like to attach the straps semi-permanently, so I don't have to worry at all about it.

The best way I found is to use regular strap buttons (I use extra-long screws to attach to the body), and to make two small holes in the leather end of the strap right above the strap-button hole. I then put the strap on, and tie a knot between the two holes with a piece of strong twine. This keeps the strap from coming off, but still allows it to rotate on the button.

Cheaper, too......
 
#11
Sorry ZonGuy for not posting sooner. Planning my daughter's wedding all day. I'd rather be here, trust me. Women! Haven't songs been written about them? Anyway, Bruce Bennett sold me the 5th Warrior Model 2 he made. You know who he is, right? Handcarved by him. Everything made by him. He owned it from the day he made it until he sold it to me. He had it set up w/recessed Duncans. I refit my Moody custombuilt 4" 62" strap w/some Duncans I had. Start playing. I play metal/hard rock and have for 37 years. I'm getting down on Judas Priest "Electric Eye" and start to feel the neck bout straplock coming undone. I look down and the strap is twisted. It's an extremely neck heavy bass w/a neck as wide as a boat oar. I see the peghead coming down and catch it right before impact w/the carpeted floor of my bassroom. Now, maybe it was "pilot error", and I know I'm not "Sully"; however, I've never had that w/Schallers and I've used them 15 years. Only because this bass came w/recessed Duncans did I use Duncan straplocks. I tried Duncans years ago and didn't like them. I like to physically see the Schaller female end slide onto the bass-mounted male head and hear that click. Yes, they squeek. Trust me.......w/an Ashdown Klystron 1000, an old English made Ashdown ABM 900 EVO II, a Bergantino NV425 and a Bagend M2 Integrator and 2 BagEnd 18" ELF Infra cabs powered by 2 Behringer 2500 and 1500 amps................I don't hear the squeek of the Schallers. Oh, my pre is an Aguilar DB680 and I use Evidence Audio Lyric HG cables. My sound is really clean..............but it's deafening. I had to buy a snow shovel for when I crank...........to scoop up the dead birds outside!
 

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