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strap locks?

These from WD music. They WILL NOT FAIL. They take every strap, think or thin and DO NOT let go of strap or bass. $28.

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Very easy going on or off. Do not come unscrewed. Do not have to slide in one way. Best strap lock I've ever used.
 
Been playing for years, and I've still got Dunlops on some of my guitars and Schallers on a few basses.

For all regular use, rubber washers function just as well as Dunlops and Schallers, and they have a couple real advantages. On vintage instruments, they let you keep the original strap button and screw installed. And besides costing just pennies, they are also low-profile. Some guitar cases don't allow clearance for Schallers or Dunlops, so you have to take the strap off to case the instrument--increasing the chances that you'll leave the strap somewhere and/or misplace the top part of the Schaller-style locks. With rubber washers, I can leave my straps on in transit.

Seriously, unless you regularly spin your bass around-the-world, rubber washers win. And, of course, even if you do spin, Schallers and Dunlops won't save you when the strap-button screw rips out of the bass.
 
For $3 a pair, I've got locks on all my basses for less than the cost of 1 set of schallers. Been using these for a decade now.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Hardware,_parts/Electric_guitar:_Strap_buttons/Gripper_Strap_Buttons.html?actn=100101&xst=3&xsr=262

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I got shallers because, I know the tuners are made well, and my strap was starting to randomly slide out of the bridge strap button. Wow. What a difference in confidence when playing! I don't have to worry at all. I like the U shape of the locks. It feels sturdy. Plus, you have to pull the lock to release it, which the dunlop you have to push, so you could accidentally push the dunlop and unlock it.

I never knew how much straplock rocked, so i went out and got the shallers for all my basses.
 
Those Stewmac buttons look great. Personally, I am on an Anti-Straplok kick. The Schallers on my Fenders keep walking out. Something about the metal-on-metal contact gripping and wrenching the button loose. I think the Dunlops are a bit better but I have had them come apart on the strap side too.

I like the dual action Dunlops. Especially if you use the strap on the strap button to hold up the bass and just plug in the lock to keep the strap on the button. I have installed rubber washers in place of the strap to stop rattles in the lock mechanism so that I don't have to put the things on my strap at all. They just plug in after the strap is in place.
 
For $1.99 I get four furniture leg coaster nubs, and slice the cup off. You get a sturdy plastic washer. Take the strap buttons out, slip the washer and strap on, return screws. Here the Schallers etc run $15 to $20. Approx 1:20 per bass cost ratio...

But I like the Grolsch Strap locks [above] the best, and will go that route from here on. Effen A mate!

These oversized buttons also look good at $5CND a pair, and they are metal. Invalid Link Removed
 
I've got Dunlop Dual-Designs on two of my basses, and Ernie Ball's on the third (it's a Stingray 5, so the Ernie Ball's were made to fit the threaded holes perfectly).

I have a ernie ball musicman stingray. If I buy some ernie ball strap locks will it work the existing strap buttons on my bass or do the strap locks require different buttons to the default?
 
you'll need different buttons, which the locks will come with.

i use the grolsch gaskets myself, but otherwise, i like the PRS idea, which is just to use fender bass string trees.

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you may need to slightly widen the holes in the strap, but them bitches ain't coming off. (use a much longer screw, obviously.)
 
Why the hell would Ernie Ball strap locks require different buttons to their instruments! I am so pissed off. I have some Grolsch washers from New Years, but they're a bitch to put on. I can only get half the washer tucked underneath the umbrella of the buttons whilst the other half sticks out. Any tips?
 
My first strap lock's were the u shaped schaller's. Within a year or so i'm playing a gig and all of a sudden BANG my bass neck dives to the floor! The U shape had literally sawed thru the pin, man I was pissed. Never again will I use a design like that. Switched to Dunlop's dual design triple ball style and have been using them on all my basses for years without any problems.
 
I like Schallers - but ALWAYS use Loctite on the nut that attaches to the guitar strap. I had a bass hit the concrete floor right in front of me due to the nut slowing coming loose. A little bit of blue loctite and it never happened again.

I've also had the experience of the metal on metal unscrewing the nub in the bass as well. I've thought about putting a tiny amount of lubricant on it, but really it just means I have to check and tighten them every few months. Not that big of a deal.