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Straps falling off

drewfunk

drewfunk

May 10, 2010
358
7
Olympia, Wa
#1
Had my strap fall off for the first time last night at a show! During one of our heaviest songs too! Had to drop the pick and humorously attempt to play while crouched over trying to hold up the bass and pluck at the same time for 5 minutes of fast playing. My guitarist even tried to put the strap back on for me but he put it on upside down so it just slipped right off again :rolleyes:

Any good stories? Luckily i caught the bass before it bounced off the floor haha.
 
#3
I bought straplocks for my rickenbacker and they fitted them in the shop. Played a gig a week or so after and the strap locks fall apart halfway through a song! I'm there trying to find the bits of bolts and such and trying to screw them back on, by the time I finish the song's over anyway! I was pretty pissed off and went straight back to that shop and said these strap "locks" are not doing their job... The useless bloke was just like "oh dear, they're not meant to do that..." Clearly I KNOW! They just fitted them badly, now I keep a spanner with me at all times to keep it all tightened up.
 
#5
Rebecky said:
......They just fitted them badly, now I keep a spanner with me at all times to keep it all tightened up.
Click to expand...

Sometimes the hole in the strap is a bit too tight for the straplok thing to fit into and it makes for a less than perfect threading experience. I have had the nut come loose on my strap once or twice. If it's your only strap you'll use them on, try some locktite on the threads.
 
#7
I don't use actual straplocks for the same reasons as Rebecky.

Easiest solutions I've found is:

Put a Fender washer or the rubber washer that comes on certain bottles of Grolsch beer on the bass to prevent the strap from coming off.

Replace the strap buttons with eye bolts and then have carabiner clips on either end of your strap.


Don't use duct tape. Its stupid and its not that great.


EDIT: Stupid crap I've done has included doing the old 'flip the guitar over your shoulder' trick and I had the strap button screw strip; sending my jazz bass crashing into a concrete floor shattering the neck. That was fun.
 
#8
I had one of the Schaller straplocks on my Am. Std. J pull right out of the bass during soundcheck right before a gig years ago. Had to hit the bar for some toothpicks and luckily our guitar player happened to have some glue in his gig bag, or it would have been a long drive home for a backup bass. I stopped using the straplocks after that.

I wonder if that's a common problem on Js; seems like that angle is weird the way the strap hangs off my left shoulder. Maybe it's just the way I wear the bass. Who knows?
 
#12
I've never had a problem with schallers or the proline version of them and use them on every guitar and bass I own. Since I only use 2 straps it's nice to just clip one onto whatever I want to play. And as I said, very reliable from my experience.... People having problems with them must be really hammering on their instruments because I play pretty hard compared to other guys in know that perform and they're solid locks....
 
#15
If the problem with strap locks is that the button falls off the bass, the reality is it can happen with any strap button. Any type of screw, bolt, etc. can fall off the bass depending on the wood it's screwed into and/or the stress that's placed on it. Usually, the original strap button will have a tighter fit, since it's screwed into the wood for the first time. But, if the wood is damaged/unstable, or the screw hole is too big for the replacement button, it really doesn't matter what type of strap button it is, there's still a chance it can fall off with enough stress placed on it.
 
#17
Put a little glue in the screw hole and some Loctite on the straplock nut and you're safe. You should always have some Loctite anyway, it'll last you a very long time and you'll be glad you used it for whatever purpose.

Or just use a washer or drilled coin and screw the strap to the bass (after adding a dab of glue in the hole). Sometimes a nylon washer is handy to keep everything nicely mobile.

I've never dropped a bass yet.
 
#18
Dunlop Straplocs.
Had some screws back out of both mahogany and whatever Epi-Birds are made of so we JB Weld the screws into the wood.
Fixed.

Greco1StrapLocs01.jpg
 
#20
I just invested in some Hennessey strap locks, and even though they're not a big name brand they work just fine.


But to your question:
When I first got my bass I bought a Rock Steady strap. I liked it because of the checkered pattern that it had on it, it matched the wristband I wore on my picking wrist so I wouldn't chafe and rash. For a while it was a good strap, but then the hole became too loose. Even when I would slightly tilt my bass it would come off, one time resulting in dropping it on a tile floor. Thankfully I caught it before it hit the ground too had, with only the head getting scratched up. I soon switched to a Levi strap, which I have never had problems with, and I've been using that for almost three years. Now with those straplocks I don't have to worry about it falling off at all haha
 

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