Straps And Straplocks

Guitar strap is one of the most important thing to a guitarist, especially if he or she were to play in a gig. That's because most of the time, electric guitarists tend to stand up while performing. So a strap is crucial so that the guitar player can focus more on his/her playing, rather than focusing on carrying the guitar.

Usually, when a guitar player purchases a guitar, the shop owners tend to throw in a strap for free to the buyer. Most of the time, the strap that they throw in is good enough for the guitarist to play while standing up. Of course, there are certain guitars that don't go well with such straps. The headstock of a guitar such as the Gibson Explorer model, for example, tend to bow downwards if you don't constantly hold the neck while standing up. Such guitar is oddly balanced; its center of gravity is not the same as those normal guitars. Thus, such cheap straps doesn't have enough friction power when resting on the guitarist's shoulder in order to hold the guitar in place. Leather straps will do just fine with such guitars, but most of the time, it ain't free when you purchase a brand new guitar. So for new guitar players, try not to get guitars that shape like those Gibson Explorer coz you'll be spending extras on such items. But hey, if you got the money, then go for it by all means.

Once you get your straps, be sure to get a straplock. It is not cool thing to happen to you, especially when performing, when you're playing your guitar and all of a sudden, the guitar just drops on to the ground. If that happens, your guitar finishing will be damaged and in worse case scenario, you have to send it for repairs because the electronic parts inside the electric guitar is damaged as well. Try to avoid such unfortunate events from happening, especially to beginners.

One of the guitar straplock that I'm currently using is the Dunlop 7007SI Ergo Lok Strap System. It is rather cheap. You can get a pair of it for about 3-5 bucks. Below is how the Dunlop 7007SI Straplock looks like:











Fig. 1: Dunlop Guitar Straplock

Here are the simple steps for you to use such straplocks:

1. Make sure the straphole is in the strap pin first.
2. Place it above the straphole that is already at the strap pin
3. Twist straplock's handle clockwise.
4. Repeat step 1-3 for the other strap pin.

There. Now your strap is secured. :-)