HNSBD

Gary Blanchard

beloved, local musician
I took the Gibson to a local repair guy and had him install a strap button. I have been going old-school with it:
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I found that to be very uncomfortable, and I worried that the strap would slide off my shoulder. On the other hand, there is no way I was going to drill into the Gibson myself. The guitar is now much more comfortable to play, and it was worth paying someone with skill and knowledge to do the work.
 
HNSBD! I need to do that to the cheapie 12-string I got off CL a few weeks back. I have no qualms about doing it myself. I just haven't bothered buying a button yet. I'm usually just lounging on the couch when I play it, so no real immediate need.
 
HNSBD! I need to do that to the cheapie 12-string I got off CL a few weeks back. I have no qualms about doing it myself. I just haven't bothered buying a button yet. I'm usually just lounging on the couch when I play it, so no real immediate need.
I have put buttons on many cheap guitars, but between the cost of this one and the fact that the heel is rather thin, I was not ready to take a chance; I once had a screw snap off while installing a button.
 
I have put buttons on many cheap guitars, but between the cost of this one and the fact that the heel is rather thin, I was not ready to take a chance; I once had a screw snap off while installing a button.
Gary if you're going to put buttons on it then why not go Dunlop straplock? You can even get them where they look like regular strap buttons yet are straploks. There's also a guy on Amazon you can buy only the Dunlop Straplock buttons from for like $5 so you don't have to spend the full $12 for each guitar. I'm telling you brother I went that way from the start and it's really nice.
 
One other thing, I've never drilled into the neck of my acoustic guitars to add strap buttons. I cringe every time I see it. If you look inside, There's a block of wood at the point where the necks are mounted to the body. On the guitar's I've done the manufactures have always had enough of that block stick out from the edge of the neck where I've been able to drill through the body and into that block to mount the button.
 
Gary if you're going to put buttons on it then why not go Dunlop straplock? You can even get them where they look like regular strap buttons yet are straploks. There's also a guy on Amazon you can buy only the Dunlop Straplock buttons from for like $5 so you don't have to spend the full $12 for each guitar. I'm telling you brother I went that way from the start and it's really nice.
+1 on the strap locks....I have them on all my guitars....except my Taylor. That's not a guitar I would gig with due to the price of it and the way guitars get beat up from gigging in a rock setting. So that's an "at home" guitar. I'll gig my beat to shit Takamine if needed.
 
Since my second back surgery, I sit. No getting around my lousy balance. Still use straps though. The risk of the guitar falling is a lot less.
 
I had I think it was a Planet Waves strap with a built in strap lock. It worked great. I always use a strap,even when sitting and playing on the sofa.
 
In 50 years of playing, I have never had a strap issue. At best, I could only have a lock on the heel end due to the wonky end pin jacks on most A/E guitars now-a-days. I am not concerned.
 
One other thing, I've never drilled into the neck of my acoustic guitars to add strap buttons. I cringe every time I see it. If you look inside, There's a block of wood at the point where the necks are mounted to the body. On the guitar's I've done the manufactures have always had enough of that block stick out from the edge of the neck where I've been able to drill through the body and into that block to mount the button.

That's where I've done it. I've installed lugs on three acoustics (IIRC, two Tacomas and a Martin) with nary a problem. As long as you drill a small pilot-hole you can screw in the lug with no issue and no damage to the finish.
 
I've learned to like a strap tied near the headstock.

I did it initially for a gig where we were doing a one mic super old school set up. In order to take a break and be heard you had to pick the guitar up high and get closer to the mic. This was damn near impossible to do and play anything decent with a button on the heal.

I just kind of left it there. I do find having the guitar sit higher helps it be more comfortable. Then when you go to play your other guitars with the heel button straps that sit lower, they feel weird. It's hard work having so many guitars.
 
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