handcrafted guitar straps

"The only thing a POINT73802 strap has in common with a run-of-the-mill strap is that they'll both hold your guitar." - Jimmy Hendricks

Colorful jacquard ribbon adorns a tabletop as it awaits selection in hopes of becoming the next fresh guitar strap.

Colorful jacquard ribbon adorns a tabletop as it awaits selection in hopes of becoming the next fresh guitar strap.

Vintage Woven Fabric

Each one-of-a-kind strap begins with a piece of fabric, usually vintage (1950s through 1970s). This material is only available in small quantities. Maximum length of an uncut piece is 10 yards (9.15 meters), in which case there is enough to make 6 straps, though often there's only enough to make two or three. I'm very selective when it comes to color, pattern & design, and with good NOS woven jacquard ribbon becoming more scarce, acquiring good fabric definitely takes a bit of effort. Once I've finally found a fabric that's up to snuff, I choose a vinyl backing - like the vintage straps from the '60s and '70s - that matches and/or compliments it, and then pick a color for the ends.

Suede, stamped & dyed vegetable-tanned leather and finished strap ends ready to be attached or sewn to a custom strap.

Suede, stamped & dyed vegetable-tanned leather and finished strap ends ready to be attached or sewn to a custom strap.

Hand-Cut Leather

First, almost all off-the-rack guitar strap ends are made of composite leather (think particle board) as opposed to natural, vegetable-tanned leather (to complete the analogy, think slab of wood). Real is most often better -- especially for something that requires durability. Second, mass produced straps have ends that are die-cut. Not these. I take blade to leather (as well as punch necessary holes, cut slits and do stamping). This way doesn't make them better per se, but the amount of care that goes into crafting each strap can be gauged when one inspects its ends.

In this example, the orange suede highlights the small bits of orange woven into the strap.

In this example, the orange suede highlights the small bits of orange woven into the strap.

Suede-Backed Ends (for a lil' POP!)

For the "Deluxe" series, the leather ends are backed with pig suede in a color that enhances the aesthetics of the strap. There is nothing inferior about their sans suede counterparts, however I feel the suede adds a finishing touch that, while unassuming, is both unique and visually appealing.