What’s the Best Guitar Strap for Me?
The guitar strap is one of the most essential and therefore popular electric guitar, bass, or acoustic guitar accessories going. It’s therefore little wonder that there’s a mind-boggling amount of straps to choose from, which can make it tough to find just the right one for you. Whether you’re just looking for the coolest looking strap going, or you need a specific material, a specific length, or width, this Buyer’s Guide has been put together to answer your most frequently asked guitar strap related questions and help you find the right thing. If you can’t find the answer to your question here, feel free to contact us!
What is it? | Length | Width | Neck-Dive | Materials | Fitting Your Strap | Strap-Locks | More
1. What’s a Guitar Strap?
A guitar strap can be fitted to most guitars, basses, or similar instruments to make them more comfortable when sitting to play and enable standing to play. With a guitar strap, the weight of the instrument is balanced across your shoulders, giving you more freedom of movement. So, in an ergonomic way you put less stress on your body and have more room to perform and express yourself. A guitar strap is fitted using the ‘strap buttons’ of the guitar or instrument (see Question 6).
2. How Long Should My Guitar Strap Be?
The length of your guitar strap depends on your build and preference. Most guitar straps have an adjustable length and can be roughly split into three different maximum lengths. The maximum lengths have been listed below:
- Short: Up to around 127cm. Most of the time, these are also wider and thicker than most standard straps and are designed for heavier instruments.
- Standard: Up to around 160cm. In most cases, this is best choice.
- Extra Long: Up to around 175cm. This kind of strap is useful when playing a guitar or bass with a less standard body shape where the strap buttons are in an unusual place, like with Flying V or Explorer models.
Standard Guitar Straps
Short Guitar Straps
Extra Long Guitar Straps
All Guitar Straps
3. How Wide Should My Guitar Strap Be?
The width can effect the look and comfort of a guitar strap. The width of straps can vary from just 1cm up to as wide as 9cm. Most guitar straps will have a width of between 5cm and 6.5cm and generally, a wider strap will ensure that the weight of the instrument is better balanced across your body. Also, if you suffer from any shoulder, neck, or back pains while playing for a long time, a wider strap can be the best solution. The downside of playing with a really wide strap is that you might lose a little freedom of movement. Straps with a really narrow width are often vintage-style. These classic looking straps usually have a wider part meant to sit on your shoulder so you don’t need to worry too much about comfort (also see Question 4).
5cm to 6.5cm Wide Guitar Straps
Less than 5cm Wide Guitar Straps
More than 6.5cm Wide Guitar Straps
All Guitar Straps
4. How Do I Stop ‘Neck Dive’ When Playing My Guitar?
Another very good reason for using a wider strap is if your guitar is a little unbalanced. With some models, it can be that the head is too heavy and continuously ‘dives’ towards the floor if you’re not holding it while using a strap. This is what’s commonly referred to as ‘neck dive’. This can make playing really tough and actually get painful since you constantly have to hold your guitar tight to keep the head up. A wide strap can help counter neck dive since it means there’s more contact between the strap and your shoulder so that the strap won’t slip as easily. There are also straps available with a special anti-slip coating or material applied to the part where the strap sits on your shoulder.
5. What Material Should My Guitar Strap Be Made Out Of?
Cotton: These are usually decent straps with a fun design that come at a good price. Cotton is a strong, natural material with a soft feel and a texture than can be printed and decorated in pretty much any way you could dream of. The ends are usually finished with suede or leather to strengthen the point where it’s fitted to the strap buttons.
Leather: These can be relatively expensive but make great guitar straps, since leather is incredibly strong and comfortable. Usually, these straps have a leather base combined with other materials. Leather straps can sometimes come decorated with studs or rings.
Suede: These are essentially the same as leather straps, but with a much less shiny and smooth surface. It’s a much better choice if you prefer the look and soft feel of suede over leather. However, suede is more sensitive to dirt and stains.
Nylon: These straps are both durable and cheap, while some can be more expensive if they’ve been printed. The disadvantage of using a nylon strap is that your instrument can feel a little less stable because nylon is relatively slippery and more likely to shift than a strap made of cotton or leather, for example.
Polyester: These straps are incredibly strong and flexible yet always keep their shape. Just like nylon, polyester is a synthetic material. The advantage of a polyester strap is that it won’t take on any moisture at all, which can be uncomfortable when playing a Summer show or an energetic gig since any sweat will make the strap slippery and uncomfortable. The price of polyester straps can vary depending on the construction and look.
Cotton Guitar Straps
Leather Guitar Straps
Suede Guitar Straps
Nylon Guitar Straps
Polyester Guitar Straps
Printed/Patterned Guitar Straps
All Guitar Straps
6. How Do I Put My Strap on My Guitar?
Most guitar straps come finished with two ends with a hole in them so that they can be hooked over the ‘strap buttons’ (the mounting points that look like little door knobs) of your guitar. Strap buttons can be found fitted on pretty much any electric guitar that exists.
With acoustic guitars, it can sometimes be the case that only one strap button has been fitted. Here, you can simply loop a shoelace or a piece of thick string through one end of the strap (sometimes these come included with acoustic guitars). The string or lace is then tucked under the strings, just after the nut, and around the head of your guitar and tied in place. With classical guitars, you’re unlikely to find any fitted strap buttons since a strap is not generally used for a classical guitar playing posture. But, if you want to use a strap to play your classical guitar and don’t want to install strap buttons, then we recommend using a specially designed classical guitar strap. Tip: Under the heading Straplocks & Strap Buttons on our website, you can find a range of accessories that can be used to make quickly fitting and removing your acoustic guitar strap extra easy.
Please note: If you want to install one or more strap buttons on your guitar, then always get some advice from a guitar expert and don’t do you it yourself if you’re at all unsure. If you screw the strap button in the wrong place – especially with an acoustic guitar – then you could cause irreparable damage.
7. How Do I Make Sure That My Guitar Strap Won’t Come Lose?
The openings at the ends of a guitar strap can get worn so that they aren’t as securely fitted around the strap buttons and can sometimes (and suddenly) come lose. This means you’re sometimes forced to catch your guitar before it hits the ground – a guitarist’s nightmare! This can even happen with a brand new strap if you like to move around a lot as you play. So, what are the solutions to this?
- Some guitar straps are already fitted with a system that locks the strap to the strap button. However, most straps just don’t have this, so in that case, you could go for one of the following options:
- Strap Locks: Most of the time, this means removing the strap buttons that came fitted to your guitar and replacing them with the strap buttons that come with special strap locks. The strap locks themselves are securely fitted to the end of your strap and have a clip-on/clip-off system that makes it easy to securely fit and remove your strap. There are various versions of this system available.
- Strap Blocks (and similar accessories): These are a cheaper and more simple alternative to strap locks. Straps blocks are little rubber rings that you put around the strap buttons after you’ve put on your strap. While they sit tightly and securely, this system is less of a fail-safe solution than using strap locks.
Guitar Straps with Integrated Strap Locks
Strap Blocks, Locks & Strap Buttons
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