One of the worst accidents that can happen while playing guitar is when the strap comes loose and the beloved guitar crashes to the ground. Possible damages include minor dings in the finish but also broken necks/headstocks. It all depends on how hard and at which angle the guitar makes contact with the floor.
Back in the mid 1990s it happened to me twice. On the same guitar. Don’t think I was doing stunts like flipping the guitar around. As far as I recall I simply pushed the guitar over to my right side so that it doesn’t get in the way while picking up the phone or the remote. In hindsight this was also a stupid move.
The tip to protect guitars against such mishaps is actually fairly common. Still given my background I somehow feel the need to cover the subject once more. Luckily there is a wide range of options to choose from to protect our guitars from falling out of the guitar strap. I’ll introduce the solutions of my choice below in some detail and will point out popular alternatives in the end.
But first listen to what Justin from JustinGuitar has to say. He introduces three different options and also shows how quickly a guitar strap can come loose.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjI3skPlCms
Cheap Solution
Some people use rubber gaskets from beer bottles to lock their straps to the guitar. It’s shown by Justin in the clip linked above. I believe that it may not work that easy if the guitar has wider buttons attached.
Fender branded rubber gaskets are commercially available by the way, thus making the cheap solution somewhat less cheap.
My Choice
Schaller Strap Lock
The Schaller Strap lock is a two part system. One part consists of the special buttons that need to be installed on the guitar to make the system work, the other part consists of the retainer that needs to be attached to an ordinary guitar strap. All parts required to install the system are included: 2 buttons, 2 short screws, 2 longer screws, 2 retainers, 2 washers and 2 buttons.
Schaller Strap Lock attached on strap
The picture above shows the retainer installed on a guitar strap. It is essential that the nut and the washer are mounted very tight on the strap so that the nut doesn’t have a chance to come loose. For a perfect fit it may be required to widen the holes in the strap a little bit. Also, some locktite may be worth a try to secure the nut. Still, I’d recommend to check the nut every once in a while because this is practically the only weak spot of the system.
Individual parts of Schaller Strap Lock: retainer, washer and nut (not pictured is the pin)
Above you can see the three parts that need to be installed on the strap lock. I didn’t include pictures of the buttons that need to be installed because these aren’t real special. They are fairly small so they can fit into the retainer making them useless for any other method of strap attachment than the Schaller Strap Lock. There are 3rd party buttons on the marked that can be used with Schaller retainers and regular straps though.
Schaller Strap Lock: retainer with locking mechanism
What you see above is the actual retainer (guitar side). The guitar buttons are secured in two ways when properly installed. (1) There is a metal pin that locks the button in place, to release pull knob on retainer. (2) The U shape makes sure that the button isn’t secured by a little pin alone. This is the main reason I like the Schaller Strap Locks so much despite the little drawback mentioned above.
I’ll include a youtube link below to a video that shows how the Schaller Strap Locks are installed on a guitar. Please note that I do not agree with the choice of screws used to mount the buttons on the guitar. Of the two provided by Schaller I always use the one that is longer than the original screw that did come out of the guitar.
Planet Waves
Planet Waves straps are guitar straps that have a builtin locking mechanism that works without any modifications to the guitar. Simply attach the strap to the button present and turn the plastic wheel that closes the locking mechanism. To open it a little button has to be pressed, otherwise the mechanism won’t move.
Planet Waves Strap: Pictured are both sides and both open/closed positions
I use one of these as a fallback for cases where it isn’t possible or convenient to use the Schaller system. A big advantage compared to the latter is that the Planet Waves lock is absolutely flat. That way it’s comfortable on guitars that have a strap button on the back like Flying Vs. Despite being flat it is also fairly large which to me feels kind of awkward on most guitars.
Other Products
LOXX USA Strap Lock
The LOXX system is also highly regarded by many people. It is similar in function to the Schaller Strap Lock and the original Dunlop Straplok Retainer. According to the pictures the whole system is very small which may be an advantage over the fairly large Schaller Strap Lock.
Dunlop Straplok Retainer System
The Dunlop Retainer System is another classic strap lock system. Like the Schaller Strap Lock the Dunlop retainer System requires special buttons that the lock mechanism can attach to.
Dunlop (Ergo) Lok Strap
The Dunlop Lok Strap is the third option shown by Justin in the first youtube clip above beside the Schaller system and the rubber gasket. It doesn’t require modifications to the guitar.
DiMarzio ClipLock
Here is another approach. The DiMarzio ClipLock consists of short straps that are fixed to the guitar instead of the usual buttons. The actual strap is attached to these shorter straps using the attached plastic clips.
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