Testimonial: Greyhound Guitar Strap

Note: These each came in a couple minutes apart.


"IT IS BEAUTIFUL"



"I can't thank you enough for all your hard work and keeping me updated. The dog hairs are a perfect touch too; he just wanted to contribute!"
(Our dog Max contributed several hairs to the stitching on the guitar strap 😁)


"I'm going to get a good picture and post a review today I hope. Thank you, again. He loves it!"

Guitar Strap, Greyhound II

The client was looking for a personal gift for their partner's upcoming birthday and really liked a Greyhound guitar strap I'd made years ago.  We adapted and updated that design using the silhouette from their resident Greyhound (who has the goofiest ears).  There wasn't enough notice to have the guitar strap to them in time for the birthday but I was able to send them some WIP pictures just in time.

Guitar Strap, American Idol

I'm making some guesses here that the client in this case was a young woman who'se a big fan of Laine Hardy.  I confess I had to google who that was but he's the latest winner of the American Idol show.  The client and some of her friends were going to be meeting Mr. Hardy later in the month and they wanted a gift to give him so they asked me to make a custom guitar strap.

This was a bit tricky given my ignorance of Mr. Hardy or American Idol but at least there's a ton of photos I could use for reference.  I tried to combine elements of the guitar straps Mr. Hardy was using in those photos with the specs provided by the client and the result wasn't too bad.  I might've wished for the coloring on the flame to have turned out a bit stronger but the rest of the staining came out perfectly.

Guitar Strap, Paul Gilbertish Carving

This guitar strap is going to be a graduation present this summer.  The recipient is fan of the Paul Gilbert style of guitar straps so the client was hoping I could mimic that.  After trying some tap-offs and a dozen variations we settled on a free hand pattern repeated down the length of the strap.  It was kinda neat to be able to break out my cams and veiners again.  They're "classic" carving tools but I don't get to use them that often.

Guitar Strap, Spider

The late guitarist for WHO, John Entwistle, had a pair of guitar straps that were fairly unique.  One had a skeleton arm stretching along its length and the other a white spider web on a black background. 

The client was hoping I could mimic either of those guitar straps.  It was hard finding photo references for either of them but I could see enough of the skeletal strap to determine that I probably couldn't practically replicate it.  I'd have to sculpt the bones, probably out of EVA, and that isn't a material I have enough experience with yet.  So we went with the spider strap. 

I didn't notice until late in the drafting that the original spider strap has a little spider sitting in the middle of its web.  It's hard to see as anything but a red dot in any of the photos so I made my own from scratch.  The bodies are 3D printed and then I sculted a little bit of latigo to give them some depth and color.  The lines were a bit trickier.  I'd go over them once and they'd look white then the paint would cure and they'd be grey.  It took 2-3 coats to get them to stay white.  It's a pretty neat effect though and one I hope I get to practice again sometime!

Testimonial: Guitar Strap, Ontario

I received this message about the last guitar strap I shipped.  Just made my morning!

"My wife just gave me the guitar strap you made (The Hip, hockey stick, SRV, etc). I think it's probably the nicest thing I own. You did an outstanding job and I just wanted to thank you."

Guitar Strap, Ontario

This order kept running into unavoidable delays but I think it was all worth it in the end.  The client, a native of Vancouver, was purchasing it as a gift for their partner who's originally from Ontario.  We went through several versions of the design, scaling and selecting all the elements so that they could fit and be recognizable.  Then I filled the space between with decorative carving and backgrounding. 

When we finished the drafting (back in November) I was hoping I could get it in the mail fast enough to get their current location, France, in time for the holidays.  I was out of the weight of veg tan I would normally use for a guitar strap though and thought I might be able to use a nice cut off a lighter side.  I spent a couple days carving that cut before realizing that the lighter leather just couldn't hold the carving.  There were parts of the bargrounding falling off and the beveling didn't have any definition and it was just generally not up to standards.  I wound up tossing it and starting over from scratch again.

I'd already ordered a new side before this order had come in but it usually takes 2 weeks for supplies to arrive.  At that time of year it could easily be 3 weeks so I was well on to other orders before the shipment arrived.  The new cut cased late in the month and I spent a long Christmas Eve Eve getting all the carving and tinting done in one go.

I was banging around the studio pretty late into the evening but fortunately I have a pretty understanding "pupervisor".

After spending the preceding ~7 weeks or so working around the clock I took the last week of the year off.  I reckon I'd pretty well earned it but that meant the guitar strap sat on the work bench for a week.  Once I was able to get back to it it just took a couple of days to apply the over coat, stitch in the lining and make the finishing touches.

I'm glad we waited for the right leather.  The carving looks pretty spiffy and all the staining turned out as well as I could hope.  The goatskin lining is pretty excellent and latigo still works really well for the adjustable strap.  All in all it's a pretty nice guitar strap!

Guitar Strap, Rush Clockwork Angel

About 2.5 years ago I made a trio of guitar straps for a friend's family, the first of which was a laminated strap based off the album art for Rush's Clockwork Angel.  This client must've liked how that one turned out because they requested nearly the same design, just in tan rather than red.

I've picked up a few tricks since early 2015 and my materials have definitely improved.  I used to use a glazed pigskin to line the guitar straps but this time around I used a piece of goatskin.  Goats aren't that big but by taking a cut down the spine of the hide I was able to get a piece just large enough to work for the lining.  It's very supple, almost deerskin-esque, and it won't slide as much as the pigskin.  It does make the edging a bit tricky but with the proper glue, a lot of burnishing, and some kote I think it's all worked out pretty well.

Guitar Strap, Crawford

This was a fun commission.  The client wanted a guitar strap for a graduation gift and just had a few elements (cross, quote, name, and the fish) they wanted on it.  So I was able to "freestyle" the design connecting all those things as well as add a few elements myself.

Its been awhile since I made a guitar strap and I made a few changes from the old pattern.  Notably I replaced the pigskin lining with another strip of veg which I stained to match the latigo.  When all the laminating and beveling was done it's hard to tell that it's two pieces of leather back-to-back and not one double-sided strip.  And since the grain's going in different directions I imagine it'll help mitigate any elasticity.  Not that there should be much of that permitted by the stitching. 

In hindsight I might have given more thought to tinting the vines so there'd be more contrast but even if I had it would've been a pretty light tint.