Help! Tonal differences vs strap colour ?

[bkrumme]

An interesting topic! Here's what I've found:

Black straps make you sound heavier.
Red straps make you play faster.

 

[ShaneV]

What is this the Gear Page?

Nah, this wouldn't be tongue in cheek if it was.

 

[nobozos]

An interesting topic! Here's what I've found:

Black straps make you sound heavier.
Red straps make you play faster.

I thought black straps made you sound thinner?

 

[bkrumme]

I thought black straps made you sound thinner?

I thought that was white ones?

 

[nobozos]

Maybe it is, but you can't use them after Labor Day.

 

[Stratty316]

This just in... DON'T USE THE BROWN STRAPS... they are laced with bad tone! repeat... the brown straps are laced with bad tone!

 

[browndog]

I use black leather as it reminds me of my weekend group get togethers.

 

[tornandfrayed]

I use a skinny vintage strap when i want a tweed sound!

 

[banjoplayer]

On a german website I found an excerpt from "Weiße Tonabnehmer klingen Scheiße!" which means in english "white pickups sound like sh!t" (quoted at the end of the page)
I think this is another interesting aspect !

Ragazzi - website fr erregende Musik

 

[NorM]

This just in... DON'T USE THE BROWN STRAPS... they are laced with bad tone! repeat... the brown straps are laced with bad tone!

This is in complete contridiction with the leather being able to breath argument.

So should we say for a natural leather strap it should be dyed with only a natural dye.
I find sweat and blood work best.

 

[balance]

I'm glad other people are finally coming around on this, because I've thought this was an overlooked variable for a long time. I've spent years researching what sounds best. For the strap iteslf, it has to be a good, thick leather strap. You can't get good tone from any kind of man-made material like nylon. In addition, any kind of woven fabric strap is terrible. The resonance just gets lost in the gaps between the weaves.

The fact that it needs to be leather isn't enough though. The front of the strap can be finished in any color you like, but the important thing is that the back-side of the strap must be un-finished. This is to allow the leather to "breathe". This is cruicial to enable the leather to age properly, and enhance the natural tone of the leather.

Even with the proper choice of a good quality leather strap, you can still kill your tone without the choice of the proper strap buttons. Stock strap buttons will never perform to the degree that you need them to, since there is minimum contact with the strap itself. The majority of the contact is only between the bottom of the strap button, and the strap. This minimizes the amount of resonance that transfers between the strap and the body. In order to maximize the beneficial tonal characteristics of your strap, you need a high quality strap lock system that maximizes contact between your strap and the guitar body. After many years of trial-and-error, I have found that Schaller strap locks are the absolute best for this tonal transfer. This is a result of the large amount of surface area of the strap that is cinched between the locking mechanism and the washer. The design of the strap-lock to strap button interface is also designed to maximize surface area contact, and tone transfer.

Always remember, your guitar will never sound it's best without your strap-on.

Actually, only leather from cows born in 2003 is worth it. Combine that with EBMM strap locks, forget about Schaller, and you get sublime tone. I can clearly hear the difference between 2003 and 2004 leather models.

 

[Colin]

Actually, only leather from cows born in 2003 is worth it. Combine that with EBMM strap locks, forget about Schaller, and you get sublime tone. I can clearly hear the difference between 2003 and 2004 leather models.

so a L Series Strap is the best? Darn vintage strap market...

 

[Dizzy]

I reckon Lefty should make a leather strap out of his gimp suit and report the findings......

Remember undo the zip over your mouth before you type Lefty !!

 

[ScoobySteve]

And racing stripes add more horsepower.

Oops....

 

[leftyguitarblue]

I reckon Lefty should make a leather strap out of his gimp suit and report the findings......

Remember undo the zip over your mouth before you type Lefty !!

"mmmmgggghhhmmmmm hhhhmmmmggghhhhhhh..."

 

[brasco68]

"mmmmgggghhhmmmmm hhhhmmmmggghhhhhhh..."

Scott...that was you behind that zipper????

 

[kissmyaxe]

I reckon Lefty should make a leather strap out of his gimp suit and report the findings......

Remember undo the zip over your mouth before you type Lefty !!

hey did you know left handed people have a much higher suicide rate....I wonder how much of that you have attributed too

but you know us dullards here love any attention we can get; we wont go blasting our brains out, we will just all band together one day , stowaway on a vegamite boat and find you and cut off your right hand I like vegamite

 

[Dizzy]

hey did you know left handed people have a much higher suicide rate....I wonder how much of that you have attributed to

Just doin' my bit for the good of the world

 

[GWDavis28]

What is this the Gear Page?

The Gear Page - Powered by vBulletin

Glenn |B)

 

[PeteDuBaldo]

I use an EB gold Sparkle strap for when I am playing on the clean channel (it brightens up the tone), and switch to a MM polypro strap when I want to darken things up on the overdrive.