Let's take a look at three different guitar strap locks. Fender, Dunlop, and Schaller. I'll show you the install process, which one is my favorite and which one I think you should buy!!!
I've got 2 sets of Schallers. They are beautiful, well engineered, easy and safe to use and most things made of metal in Germany are pretty good. I didn't need any tools to install. The thing you were calling a bolt on the Fender is called a "nut." Nice video.
I'm all about the Schaller locks! Cheap, black Levi straps & Schaller locks for every guitar, a drop of super glue or clear nail polish on one little spot of the washer & you're good to go! I recommend the spot of glue or nail polish with any strap lock!
I have the dunlop ones on mine. I like them because I've gone to play with people, forgotten my strap and was still able to borrow one without a lock from someone else without worrying it would slip off
I used to love and be obsessed with the Dunlop Straploks for years but after a brand-new set failed and drop my guitar straight to the ground I'm never buying them again. Just seeing them on the video makes my heart skip a beat. Yeah, I know it might have been a faulty unit in like 10,000 that left the factory, but I don't care. If I pay for a product that is intended to lock my strap in place and I trust my very expensive/favorite guitars with it, I expect it to do its job and do it well, so failing one time only is really all I need. Anyway, my cat-like reflexes were, fortunately, quick enough for me to catch the neck of my favorite guitar right on time and avoid the tragedy about 3 inches from the floor, but I feel for those who may not get so lucky. So, since that incident happened my advice for all my fellow guitarists has been to ditch those Dunlop abominations out of your beloved guitars, and instead switch to Schaller S-Locks because the mechanism on those is designed in such a way that even in the remote possibility that it fails to lock the strap (something already pretty much impossible to happen because it is spring-locked tightly and strongly) it will still secure your guitar in place because of the way the lock connects to the guitar from below. You would only notice that it "failed" if/when you took off the strap yourself, basically. So, what this means is that with this straplock, your guitar is literally always secure and protected from a disaster, I mean even gravity itself is on your side and helping. A disaster just can't happen even if you wanted to and so it's absolutely perfect. Sorry for the rant, but friends don't let friends buy Dunlop Straploks. Stay safe and Rock on \m/
unfortunately, the flush mount is hard to find in my country. so I lathe the mount into 8 mm diameter, so its look like the flush mount. and that giving me extra cost.. 🤦🏽♂️
The strap locks on Gibson Pete Townsend LP are pretty stellar. His roadie made them and Gibson copied or outsourced. Those should be a option! Killer!!
The new Schaller design all the way (not the old design like what Fender uses). I have these on all 30+ of my guitars and basses. Only have had issues with the Fender and old Schaller locks. The Schaller strap buttons are also superior as they make the bolt thicker and longer so it bites into new wood. The fender buttons get loose over time since the bolt is roughly the same size.
Dunlop are only locked in place by two little nubs that fit into the barrel on the guitar connector. If/when one of those little nubs fails, you’re screwed. Relying on those little nubs to hold all the weight of a guitar is risky. With the Schaller the guitar sits in the U shaped tray on the strap. If the small part inside fails, at least your strap is still in the tray. The Fender is a copy of the way Schaller used to make theirs.
This video would benefit from a section that shows how to safely enlarge the holes in a new strap, which I’ve had to do every time I buy a new strap and fit locks. It’s a very fiddly process (most people don’t have a leather hole punch of the right diameter sitting around) which, in my case, ends up with me cutting the leather with the end of a Stanley knife and nibbling away just enough material to accept the lock. Don’t cut away more than you need to.
I like the dunlop cuz I've used schaller and fender and they eventually expand the whole in the strap so the locks just fall through but dunlop uses a top and bottom washer which helps alleviate the stress on the whole
Concise and to the point. How I like it. Thank you. I'm wondering how you found the Schaller supplied screws went into your Les Paul. Did you need to drill or fill? Was the neck button a tight fit? I heard this might be a slight hassle.
Thanks for watching! The Schaller screws are definitely a tight fit. I did not want to risk cracking the wood or finish so I drilled out the hole slightly on the neck button.
You always should do one or the other as screws demand a Zenful approach or you can split the neck block and really have a troublesome repair on your hands. A little time spent doing it correctly will not end in tears. Especially on a Martin Ukulele I had to carefully drill the heel of its little neck or would of split screwing it cold for sure. I always pre-drill screw holes starting small and testing the screw to see how much force it is applying and making the hole bigger if necessary because its still to big for the hole. I also glue in the screw the grain is dangerously short. Gluing the screws in with epoxy so the foreign part amalgamates with the instrument as a unit and wont split it as an alien part or because it develops play to increase leverage. you can still unscrew them by putting a soldering iron to the screw, but overall it really saves problems on narrow heel and expensive upper bout backwards facing bollards that require a kind mobius like strap twist lol.
I actually prefer something that will allow my strap to rest against the wood on the guitar. All strap locks have the strap some distance away from the guitar. I believe some rock guitarist actually mounted their strap permanently using a wood screw through a large washer through the strap resting against the guitar body.
The fender strap locks are basically the old Schaller design. A major drawback (and potential danger) of this design the securing nut can come loose if you don't use some sort of thread locker and/or semi-regular tightening. Because it's one the outside of the assembly, when it does come off your guitar and nut both hit the floor. On a dark stage that means the nut is lost forever. Ask me how I know! BTW, the Ernie Ball superlocks are my personal favorite.
So I bought some Fender strap locks and they were nothing like the ones in the video... and actually like the Ernie Ball ones. Not sure when that change happened, but glad I don't have that old design!
I use Schaller S locks on ALL my quiver of choppers from Arch top to Tele's with no problems ever, but am not sure if they are the best, I just have used schaller for years and never had any problems and Di Marzio lifetime warranty leads until I went wireless (My classical was always wireless lol but plays Ragtime Bossa and Choro more than Bach and Sor these days.)
Dunlop has never failed me. All on 5-string heavy basses, some new, some rusting away. All working perfectly. Can't get any better than that. Easy to install. No need for hex and all those stuff. Why would Schaller even require 3 tools? But I'm using rubber washers on my ES-335, I think Dunlops would poke me too much as the strap pin is behind the heel of the neck.
If you don't have hex keys, how do you even set your intonation? If you have some aversion to using tools just use the seals from a Grolsch bottle, I guess. I have the Schallers on six of my guitars. I had to justify my $10 hex key investment somehow. 😂
Never had a Schaller rust EVER. Just saying as a fact jack. My ES 175 is the same as your 335 but the 16 inchers are big enough that the spike never bites me. Its snagged in an Arann sweater though.
I love Schallers and have used the Dunlop for 20 years. The ONLY thing I don’t like with the Schallers is I found with my ES-335, the strap lock head pokes me in the chest at times depending if I am seated, holding it close, etc. something to consider.
Yeh, they do have a lance like unclipping rod don't they, but I have never dropped a 4500 buck axe since. Wear a bullet proof vest or Armoured Bodice like a Roundhead LOL. Your right though, they have bit me once or twice, but never while playing. On my Telecaster too, you can't stand it perpendicular on a damageable surface for the same reason. The wee spike will mar expensive furniture.
@@joshbrooks4192the fender is just a licensed version of the schaller. same exact straplock, but the fender is the older version if the schaller. pretty silly to include it as a separate straplock, their parts are even interchangeable.
Hi, thanks for the reviews. I bought a Fender strap lock set to go on my Fender Squier Jazz Bass and the screws that came with the set are smaller than what's on the Squier. I heard of people using toothpicks and such to rig the locks to work. I was wondering if you had the same issue with the Fender locks on your Fender bass? I don't know if there's a difference between American made and Indonesian made Fender basses. I just want a lock that will have the same screw size. Thanks for any help.
Hi Josh. Came here trying to figure out what buttons are currently installed on a Les Paul Traditional Goldtop I just bought. (So it was a bonus when I saw your Goldtop!) 😊. Looks like my buttons are either Fender or Schaller. Do you know if they are interchangable (in other words, if you could use a Schaller lock with a Fender button)? All with best with your channel.
I got the schaller ones after looking at them in the guitar center web. After i got them, i was told that they are the rave on the internet. I think they maybe a bit too detail to install. You need a 3 mm allen wrench, a very small flathead screwdriver…Dont you think?
Ive had nothing but problems with the Grover locks i use. All my straps are really nice thick leather and there’s not enough threads to catch the nut more than one thread
I have Dunlop's on one of my basses. I'm going for Schaller on my new bass I got about a month ago. Did you have any issue installing the buttons at all? Because on my other bass the guy put them on with a drill and the top one came loose and I had to replace the screw. I just don't want something similar to happen with the Schallers.
Hmmm... the "Fender" system looks absolutely identical to the old Schaller strap locks. Did Fender license that from Schaller? Also, I have got a Warwick bass that came pre-installed with what looks like the Dunlop system, but the recepticle for the strap pin is sunk _into_ the wood, leaving the locked strap flush with the body.
I have a set of Dunlops and they tend to lose the little ball bearings that hold the strap on the guitar after a while. I don't trust them at all. Rest of mine are Fender style and work great, although they do come loose after a while and have to be retightened.
I've had a Schaller fail....with the strap-attached part, the cup, wear down to the point that the strap pin came off. I caught guitar. I suggest a drop of oil in the cup from time to time to slow down pin/cup interface wear. Also don't like to see the evidence of this wear as black dust around the strap button on the upper bout of the guitar, particularly around the pin closest to the neck. I still only buy Schaller...but they ain't fool proof.
Schaller screwed up by making the strap button and screw a single piece. You used to be able to use the stock screw when swapping them out... now you'll most likely be doing wood modification in order to use them.
The Schallers are too big and pointy for guitars with backward facing strap pegs. Also online they have been getting very mixed reviews. But they seem solid
Hi Man, what is your opinion on the fender one after months of this video? My guitar screw hole is slightly different so it is the only best bet for me without drill into the guitar.
I still like the fender strap locks. Although I do check to make sure the nut is tight every once in a while, as there is no set screw to permanently hold it in place.
Some guitars you will have to drill a slightly bigger hole since the new strap lock screw is typically bigger than the factory strap button. You never want to force a screw into the wood in danger of damaging the guitar. You can always take it to a professional Luthier if you are not comfortable doing the install.
im german so there might be a tidbit of bias lol but literally anything german made is top quality.. Why? idk but SennHeiser headphones,Schaller locks,tuners, No but all seriousness i prefer the horseshoe shape on the schaller as its more secure and in the i/1000000 chance the inner mechinism breaks its still being held by that!, Plus the new design of the S-Locks are updated to be more secure and tighter, but alot of people do love dunlop locks and swear by them, and there about 10-15$ cheaper!
It was a Ernie Ball Jacquard Guitar Strap, Regal Black. www.amazon.com/dp/B00UJ9LM2M/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_api_glt_i_VAGMF7QMEPW0QYHEAZRP?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Why wouldn’t you place the strap onto the guitar and then put the button on with the Dunlops? If the button were to break, the strap would remain on and the guitar wouldn’t fall on the floor. You’d also be able to get the strap closer to the guitar that way. Has anyone tried that?
This is probably a stupid question. How can I be sure that installing a replacement button does not weaken the wood and make the new button more likely to pop out of the screw hole?
From my experience usually the screws on the strap locks are slightly thicker so it'll probably stay on but if you're still worried then some thread lock will help
I find two things with all of these solutions. First, you need to swap out the stock button. Second they all stick way out from the body. I opt for the D' Addario which has a locking mechanism that accepts most standard stap buttons. My favorite was the Planet waves, which was one of the easiest to use. I can't see buying a system like this and retrofitting all my guitars if I want to use the same strap on them. Unless you're going to swing your guitar around your back, then by all means use the locks listed here. I'm not sure I would treat a guitar of any value that way though.
Hey Josh, great job! I am working on my own solution to this issue which I want to make a Kick Starter video for. Since you have gone through all the trouble of demoing these three existing systems it would be a huge help to me if I could grab a couple close up shots from you for my section on "what's out there now". I can credit you at the end, but will not use any audio, just a few seconds of video to make the point. Wanted to be sure and ask you first. Maybe one day you will do a video on my solution!
I have the same Dunlop locks. I’m not crazy about the design. The strap is a too far from the body. That puts a lot of load on the screw that mounts the strap button. If that screw breaks down goes the guitar. I’m thinking to ditch the lock and use the Dunlop button.
Yes the fender and schaller are very similar in design. I still like how Schaller has the set screw to secure it in place. I have to check the nut on my fender locks from time to time since they have the tendency to loosen over time.
Be very careful installing the schaller locks to acoustic guitars. You can't remove the screw from the button and use the original screw, the supplied screw is too long. It is a problem with Taylor 814 guitars, it can result in damage to your guitar.
