New guitars: why only one strap pin? - Page 2

#16 11-13-2016, 01:42 PM

The first thing I did with my Martin when I got a new one was complete the construction by installing a strap button on the treble side of the heel.

RustyAxe · #17 11-13-2016, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PiousDevil

Why do so many guitars ship with only an end pin? What am I going to do with that? Attach the strap to the headstock? Screw that, it distorts the neck, and on slot heads it isn't even an option due to the lack of clearance under the strings. What is the reasoning behind this?

It doesn't "distort the neck" in any way. I don't like a strap pin on the heel. I've been using this on all my acoustics (guitars and basses)and don't have to put it under the strings. Neither do you. 51 years and counting.

Silly Moustache · #18 11-13-2016, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neon Soul

Cause strap button placement preferences are subjective.

Because the owner/player shoud determine where he/she wants the neck button.

I put mine at position 2. Not recommended by makers, but I've been doing it for decades. Best balance possible.

YMMV etc.

rct · #19 11-13-2016, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RustyAxe

It doesn't "distort the neck" in any way. I don't like a strap pin on the heel. I've been using this on all my acoustics (guitars and basses)and don't have to put it under the strings. Neither do you. 51 years and counting.

I did that too. Not long ago the guy that works on my guitars asked me to put a button on, carrying on up there with an acoustic secured at the headstock as if it was another Tele didn't strike him as a good idea, so I have buttons on the acoustics too. It also helps with the straplocks, one strap will do them all now, which helps with the wireless when changing guitars.

So, I guess there is something to it, even if only a little. I guess.

rct

bjewell · #20 11-13-2016, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neon Soul

Cause strap button placement preferences are subjective.

One, Two and Four and the guitar will not balance right -- it will lean forward as you are standing. Number three can and will lead to a crack in the side unless you add some sort of wood support piece inside to hold the screw. Number five is a direct hit into the most delicate part of the guitar, the neck and body joint.

Looburst · #21 11-13-2016, 03:57 PM

That's why I don't use 1 thru 5 at all. I use number 6 position which would be where the heel curves, on the treble side, the perfect placement and never had a single issue. 25 years and counting.

Vol46 · #22 11-13-2016, 05:12 PM

Apparently, McCartney is OK tying his strap to the headstock..
http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/8045...-McCartney.jpg

http://ww1.prweb.com/prfiles/2013/04...ey-tickets.jpg

Wade Hampton · #23 11-13-2016, 05:49 PM

To get back to the OP's original question, strap buttons on the heel of the neck are usually left off by most manufacturers because there is such a wide assortment of personal preferences in this regard. I prefer my own strap buttons at the heel of the neck, but I don't begrudge anyone else their preferences. It's just a matter of personal choice.

whm

Kupuna50 · #24 11-13-2016, 06:39 PM

MOST guitarists sit when playing. Standing is more for band situations, hence, only one strap button.

zabdart · #25 11-13-2016, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PiousDevil

Why do so many guitars ship with only an end pin? What am I going to do with that? Attach the strap to the headstock? Screw that, it distorts the neck, and on slot heads it isn't even an option due to the lack of clearance under the strings. What is the reasoning behind this?

Good question. I've been wondering about this myself ever since I bought my Gibson J-50 back in 1968. I just used the waxed shoe laces attached to one end of the strap to tie that end to the headstock under the strings where the strings break over the nut. Been doing it that way, like thousands of other folkies, for nearly 50 years now without any problems. Never encountered any "distortion of the neck," so I don't know what you're talking about.

flaggerphil · #26 11-13-2016, 07:22 PM

As many others have said, putting the strap on the headstock won't distort the neck...up until the late '70s to early '80s (I got my first acoustic guitar in 1964) that was the only way to attach a strap. I didn't get a guitar with a heel button until 2001 and none of my guitars before then had a problem.

And, again, as others have said, some guitars come without heel buttons because different people have different ideas on where the button should go...if they even want a button at all.

#27 11-13-2016, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kupuna50

MOST guitarists sit when playing. Standing is more for band situations, hence, only one strap button.

If that's the case, why would there be any at all?

bjewell · #28 11-13-2016, 08:31 PM

Because the button on the bottom is also a spacer so that the bottom of the guitar doesn't get scuffed.

TBman · #29 11-13-2016, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bjewell

Because the button on the bottom is also a spacer so that the bottom of the guitar doesn't get scuffed.

You can balance your guitar on the endpin?

And Deer grow up to be Moose.

Wade Hampton · #30 11-13-2016, 08:48 PM

After Kupuna wrote:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kupuna50

MOST guitarists sit when playing. Standing is more for band situations, hence, only one strap button.

A-mac asked:

Quote:

Originally Posted by A-Mac

If that's the case, why would there be any at all?

Not all guitars get made with end pins. Larrivée guitars had no factory-installed end pins at all until about fifteen years ago, not on the purely acoustic models, anyway (the ones with built-in factory electronics shipped with end pin jacks.) And of course classical guitars don't have end pins, either.

whm