Install strap pins on carbon fiber?

[Sarah1F]

This is a little bit off the beaten path but I just picked up a Lava U concert ukulele, which has a carbon fiber composite body.
It has a proprietary strap pin and strap, a strap of which is not included and not available anywhere in the US as far as I can tell (nice move, Lava)!! The existing strap pin is in an awkward place on the body anyway. I would like to install strap pins if it is safe to do on a carbon fiber composite instrument. I need to use a strap, since the finish on the Lava U is so slippery. And no, I wouldn’t think of doing this to my two RainSongs. Lol.
Hope someone can help. Thanks!

[Melt in the Sun]

Can you post a picture of the existing pins? Conveniently they aren't shown in the stock photos...seems like there's probably a way to make a normal strap work.

If not, I would do it the same way emerald does - instead of using the wood screw that comes with the strap button, they use a machine screw and a small nut inside the body with a little bit of blue loctite.

[KevinH]

Yeah, that's an odd place for a strap pin. I installed an end pin jack in my X-20, but that's quite different from the Lava Uke. Is there any way you could get your camera into the sound hole to get an idea what the new pin would be going in/through?

[Sarah1F]

Originally Posted by Melt in the Sun

Can you post a picture of the existing pins? Conveniently they aren't shown in the stock photos...seems like there's probably a way to make a normal strap work….

Great idea! I believe we can post photos through photobucket or similar? I think I posted a picture once a while back but don’t really
remember how I did it.

[URL="https://www.vinstagemusic.fr/lava-music/lava-u-ukulele-electro/4833"[/URL]

If it works, one of these pictures shows it very well.

[Sarah1F]

Originally Posted by KevinH

Yeah, that's an odd place for a strap pin. I installed an end pin jack in my X-20, but that's quite different from the Lava Uke. Is there any way you could get your camera into the sound hole to get an idea what the new pin would be going in/through?

That’s a good idea, Kevin. I should be able to shine a small penlight flashlight in there and take a look. Technically a regular strap can fit onto the strap pin but it puts a regular strap in an extremely awkward position for playing comfortably.

[Chipotle]

My Composite Acoustics GX has a strap pin in a similarly awkward place:



Regular straps didn't work very well; they needed to be shorter at the least. I found a company called ESO Straps (no longer in business) who made ergonomic curved straps and made me a custom-order short strap of the needed length. Also, since the GX had a pickup with the kind of end-pin jack that was hard to fit a standard leather strap over, I got a Tapastring keeper. It all works a charm!

Maybe something similar will do for the uke -- measure how big a strap you need, and find someone who can make you a curved, custom-length strap, and try a Tapastring on that pin if attaching the leather end is a problem.

ESO is out of business, but a quick search for "curved guitar strap" turned up a few examples, or you could just contact a reputable leather strap maker (Lakota, Sully's, etc.) and see if they'd make you something custom.

One downside to using that strap pin location, even with a nice strap: it tends to neck dive. That may not be an issue with a uke, but one way to avoid it is to attach that end of the strap to the headstock instead, and skip that strap pin entirely.