Author Topic: Strap Locks anyone ?? (Read 2456 times)

manticore · « **Reply #30 on:** August 09, 2015, 08:46:05 PM »

I too have Schallers on everything. My basses are rather heavy, and over time the ring around the top of the button will wear down. Once the ring wears the locking mechanism will stop working.

ed_zeppelin · « **Reply #31 on:** August 10, 2015, 03:11:45 AM »

What you can do is drill two 1/4 holes straight through the neck around the 14th fret or so (more or less) and stick two bolts through 'em, slap some nuts on there and crank 'em down until you hear the wood crack (this may take more torque on a Series II because of the extra laminations).

Then drill some more holes and mount a U-bolt off the universal joint of your yard car on either side of the neck and beat the crap out of the endy part of the U so it kinda flops over (placement can be adjusted with a hammer or by dropping the guitar on concrete steps just right) and stick some more bolts or screws in the body somewhere nearby.

Attach a turnbuckle between that there U-bolt and whatever's handy (you can even use the bolts you just stuck through the body, unless those are for decoration) and crank the turnbuckles until your arm gets tired or the screwdriver bends.

Attach your strap to the ... Hey, waitaminnit. Well, I guess you can just use a regular strap button, but me, I'd drive a railroad spike through the headstock and ...

(I came upon that pic years ago and every time I look at it, I laugh and try to put myself inside the mind of the lunkhead who did that. The turnbuckles just SLAY me! Can you imagine what it must have sounded like, crankin' those babies right into the wood? Okay, a little more! HmmmPH! Almost there! [crack!] Yup!)

(Message edited by Ed_zeppelin on August 10, 2015)

bigredbass · « **Reply #32 on:** August 10, 2015, 10:04:22 PM »

Actually . . . . I'm surprised no one has commented on the difference in tone with the Dunlops vs. the Schallers.

Joey

cozmik_cowboy · « **Reply #33 on:** August 11, 2015, 06:42:51 AM »

But remember, you can't fairly compare the tone of nickel Dunlops to gold Schallers.......

Peter (who can, if required, sniff cork with the best of them)
(Well, not really - check out the Vintage Les Pauls subforum at mylespaul.com some time to find true masters of sniffery.)

edwardofhuncote · « **Reply #34 on:** August 11, 2015, 07:26:42 AM »

That's pretty bad Ed Zep... I think the worst that ever came through my shop was an Englehardt bass with a couple pieces of angle iron securing the neck to what was left of the block. (I probably have seen worse - that's just the first one that comes to mind) It's never occurred to me to snap a picture, but I do have a pretty diverse collection of hardware I've pulled out of upright basses over the years... there's some real head-scratchers in that drawer.

Joey & Peter, I just figured Alembic had already pre-engineered the tonal difference between the various platings, and simply applied whatever was needed. Besides that, we all know it's really about how long the mounting screws are. =)

All jokes aside, I really am liking the Schallers... I don't trust them any more or less, but I will concede they are an upgrade to what I had.

ed_zeppelin · « **Reply #35 on:** August 12, 2015, 08:42:52 PM »

Take a look at this 350-year-old Venetian Violone (double bass) The description and pics are just astonishing, especially when you consider all the wars (and bassists) this thing survived, in a very watery environment.

http://www.contrabass.co.uk/2790.htm

There's a pic of the bass before restoration and if you click it, it opens a slide show of the innards. Fascinating stuff. Can you imagine lugging that thing around on carriages and gondolas?

By the way, note three and a half centuries of fingerboard wear. It looks like nobody played above the second position until recently.

edwardofhuncote · « **Reply #36 on:** August 13, 2015, 06:59:50 AM »

Thanks for that^^^... Now that's what I call a total rebuild! And I was not aware they ever used pearwood for ribs!

Reminds me, if I ever get my shop cleaned out, (pfft... don't hold your breath) I have an old unattributed double bass to rebuild. It's a mess right now, but when it was playable, it was absolutely deafening. I'm strongly considering a five-string conversion, just because the neck is massively HUGE 2-1/4 wide at the nut. Ordinarily you wouldn't alter an antique like this, but this one is so poorly preserved and already been altered from it's original(?) 3-string configuration, that it has little value. Although since it was a gift from a mentor from many years ago, it has enormous sentimental value to me.

Oh well, another one for my Shop thread. =)

edwardofhuncote · « **Reply #37 on:** August 13, 2015, 07:12:49 AM »

Hanging out with other members of the violin family, in a dusty corner of my music room.

ed_zeppelin · « **Reply #38 on:** August 13, 2015, 08:40:48 AM »

I use Schaller everything, wherever possible. There, I said it.

Twenty years ago the band I was in was invited to tour the UK on a self-financed (I.e. cheap) 42 date tour of England, Scotland and Ireland.

Lugging the Anvil flight case with my long-scale series1 in it (it fit in the back of a London cab with four people, no prob) was turning my right hand into something out of a Vincent Price movie.

Reasoning that I needed to sling that sucker over my shoulder or get used to playing bass by using my right hand as a club (the Lemmy technique), I took the Schaller straplocks off my guitar and went into an unbelievably filthy junk shop in Glasgow:

.. And with the help of a surly, incomprehensible proprietor, I drilled a couple of holes in the road case and bolted strap buttons on over 2-inch washers (apparently left over from the Crimean War) inside and out, to distribute the weight.

I attached the straplocks on a seatbelt hacked from a car out back (with more washers, of course) paid him what I assume was an exorbitant amount of their money, judging from the fact that it was the only time I saw him smile, and effected my egress.

It worked a treat, as they say (I think). I finished the tour with a pronounced 45-degree starboard list to my spine from lugging that monstrosity around on my shoulder, but at least my right hand didn't become some kind of crab claw thing on the end of my arm.

They're still there. The seatbelt is hanging on my studio wall, handy for self defense if nothing else (I ain't picking that damn road case up again, ever) but I know if I had to, those Schallers would hold up just dandy.

jazzyvee · « **Reply #39 on:** October 25, 2015, 01:35:19 PM »

My new to me alembic has the recessed dunlop straplocks and also they are fitted to locations not standard for short scales. I was wondering if there is an adaptor to plug in that will allow me to use schallers instead. But i think it would be better to drill and install some schallers.

tubeperson · « **Reply #40 on:** October 25, 2015, 02:20:20 PM »

May I suggest that you try a Gruv Gear DuoStrap and install Dunlop's? I use several DuoStraps with both Schaller and Dunlips, depending on the bass. I don't like putting new holes in my basses. Just a thought. The DuoStrap gives you plenty of adjustment possibilities.

tubeperson · « **Reply #41 on:** October 25, 2015, 02:20:41 PM »

May I suggest that you try a Gruv Gear DuoStrap and install Dunlop's? I use several DuoStraps with both Schaller and Dunlips, depending on the bass. I don't like putting new holes in my basses. Just a thought. The DuoStrap gives you plenty of adjustment possibilities.

mario_farufyno · « **Reply #42 on:** October 28, 2015, 06:11:14 AM »

DuoStraps in DoublePost

jazzyvee · « **Reply #43 on:** October 29, 2015, 05:48:31 AM »

I dont like that idea really but the original holes are plugged so its only reopening an old wound. :-)

roymus · « **Reply #44 on:** November 02, 2015, 01:22:06 AM »

There is a sort of reasoning as to why and where I placed the buttons on Jazzy's series 1.
As you can see, one of the previous owners to me tried a number of button placements and broke a screw off in the neck. I wanted to remove it and the only way I felt I could was to use a recessed button which would give me room to remove the broken screw. I placed the recessed button on the headstock side for better balancing. I used schallers for some years back in the early 80's and then changed to dunlops as I dont like the pressure applied to the wood by the extra leverage of schallers causing the hole to widen over time.
I know the dunlop copies dont hold well but as far as dunlops , I have never had a set fail me over 40 or 50 guitars and basses. I know what you schaller guys mean though as I did feel comfortable knowing the button is cupped in.
By the way Jazzyvee ,just so you know, the little inlay dot of pearl where the original back button goes is just pressed in by hand, I think that original hole is still unfilled.