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August 2003
Posts: 396
| I have two Ovations. I want to put straps on them. What EXACTLY do I need to buy (brand and model type or name please, I'd rather not have to figure it out!) in order to connect a strap. Thanks! |
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Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Dunlop strap locks. The guitar part is already on your Ovation, the strap part is what comes in the package. |
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August 2003
Posts: 396
| thanks |
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December 2003
Posts: 13996
Location: Upper Left USA | This is one of my favorite places to get "stuff" for my O's and others.
StewMac Dunlop Straplocks
There are a lot of similar but not the same system out there. The Dunlop Straplock is the one I like.
Now back to your regularly scheduled program... |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | If you have an older pre Dunlop-equipped guitar the bolt head on the standard Ovation buttons is too big for the Dunlop sockets, but its a 2-minute job to file them to size |
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December 2003
Posts: 13996
Location: Upper Left USA | Put the bolt in the chuck of your hand drill and lay the file to it? Follow up with abrasive paper if you must.
Either way, securing your instrument is a priority.
Next you'll need a place to put your picks! I like the little stick on dispenser - sticks to lyrachord but is easily removed. |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Pick holder? Try these:
http://www.wedgie.com/
I sell tons of them, they're great & inexpensive. |
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January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Picks? Aren't those the things that grow at the end of your fingers? |
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January 2004
Posts: 648
Location: Florida | No those are nasal picks.
Guitar picks come by the gross in a box labeled "351, medium" |
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January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | OK thanks. |
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July 2005
Posts: 3410
Location: GA USA | Thanks for this topic. My son gave me a $20 GC card for Christmas to get straplocks for the S771. The guys there were telling him I would need to bring it in and have them look it over before getting locks, or he would've bought them himself. They were scared of the bowl material and apparently don't know the simple solution of getting Dunlops. It worked perfectly. |
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November 2005
Posts: 111
Location: Southern California | I've been contemplating a strap lock, too. Will the Dunlop solution work for my Adamas 1598? |
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Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 13996
Location: Upper Left USA | They worked for my 1598! You might need to use the original end pin screw. Just remove some of the head width. The original Straplocs have a wood screw where the Bowls have a moly-bolt. You can also match the machine thread.
I have then on all of my Ovations. |
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Joined:
June 2004
Posts: 580
Location: NW NJ | Originally posted by MWoody:
I have then on all of my Ovations. Me too - all you have to do is have one of your babies slip loose once ... |
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Joined:
November 2003
Posts: 56
Location: Edmond, Oklahoma | I'm disenchanted with Dunlop straploks. I use both those and Schallers on different instruments, and have long pondered which would be the best to standardize on. To complicate matters, My two Ovation guitars and two Peavey basses came with Dunlop strap locks, and my Godin guitar and mandolin both came with Schallers preinstalled. I've installed both on my other guitars. All have one or the other.
A few weeks ago, the Dunlops finally lost crtical status (in my personal opinion), when my new Folklore LX came off it's strap lock, and the headpiece bounced rather hard off the carpeted floor. The body hit the floor less hard, but, hey, a little knock like that doesn't bother the composite body right? Lesson: ALWAYS TUG-TEST THE STRAP AFTER ATTACHING WITH A STRAP LOCK.
After my baby recovered from the immediate shock, it possessed a new fret buzz, particularly at the 12th fret. Still strum-playable, but flawed :( and not good for melody picking. Luckily, there seemed to be no other damage. I suspected a fret may have lifted a bit. I took it to my local guitar repair wizard. He apparently concurred. Pounded a couple of frets, and it seemed good at the time. But when I took the guitar out of its case Sunday morning (a few days later), the buzz was back!
Oh well. We had already established that it would benefit from a full fret-leveling job. This just moves up the timetable for that. I'm sure he can get it back into tip-top shape, with a full fret job (not replacing, just light filing).
Another thing I recently discovered is that Dunlop Strap Locks can ADD BUZZING to your guitar if it's not properly fitted. Once I realized that, I fixed mystery buzzing on both my Ovations and my Takamine dreadnaught. Here's the deal. The Dunlop strap lock has a retaining clip, whereas the Schaller has a retaining nut that screws down. So, if your strap is thinner than the fixed gap defined on the Dunlop, there will be a small air gap. This allows that flat metal washer to vibrate, and a buzzing tone was occassionally transmitted into the body cavity of my guitars. So I was hearing the buzzing sound from the wrong area! The solution was to remove the strap lock from the strap, cut a thick piece of leather the same size as the flat washer (for a spacer), and add it when reassembling. Now there is no gap, no rattling, and all is well in that regard. With the Schaller, just screw the threaded nut down until it's snug.
I feel the Schaller has a more positive and confident support system, since the tail pin sits in a U-shaped channel, and you have to actively PULL the pin to remove it. It has a dual retaining system, in a way. The locking pin, and also the U-channel, that works with gravity. I don't know anyone who has inadvertantly pushed the button on a Dunlop, leading to accidental release, but it's easier to imagine that happening than accidentally pulling the release pin on a Schaller lock. The only issue I've noticed with the Schaller locks is that the mounting screw seems to be a wee bit thinner than that of the Dunlop. I always add a bit of toothpick (and drop of glue) inside the hole before screwing in the Schaller's tailpin, when retrofitting a guitar to use a Schaller strap lock, in order to get a strong screw-down.
Conversely, if your strap is extra thick (like two of my leather straps are), the Dunlop (as well as the Schaller) can be heck to install at all! You have to compress the leather strap endpiece until you get the strap lock slipped on (or screwed on, in the case of the Schaller). I used a vise-grip pliers to temporarily squeeze the leather around the hole, to enable me to install the strap locks.
Thence ends my hard-won wisdom (I hope) concerning strap locks. |
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January 2004
Posts: 1225
Location: Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey | Not to complicate matters, but I prefer the Schallers also because the cradle-like locking mechanism provides a little extra security. You need to replace your strap buttons, but that only takes a few minutes. |
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Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | I use Schallers on my Fenders and Dunlops on everything else. The Dunlops are always less expensive, maybe half of what the Schallers go for on eBay, with more finishes available. I never hear any buzzing with the Dunlop strap retaining clips. Then again, the amps are always turned up pretty high so it is unlikely I'd hear any buzzing in any event. Funny thing . . . one of my favorite straps is actually an Ace-style camera case strap from the 70's with metal hardware to which I've attached Dunlops. |
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Strap lock , what do I need?