Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Yay! MID is my fave finish. Congrats!

Congrats on that Blue beauty, Tommy !! I don't know how you waited it out like that !
That fret board is a very nice wood !

Beautiful color, but what is going on with these new ramps? I thought these were CNC machined based on an "ideal" example from the archives?

Congrats!

Advice: Forget the leather dye (it stains clothing) and get thee to italiastraps.com

These people sell the most gorgeous soft leather straps you've ever seen, and I'm a satisfied repeat customer, too.

I just got an Ivory/Dark Blue strap for my own new MID 330; it really sets it off and is very comfortable.

They have a bright red that goes beautifully with FG, as well as the usual black and brown shades. They ship promptly, too!

Get on their mailing list--they often have twofer sales.

jingle_jangle wrote:Advice: Forget the leather dye (it stains clothing) and get thee to italiastraps.com

Darn it, too late.



I have used my orange dyed Gretsch strap with no staining of clothing; but then I really haven't used it for long periods of time playing. I never really thought about the posibility of the dye staining my clothes. I buy these straps because they are simple, comfortable, have a classic vibe, the leather is stamped with the brand of guitar, and I can easily dye them to match the guitar they go with. I will check out that italiastraps site, though. Thanks.

Jealous! Two beautiful guitars and a great sounding amp!

jingle_jangle wrote:Congrats!

Advice: Forget the leather dye (it stains clothing) and get thee to italiastraps.com
These people sell the most gorgeous soft leather straps you've ever seen, and I'm a satisfied repeat customer, too.
I just got an Ivory/Dark Blue strap for my own new MID 330; it really sets it off and is very comfortable.
They have a bright red that goes beautifully with FG, as well as the usual black and brown shades. They ship promptly, too!
Get on their mailing list--they often have twofer sales.

A few months ago, I bought two of their 4" wide bass guitar straps on one of their twofer sales. Very nice! One is black with dark blue on the other side the second strap is black with tan on the other side. I almost went for a black with red on the other side. Very well made, very comfortable, the only problem is getting the Schaller straplocks all the way through them, as they are thick to be strong and last a very long time.

rickenbrother wrote:the only problem is getting the Schaller straplocks all the way through them, as they are thick to be strong and last a very long time.

Did you enlarge the hole? That's what I always do, using a leather strap hole maker, I chip the hole's side slightly bigger, so the straplocks fit exactly yet tight.

I am using such a leather strap and the Schaller locks and made the holes wider before installation, too. Carefully done no problem.

I took drills in different sizes, going from small to big.To stop 1-1,5 mm before arriving the diameter of the Schallers is enough, that saves more leather for carrying the weight of the guitar. - Just take care the drilling machine is not moving to fast...

In the end a nice ten minutes customizing job. The leather itself seems to be nearly undestroyable.

Wildberry wrote:

rickenbrother wrote:the only problem is getting the Schaller straplocks all the way through them, as they are thick to be strong and last a very long time.

Did you enlarge the hole? That's what I always do, using a leather strap hole maker, I chip the hole's side slightly bigger, so the straplocks fit exactly yet tight.

Yes, you have to enlarge the holes on most leather straps for strap locks to fit. The other issue was not just the hole side but the thickness of the leather. I've never seen straps this thick before. Not that I'm complaining. The thickness makes the strap stronger to trust my Ricks on. I was amazed when an older leather strap I had, cleanly broke on the skinny side at a mini-jam a few months ago.

Yes, the hole side should not be too thin, that was the reason for me to keep away from an equal measure of the bolt and the Schallers.
To tighten up the screws of the locks very strong helps to "absorb" the forces that can make the bolt crack, IMHO.

rickenbrother wrote:

Wildberry wrote:

rickenbrother wrote:the only problem is getting the Schaller straplocks all the way through them, as they are thick to be strong and last a very long time.

Did you enlarge the hole? That's what I always do, using a leather strap hole maker, I chip the hole's side slightly bigger, so the straplocks fit exactly yet tight.

Yes, you have to enlarge the holes on most leather straps for strap locks to fit. The other issue was not just the hole side but the thickness of the leather. I've never seen straps this thick before. Not that I'm complaining. The thickness makes the strap stronger to trust my Ricks on. I was amazed when an older leather strap I had, cleanly broke on the skinny side at a mini-jam a few months ago.

I think I did that. Don't I owe you a new strap?

Speaking of Italia Straps ...
They are having a buy-one-get-one-free sale right now through Monday, 5 March, and each additional strap is 50% off.
This basically means that these "boutique" straps are the same price as the RIC branded straps for the next few days.