Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

i just added the dunlop dual design straplocks to my thunderbird. will they wrk on my RICs as well? it's be nice to not have to switch straps just because i am switching basses.

I've become a big fan of those straplocks since I put them on my G&L ASAT. They stick out a bit, but I wish I had them on all of my basses. I don't see why they wouldn't work on a Rick.

Are they the push in ones or the ones that pull out and slide around the post?
The ones that pull out and go around the post will also work on Ricks.

I installed them on my 2030 and 2020 basses ... I believe it is superior to the schaller straploks ... the hole on a Ric is a little too big for the dunlop straplok ... I put in some elmers glue and some tooth pick wood and screw it in ... it seems to work pretty good ... I still use the schaller on my 4003/4004 basses ... I did have a 4001 that a previous owner had installed the dunlop straploks and the worked fine ... I use dunlops on my fender/gibson/dean basses as well ...

Because I tend to favor reversible mods, I did up my Dunlops a bit differently. First, I drilled out the hole in the center of the Dunlop to be large enough to accept a screw the diameter of the threaded portion of a RIC strap button. There is plenty of room for this but it is tough to do because the metal used in the Dunlop buttons is quite hard. Then I found some machine screws that match the treads on the original buttons. The heads of the screws were too large to fit inside the Dunlop so I turned them down using a cordless drill and a file that was locked in a vise. Once the screw heads were small enough, I inserted the screws into the Dunlops and then screwed them into the bass.

I had not thought of this before but the look of those screws after being turned down was ver similar to the look of the RIC TRC, jackplate, treble surround screws. I wonder if they are turned down from larger heads as well.

I had the original two-ball version and it would jam & drop the guitar sometimes. Hopefully the four-ball is more trustworthy. I also didn't like the long lever. The inset version takes care of that issue. RIC has a Schaller button, but no Dunlop, iirc.

I've had to use blue loctite threadlocker with all of my Schallers, to make sure they don't spontaneously come undone. It's an annoying extra step, but it's effective.

I have the Dunlop straplocks on all my basses. They are much better then Schaller to me. I've had Schaller's slip and fail on me before. The Dunlops are rock solid and reliable though.

I've had the opposite happen to me! The Dunlops popped out without warning. I don't see how the Schallers can slip out as the weight of the bass keeps the strap part on the button.

I am wondering the same thing Jeff. As the Dunlops wear, small bits of metal flake off of the bearing surface and can get lodged in the detent balls (we all know how painful that can be). If the balls don't engage fully with the bearing surface the strap lock can suddenly pop apart causing a disaster.

Ouch! That hurt just reading it.

I used the Dunlops for a long time until they started getting stuck locked/unlocked. I switched to the Schallers and prefer the system since the weight of the guitar is cradled if the lock portion fails the guitar should still be relatively safe. On the Dunlop it seems that if the lock failed (the tiny "balls") the mechanism would slip easily. The only issue with the Schallers is the slight amount of thread when you tighten down the strap mechanism....easily cured with some threadlock or routine checking.

Main reason I went with the Dunlops on my tbird is the location of the front button...right on the gut. the other stralocks i had seen had a pointy part that would have jammed right in me.

I just screw mine in with a washer (or dime) over the strap & a small dab of wood glue in the hole. No chance of failure there!
A little more expensive in straps, though.
Our sound guy/singer/rythm guitar player had a near miss due to lack of strap locks on our New Year gig when he nearly lost his Epiphone Chet Atkins!

Schallers have a bad habit of sometimes coming unscrewed ... check them once in a while and keep the screws tight ... the part that comes unscrewed is the part on the strap ...