Some different guitar strap styles

[TVvoodoo]

Longtime lurker, rare poster... I've been pretending to play guitar for many more years than leathercraft, but by combining the two over the past ten years it has put a big smile on my face, and faces of a number of friends too. I combine all kinds of materials and lots of leather to create sturdy and comfortable guitar slings. It has been mostly just a hobby/side gig for a number of years but the Covid situation got me laid off my regular job in March so this is becoming more important to my family in the past few months.  

Some photos of my craft... beaded on leather base

 

Game of thrones "House Stark" edition

woven leather, great texture,  just like a sporty vintage red convertible steering wheel!

Not super confident in my tooling /dyeing/finishing, but I'm slowly improving on that end. Just have to put the hours in, make all the mistakes LOL

Vintage guitar strap style embroidered ribbon combined with leather nicely elevates an old classic

Not too shy to sew found items like an old vintagey studded belt from the thrift to a new leather base to create a new one of a kind item

Lots of possibilities. Sometimes my mind goes loopy in the workshop... working on one project, I come up with four more ideas. Not enough time!  Could be the glue. 

 

Edited July 14, 2020 by TVvoodoo
broken link

[Spyros]

Very very nice, well done. I love the woven leather, it's the kind of thing I'd reach out to touch just because it looks so plush, even though I'm not a guitar guy.

It makes sense to me that users always make the best accessories because they know how things are used.  Like photographers make the best camera straps, gun owners design the best holsters etc.

About the overflow of ideas, if you're slowly making this into a business don't get carried away.  Your time is your biggest cost, try to focus on 2-3 basic designs you are confident you can make relatively quickly and just offer them in slight variations, different colors etc.  Even if they're not your favourites, those are your moneymakers.  Make sure people don't get frustrated waiting for months, and when you start getting recurring business you can slowly start offering more.

[Retswerb]

Those look great, @TVvoodoo! Good looking guitars too. Thanks for sharing.

[TVvoodoo]

15 hours ago, Spyros said:

Very very nice, well done. I love the woven leather, it's the kind of thing I'd reach out to touch just because it looks so plush, even though I'm not a guitar guy.

It makes sense to me that users always make the best accessories because they know how things are used.  Like photographers make the best camera straps, gun owners design the best holsters etc.

About the overflow of ideas, if you're slowly making this into a business don't get carried away.  Your time is your biggest cost, try to focus on 2-3 basic designs you are confident you can make relatively quickly and just offer them in slight variations, different colors etc.  Even if they're not your favourites, those are your moneymakers.  Make sure people don't get frustrated waiting for months, and when you start getting recurring business you can slowly start offering more.

Solid ideas and advice, thank you

[battlemunky]

Beautiful stuff @TVvoodoo, I'm glad you stopped lurking.

[Stompk]

Damn ! those are great ! Wow, I would have never even thought of ideas like that. very cool !

[dikman]

Very nice work. And yes, the glue helps a lot.

[MartinaErin]

This thread made me thinking about customizing my guitar. I remember dreaming of vintage Harmony Rocket H54 back when I was a kid. Two pickups, a three-way pickup switch, and original sunburst finish. I immediately fell in love with this guitar when I saw it in a local music shop. To me it was a genuine masterpiece and I could rattle about it for hours. Obviously I didn`t get one as a kid and my preferences slightly changed. Later on when I was in university I pleased myself with a jazz guitar and suddenly realized that I`m absolutely good for nothing. I dug into blues guitar tabs and recently I`ve managed to play my very first song.

Edited July 9, 2021 by MartinaErin

[sbrownn]

I especially like the last one...great idea.  I currently have a commission for a saxophone strap and the client sent me a turquoise (fake) studded dog collar he was interested in integrating into the strap.  I had thought about removing the turquoise and the settings but incorporating the entire strap is a much better idea.

Thanks so much!

[Frodo]

Hey Voodoo.  like your work it really looks great

since you seem to like to mix different things to get a newer perspective  I have another  direction you might find interesting

gutted paracord braiding,  

 

 

[TVvoodoo]

Still doing this, while it's been sometimes a starving artist sort of existence, I so far have not been compelled to leave my shop for other employment. Some newer examples...

Pearloid plastic inset To match Gibson custom headstock

Another of those "found item" belts incorporated into a strap

A little madness is always fun... Regan theme... this skin coloured garment leather was super freaky to work with.

Using a stamp creatively

Below an original full design of my own... really luxe and elegant

Gaining more custom jobs by word of mouth mostly... it's nice to have paying jobs! When no customary are on the bench, I still build every day for a storefront online.

This van gogh Starry Night piece was my first painted strap. Crazy thing!

 "Simple tooled" for texture, dyed for a color base, then painted with acrylic.

Having fun, Working hard, always learning and trying new things. Musicians are fun and chill people to work with mostly.

Edited May 20, 2022 by TVvoodoo

[Samalan]

great looking stuff that's what happens when you get good at what you do.

[chuck123wapati]

you have carved out a niche!! Beautiful work and awesome variety in your projects.

[battlemunky]

Yes, I agree @chuck123wapati. Beautiful stuff ya got there @TVvoodoo!

[TVvoodoo]

Thank you fellas! tooling commission on the table today, grad gift! 

Grey dye stage this aft, after tooling pretty much the whole morning. Includes 

a Calgary flaming horse (alternate hockey logo) on the backside of it where the bolt ends. 

Going to be deep black coming, and some silver metallic on top. 

Been a while since I tooled anything. You can definitely feel the rust on your chops when you start would be better to tool something at least every week 

[JohnJohnson]

That's a cool combination of hobbies. Your guitar slings look good, and it's awesome that you've found a way to blend your love for leathercraft with your passion for guitar.

[TVvoodoo]

On 4/3/2024 at 2:44 PM, JohnJohnson said:

That's a cool combination of hobbies. Your guitar slings look good, and it's awesome that you've found a way to blend your love for leathercraft with your passion for guitar.

Thanks John! Guess it's about time I updated with some newer fun stuff too... Still at it, continuing to grow my guitar strap brand and general skillset.

Fabric and leather combo

Simple tooling combined with painted detail

In combo with a found item

Some creative re-dying

Not afraid to try something

Sometimes it's all about pattern and texture.

Edited April 5 by TVvoodoo

[Northmount]

On 4/4/2024 at 10:33 PM, TVvoodoo said:

Fabric and leather combo

You have some great work and photos in this thread.  And they are all still visible!

However, Please post your photos here.  3rd party hosted photos frequently disappear due to changes in the host's policies, host out of business, users moving files, deleting files, closing their account or the account expiring.  When this happens, the post becomes worthless to all future users who are researching or looking for help to solve a problem.

If your files are too large to post here due to file size restrictions, you need to resize your files to fit.  Follow this link for some helps and suggestions.  https://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/15122-how-to-post-pictures-on-lw/?do=findComment&comment=551171

 

[TVvoodoo]

OK let's try that direct upload function here with this post

Hey, it works!

 

Edited April 7 by TVvoodoo

[JohnJohnson]

On 4/3/2024 at 11:44 PM, JohnJohnson said:

That's a cool combination of hobbies. Your guitar slings look good, and it's awesome that you've found a way to blend your love for leathercraft with your passion for guitar.

 It must be rewarding to see your creations bring smiles to your friends' faces. I'm sorry to hear about your job situation, but it's inspiring to see you turning your craft into something more significant for your family. Keep up the great work, and if you ever want to explore more about guitars, check out the guides at https://guitarsrepublic.com/guitar-basics/ —they offer helpful tips for enthusiasts like us.

[TVvoodoo]

On 4/18/2024 at 10:20 AM, JohnJohnson said:

 It must be rewarding to see your creations bring smiles to your friends' faces. I'm sorry to hear about your job situation, but it's inspiring to see you turning your craft into something more significant for your family. Keep up the great work, and if you ever want to explore more about guitars, check out the guides at https://guitarsrepublic.com/guitar-basics/ —they offer helpful tips for enthusiasts like us.

Thanks for the link John, we can always use more practice tips. I've pretended to play guitar for over 40 years, myself. You are commenting on a 4 year old post. Since then, I've continued to work on building my brand, but I do appreciate your kind words.