Handcrafted from cleaned and reconditioned select old/vintage leather, each strap is a unique creation and inherently different from every other one. The leather could have distress marks, indentations, surface cracking and other blemishes naturally acquired over the years. These straps are made for daily use and each shoulder piece is lined with new suede leather.

 

 
Text Box: Vintage Instrument Straps

Mandolin # 107

 

 My wife thinks this one is cute and adorable. Personally, I think it has a bit more testosterone than that. How about handsome and rugged?

 

 The shoulder piece leather is soft and flexible but still has a solid feel to it and measures a full 3/16” thick including the suede lining. The surface is unchecked, smooth and blemish free. I removed all of the original cotton thread edge stitching and replaced it with new waxed harness thread, hand sewn into the original needle holes. It measures 6 1/2” long by 1 1/2” wide.

 

 Tightly fitting into the carefully cut and shaped strap slots of the shoulder piece is a nice quality old English leather hand laced strap. The dark oil 5/8" wide leather is well broken in and flexible and a perfect color match to the shoulder piece. There is no checking present on the leather and, like the shoulder piece, it has a well used, but lightly distressed appearance.

 

 A dandy looking mandolin strap suitable for an instrument of any age. $95 plus shipping.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Text Box: The ideal strap to compliment a fine vintage instrument or a quality new one.

Guitar/Banjo # 287

 

 A smaller sized strap made from beautiful reddish-brown vintage leather.

 

 The 10 1/4” long by 1 1/2” wide shoulder piece has some surface wrinkles giving it a pleasant, lightly distressed appearance. The leather is comfy soft and very flexible stuff. I removed all of the original edge stitching and replaced it with new waxed harness thread, hand sewn into the original needle holes.

 

 Perfectly matched to the shoulder piece for color, character and feel is an old and supple 1/2” wide western rein strap. I skived down the thickness to a solid 1/8” and it fits quite snug into the carefully cut and shaped strap slots and the shoulder piece stays anchored in place unless its intentionally moved.

 

 I don’t think you’d have any trouble rolling this one into a small enough coil to stash in the case compartment. I’d give this one a 7 on the distressed scale. It would look fine on a new instrument but it would look finer on an older one. $110 plus shipping.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guitar/Banjo # 185

Left Hand

Its time for this one to find a good home on a fine, left handed instrument. Email me an offer I can’t refuse.

 

  This one is a dandy. It’s big, old, very distressed looking, and as soft and comfy as your favorite flannel shirt.

 

  The large, oversize shoulder piece is 14” long and 3” wide at the center, tapering gently toward each end. The leather is thick and extremely soft and supple. The surface has some color shading and the deep  wrinkles give it a well worn character The original edge stitching was in bad shape so I replaced it with new waxed harness thread hand sewed into the original needle holes. The original leather buckstitching along both sides is worn but solidly intact, and  replacing it with new would have taken much away from the character so I left the original in place.

 

  The old, 5/8” wide western driving rein strap is equally distressed in appearance and a great color and character match. I skived down the original thickness a bit to 3/16”, which is still heavy duty enough to go well with the shoulder piece. I added the matching strap guide on the shoulder piece to keep the supple strap in the center of the curve.

 

  Don’t let the old, worn and weathered look of this one fool you - it’s rock solid and begging for a home on the finest of vintage instruments. $125 plus shipping includes a custom fit to your specs.
Text Box: The instrument straps pictured here are currently for sale. I ship by Priority Mail with Delivery Confirmation—if it’s not delivered I’ll return your money. If you’re interested in one, email me and we’ll chat. I’ll custom fit and finish each strap to the length and attachment points given by the buyer. Most mandolin straps would work for a small guitar or open-back banjo if you like a small shoulder piece, and most guitar straps would work for a heavy five-string banjo.

Mandolin #106

 

 Great quality older leather and a very mildly distressed appearance make this neat little mandolin strap suitable for a newer instrument.

 

 The original shaped shoulder piece was formerly a decorative detail on a larger piece of western saddle tack. It measures 7 1/2" long by 1 3/4" wide in the middle and tapers to 1” on each end. The leather is high quality, butter soft and supple and about 1/8” thick. I replaced the edge stitching with new waxed harness thread hand sewn into the original needle holes and it’s lined on the back side with new suede leather.

 

 Attached to each end of the shoulder piece is a soft and flexible 5/8” wide western rein strap matching in thickness and color. Each end that passes thru the shoulder piece has been skived thinner and meticulously narrowed down to neatly fit in the strap slots on each end and makes a very flexible connection. The loops are secured with some leather glue and leather thongs.

 

 $95 plus shipping including a custom fit to you and your instrument.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the vintage leather that I use may have been originally dyed and I recommend that the straps not be left in contact with the finish when the instrument is being stored. After speaking to a representative from the Martin Guitar Factory, I have learned that nitrocellulose finishes are more susceptible to possible bleeding problems than are other types of finishes.