About My Vintage Straps

Sully's vintage straps are handcrafted from cleaned and reconditioned select old/vintage leather.

Each instrument 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.

I will 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.

Most guitar straps would work for a heavy five-string banjo.

To purchase a strap,
email me and we’ll chat.

SHIPPING BY:
Priority Mail with Delivery Confirmation

Good vintage leather takes time to locate, and I’m always looking. I try to have 8 straps available but don’t always succeed.

Vintage Strap Links:
Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3
Lefty's Straps

Also Available: New Straps

Vintage Instrument Straps: Page 2

Guitar/Bango Strap #347Guitar/Banjo/Dobro #571 $155 plus shipping

This is a beefy one and a full 16 ounces of prime western undyed harness leather.

The shoulder piece is over-sized at 14” long and runs around 2 7/8” wide and would be most appropriate draped across a hefty shoulder with a full size guitar or heavy Mastertone style banjo hanging off it. It would also do an excellent job carrying a dobro or heavy electric guitar. The leather thickness, including the new suede leather lining, pushes 1/4".  The edge stitching is new artificial sinew hand sewn into the original needle holes. Even from a distance it’s obvious that this leather has had a long, hard life. Surface wrinkles, color shading, and a well-weathered demeanor are abundant. But the top shelf quality leather is as soft and supple as your favorite blue jeans and it’s just as strong as the day it left the tannery.

The old western rein strap is 1” wide and a dead-on perfect match to the shoulder piece for color, character, suppleness and overall “feel”.  It tightly rides the shoulder piece by passing thru the 3 snug fitting strap guides which I made from short pieces of the rein that were skived pretty thin. The rest of the strap was skived just enough to level out the thickness at a heavy 3/16”.  Each guide was attached with two rows of double stitched sinew and the shoulder piece will stay anchored in place when the strap is in use.

This one is noticeably distressed and looks like it could have been in use for 50 years but the leather is still rock solid and amazingly supple. Some might find it to be an aesthetic clash with a newer instrument.  But even on a brand new one, you could put 50 years worth of mileage on it and the strap will still be around, so the characters would eventually match.

Guitar/Banjo Strap #348Guitar/Banjo #580 $160 plus shipping SOLD

The shoulder piece on this one is a vintage piece probably from the early 70’s. Originally it was a beautiful handmade western breast collar and I’m sure there are a few cowpokes out there that would lynch me like a horse thief if they saw it now. But I think its better off reborn as a nice guitar strap instead of retired and hanging useless on some restaurant wall.

The hand tooled trailing oak leaf pattern is in great shape and shows little wear for its age. Once I gave it a thorough cleaning and reconditioning two things became evident. First, the oak leaves are lighter in color than the rest of the strap which makes them stand out. And two, the background is all hand checkered. The original white leather buckstitching was in bad shape and ready to break in a few places so I replaced it all with brand new white buckstiching made from bonded leather. It’s not as good as real leather but as a guitar strap is will easily last a lifetime or two. I also pulled out all of the old edge stitching and replaced it with artificial sinew, hand sewed into the original needle holes. The leather is quite flexible and will easily take the shape of your shoulder. There is some very small surface checks present here and there but would only be noticed by a close inspection. The width tapers from 2 3/8” in the middle to 1 5/8” on the front and 1 5/8” at the very tail end. Lengthwise, it’s a full 16” long. The curved shape favors the left shoulder of a right handed player.

Perfectly matched to the shoulder piece for color and character is an equally old and well used 1/2” wide western rein strap. The leather is excellent quality and nicely broken in very supple and flexible. I didn’t skive down the thickness on this one except for a few inches on each end where it attaches to the shoulder piece to make a neat and flexible connection. Each end fits just right into the carefully cut and shaped strap slots and is secured with two short rows of double stitched sinew and leather thongs.

Even with the larger shoulder piece this one is a very lightweight strap and would make a sweet ride for most any full size guitar or heavy Mastertone style banjo. I could finish it up for a guitar with adjustable button tabs or sew on non-adjustable wider button tabs for a clean looking perfect fit. The lightly distressed appearance would make it an ideal candidate for even a new instrument.

Guitar/Bango Strap #347Guitar/Banjo #578 $155 plus shipping SOLD

Whoa baby, this one would totally rock on an old, distressed tele or strat. If you’re as old as I am you can probably remember those straps from the 60’s that looked similar to this one. Most of them were made from cheap, bonded leather and adjusted with the metal buckles that would eventually sign their name somewhere on the guitar. Here’s another one of my genuine vintage leather versions sans the cheap leather and deadly hardware. Visually it probably pre-dates the Beatles. But in spite of its distressed character it still emanates quality.

The shoulder piece was cut and shaped from an old, high quality saddle strap. The leather is butter soft and supple with a well used and noticeably distressed appearance. It measures almost 12” long and 2 3/8" wide and the underside is totally lined with new suede leather except for two small areas where the main strap is accessible directly under the double strap slots on each end. Including the suede, the thickness of the leather is 3/16”. It could easily handle a heavy strat or tele and would do a fine job on an acoustic dreadnaught or Mastertone banjo. The strap slots were carefully cut and shaped to fit the strap perfectly and the shoulder piece will not budge without intentional help. The edge stitching is new artificial sinew, hand sewn into hand punched needle holes and it goes completely around the perimeter of the shoulder piece. The leather is very flexible and will easily form to the shape of your shoulder.

The old color matching western rein strap is well broken in and the quality is superb. The 7/8” wide leather is very soft and supple and has the same old and distressed appearance as the shoulder piece. Like the shoulder piece, there is no checking present on the 3/4" wide rein and it has developed a vintage personality that’s a perfect match.

Of course a custom fitting to your exact specs is included and we’ve got a couple of nice options for guitar attachment points with this one.





Vintage Strap Links:
Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3
Lefty's Straps

Also Available: New Straps