What Strap Locks Can I Get?

At Pinegrove Leather, we make our guitar straps out of thick tough leather so that they fix on your guitar's strap pins well. For extra safety, many players like to add some kind of strap locks.  Here's a round-up of the different types, from the lowest to the highest priced.

The simplest type is a rubber washer or grommet, commonly known as a Grolsch bottle grommet.  You can pull one off the stopper on an empty bottle of Grolsch beer - the type that has the funny old fashioned top with the bent wire around it.  They are made of good stretchy rubber.  Just fit your strap on your guitar and stretch the grommet over the top. Guitar strings maker Ernie Ball make a similar grommets especially for the job, called Strap Blocks.

String makers Jim Dunlop and D'addario both make more robust strap retainers which fit on the same way.  They are made of polythene and have a sliding piece to keep them in place.  You can buy them online or in guitar shops.

D'Addario Dual-Lock:
 

D'Addario Flex-Lock:

Jim Dunlop Lok-Strap Strap Retainers:

They are more bulky than the rubber grommets, so you may have difficulty if you guitar has small strap pins.

If you need real protection like many professional players use, then you need proper snap-on strap locks like these.

Fitting them initially is more involved, but once you are there hey are a joy to use.  For more details, see our page What Strap Locks Should I Use?