Need help attaching strap to body pin a/k/a 1/4" jack

[KevinIndiana]

I'm a bit worried. I have forced my thick Levy suede strap around the body pin of my new 816ce. That's the same pin that is the 1/4" jack for the expression system. It's a little too thick to feel like it belongs there, but I've managed. Problem is I've really had to work it in there, and it worries me. I just paid several thousand bucks for this guitar and here I am trying to jam a strap around a small plastic piece that is going to have to support the weight of the guitar, not to mention that it's how I plug the guitar in to my amp. I'm concerned about breaking the jack/pin. On the other hand, obviously Taylor has make a gazillion of these expression system jacks (well, at least over a quarter of a million, per their website), and obviously they must be very robust or we'd hear complaints of guitars crashing to the ground when they came off their straps.

Is this normal? Should I be concerned? Is there an alternative? I'm thinking it would cool if there was a very short (just a few inches long) strap adapter that would safely and securely go around the plastic jack, then provide a metal, more robust pin to attach thicker straps to. Also, if such a product exists, I would hope it would be vastly easier than my actual strap to get on and off.

Any thoughts? I hate worrying about my new baby! 

[DennisG]

Kevin,

Yes, it's normal ... even with Taylor's own straps.  They're hard to put on, but once on I've never had one come off.

One solution to make it easier is to put a nickel (a 5-cent coin for you non-Americans) above and below the hole on the strap, and then clamp the coins against the strap with a vice grip for a few hours.  That'll flatten out the strap and make it easier to install.

[jjrpilot-admin]

Kevin's advice is a good tip to remember, I'll simply add to soak that end strap in water for a minute or two to get that suede part thoroughly soaked, THEN put a nickel or penny on each side and put a stinking tight pair of vice grips on it for about a day...wait til the leather dries out, and Wah-lah...it fits!!   

[KevinIndiana]

Hey guys, thanks for the advice and reassurance. I'm a little less worried now. I'll try the water/nickel/vice grip approach.

That has the added advantage of coming up with a use for nickels! Now that inflation has made them nearly worthless, it's good I can repurpose them. 

So I guess you're both saying that the plastic jack/pin is stronger than it looks, huh? Good to know.

Thanks again.

[CodeBlueEMT]

 I have the leather Taylor strap and it's not easy getting it over the pin. Scared myself a time or two when the strap wasn't seated properly. If I haven't broken my jack/pin by now, it's probably a solid piece. 

 

[mcookoc]

i have so much trouble with the straps i use a pocket knife to open the strap up a little along with the coin/water/ vice grip method. i think the strap makers should have found a solution for this problem years ago. a real pet peeve of mine.

[KevinIndiana]

True, but I suspect we'd gripe a lot more if the straps unexpectedly came off the pins. I can see why they make them very tight. They have to work over a wide range of situations. If a few drops of water and a little exposure to the Vice Grip Torture makes them easier to put on, I'm OK with that. It would make more sense for the manufacturer to pre-torture the straps, but in fairness to Levy's, and probably all strap makers, I didn't have much trouble at all getting my strap on to the heel pin. It's just the body pin that's the real problem, so I think the problem is a combination of snug straps and the larger-than-normal Taylor jack-pin. If this is the biggest problem I ever have with my guitar, color me HAPPY! 

[dangrunloh]

Since it hasn't been stated directly I thought I would add that the Taylor straps made by Levi are said to have slightly larger holes than standard to match the slightly larger body pin size used on Taylors.

[asahi]

using a straight edged razor...cut the slot i minute 1/8" to  1/16" longer.  you could also wet the hole ends, thus making the leather a lot more pliable and then slip the slot over the button.

if all that still doesn't do it...then using the hair dryer on high heat "blow" the end tags of the dampened leather and they slip them on as you would a button and a button hole.

[ggj]

Hair dryers?  Straight edges?  vice grips? Wow, this all seems like a lot of trouble for an engineering problem on the straps (at least on the Taylor straps).  To this day and after past hard won successes, it remains a real pain to place a Taylor leather strap on the business end of an ES system.

Not to cry to much in my beer, but I received a hand made leather strap from my wife for my birthday last year.  Crafted based the holes on an older non Taylor strap. Opps!  I can't get the strap on any of my Taylors.

[KevinIndiana]

Thank you all. I needed all of those tricks. I did widen the slit a bit with a knife. Then the water/nickels/vice grip method worked.

And it had the added benefit of embossing Thomas Jefferson's portrait on the strap.  I positioned Monticello appropriately on the back of the strap, of course. Since most of the embossing is either over the hole or hidden when it's on the guitar, only I can see it, but Tom and I know he's there!

Thanks again for all your suggestions. This is a great site!

As for ggj's post, which came in while I was typing mine, all I can say is do some/all of the suggestions and it'll work, provided the actual hole in the strap is large enough. If not, seems you need to try punching the hole slightly larger. X-acto knife or a leather punch would do the trick. If it's too thick, I would think the Vice Grip of Death torture would make the leather yield to your will.

[desertdave]

 vice grip approach.


Words you don't often associat w/ Taylor guitars