Finding and Buying the Best Vintage Guitar Strap

If you're looking for a guitar strap for your guitar, it's best to decide exactly that you mean by vintage before beginning your search. For some, vintage means classic "hootenanny" designs that you might have seen Jimi Hendrix or Eric Clapton using back in the 60?s.

For others, vintage means old-school leather straps made from thick harness leather, like you'd see on a banjo in a blue grass band in the Carolinas, or on a guitar played by an old time finger-picker.

If the first description fits your vision the best, Lucky Guitar Straps is a good place to start. These straps are individually made by hand in New Zealand, and feature just the kind of vivid hootenanny patterns I mentioned. They also have authentic fabric and metal buckles, but feature a tough vinyl backing, so they'll be much stronger than the originals.

Jodi Head also makes very popular guitar straps, preferred by many famous players. They're located in New Your City in the East Village, and hand-make original designs that are some of the most unique you'll find.

If old-school is what you're looking for, Fender makes a deluxe leather strap that is along those lines. These are reproductions of the original Fender straps that shipped with Fender guitars back in the day. They're very durable leather, with an updated, padded leather shoulder pad for extra comfort.

Fender also makes a tweed guitar strap. These are essentially a more modern designed strap, made from the same type of material Fender used for it's Tweed amps and guitar cases. If you play banjo in and old-time blue grass band, or simply want an ultra-authentic looking strap, you cannot go wrong with Sully's Instrument Straps.

These straps are hand made by Pat "Sully" Sullivan in Pennsylvania, from thick harness leather. They're truly beautiful works of art, and I doubt you'll find two of the same design. Bear in mind, however, that these straps are made from actual old leather that Sully collects. They're also hand made individually, so you may have to wait a bit to get what you want. He does try to have eight straps available at any given time, however.

Depending on the type of strap you're looking for, and what you mean by vintage, you should be able to find a strap that fits your needs. And, don't be afraid to spend a little extra to make sure your fine vintage guitar gets the strap it deserves.