How to Attach a Guitar Strap

If you just purchased a guitar in the hopes of learning or teaching yourself to play, you should purchase a guitar strap as well, which enables you to play your guitar while standing. Read on to learn the process of attaching a new guitar strap.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Guitar strap
• Guitar
• Knobs

1. Purchase a guitar strap at any music store and many department stores. You can buy these in leather, suede or nylon webbing and most are adjustable up to 52 inches. If you need it to be longer than that, you will need to purchase an extra long extension strap.
2. Find the knob on the bottom of the body of your guitar.
3. Slip the buttonhole on one end of your guitar strap over the knob until it is securely attached.
4. Locate the knob on the neck of the guitar, which will be on the top of the guitar body at the base of the neck. If your guitar has no knob here, you will have to tie the end of the strap onto the neck of the guitar under the strings, above the nut and below the heads so that it does not touch the strings, and tie it securely.
5. Attach the other end of the guitar strap over the knob on the neck of the guitar until it is secure. If the other end of the strap has strings tied to the buttonhole, take them off first. If it has only strings and no buttonhole on the end, tie the strings around the neck of the guitar as explained in the Step 4.

Tips & Warnings

• Tie a shoelace or strip of rawhide to the buttonhole if your strap has a buttonhole and no cord, and then tie it onto your guitar if it does not have a knob at the base of the neck.
• If you guitar does not have any knobs (which is rare but can happen), you can purchase knobs at a guitar store. To attach them, drill a small hole in the guitar and screw them in. Make sure that the hole you are drilling is smaller than the screw on the knob.