Types of Guitar Shoulder Straps
Modern guitarists are blessed with a seemingly endless choice of guitar shoulder strap types and styles, but it wasn't always this way. Prior to the birth of the electric guitar in the 1930s, the normal guitar playing posture was in the sitting position. When the guitar became popular as the main instrument in band combos in the late 1940s, the desire for comfortable straps turned into a guitar player's quest.
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Leather Straps
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The first primitive guitar straps were of leather or cord, and were handmade by players. Since leather was more comfortable and durable, manufacturers began offering thin leather guitar straps that were nothing more than glorified belts. While leather is still a preferred material by modern guitarists, strap width has gotten wider to provide more comfort for players of heavier solid-body electric guitars. The use of metal adjustment clasps has been largely replaced with stepped holes cut in the leather, into which the bottom strap section is inserted to set the player's desired strap length. Leather straps are among the more expensive guitar straps. They come in many colors, leather qualities, and widths, and may be offered with additional printed graphics or added decorations.
Fabric Guitar Straps
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Although fabric straps are not strong enough for many heavier guitars, fabric-faced straps are a popular option for the beauty and design flexibility fabric affords. Typically made with a core material of nylon or thin leather for durability, fabric straps remain a popular alternative to other strap types, and have a "retro" appeal hearkening back to the popular fabric strap looks of the 1960s and '70s. Fabric straps typically use a simple sliding adjustment method, and are usually equipped with slotted leather tabs on each end for affixing to the guitar.
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Nylon Guitar Straps
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Nylon guitar straps are an affordable alternative to fabric, leather, and other strap types, and are similar in design to fabric straps. Nylon straps are semi-rigid, equipped with leather end-tabs for guitar attachment, and use a sliding adjustment method. Nylon straps are available in many colors, including printed graphic designs.
Stretchable Guitar Straps
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Stretchable guitar straps are made of stretchable fabric or foam/fabric hybrid materials, which add elasticity and comfort to the strap. They are similar to fabric and nylon straps in construction, attachment, and adjustment, and come in a number of colors and widths.
Strap Accessories
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There are many strap accessories, from the useful necessity of strap-locks to prevent the inevitable event of the strap disconnecting from the guitar, to cushioned shoulder pads for sensitive players. Other useful accessories include smaller straps to attach shoulder straps to acoustic guitars with no second strap button, and small pocket holders for picks, slides, and capos. Purely decorative add-ons are popular, and allow owners to customize straps with decals, rhinestones, chains, spikes, and other accouterments .
Specialty Straps
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Specialty guitar straps are designed primarily for aesthetics, with comfort sometimes ignored in the interest of style. Straps made from chain, hemp, and rope are popular, with vegan straps also being offered by some manufacturers. Specialty straps feature at least some functional design characteristics of standard straps, but have the added ability to reflect the cultural, social, and political opinions of the user by the use of art.
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