Karl Derrick

Some good idea, thank you. At the end of the day, it's a strap. Its form must to a greater extent be dictated by its function. Past experience has shown that unless I ask 500 people what they want, the survey sample is ususally too small to be significant enough to base design decisions on. I think best thing would be to make one and see if you guys like it. Karl Oh, Skin-Jobs are not for sale

Those are really good ideas, thank you. I'll make the prototype available for playing with. I don't know how many people I could get it to..... The hitch: If everyone I meet wants something different in a strap, I'll never be able to satisfy everyone. I'll need to settle on a design which appeals to the broadest market, otherwise every strap will need to be patterned from scratch. I couldn't charge enough to make it worthwhile. The goal here is to design a broad appeal strap, pattern and prototype it, then make them all the same. There will be variations available in colour and size of course, but the pattern will be the same. Having said that, of course I'm up for individual strap projects. But, if you bear in mind that designing, patterning and hand making an individual strap might take a couple of days, it won't be £35.00 The goal with the 'ideal' strap project is to put a well thought out, practical, hand made leather strap into the hands of bass players for as reasonable a price as possible. Considering of course that I need to make a living Karl

So here's an example of the soft leather I was talking about, lined with the 1mm suede and hand stitched. All of my work is hand stitched, no sewing machines. I think it looks miles better (machine stitch has one good side, one bad side), is harder and longer wearing and is a traditional craft in need of sustaining. The sitiching is so much stronger there's no comparison. Hand stitching, and the use of the best materials, is why I'll never be able to compete with factory produced straps on price. But as they always say, you get what you pay for This is a contour strap on this bag. It follows the shape of the body, distributing the weight evenly. I can carry a shedload of heavy stuff all day and not get sore or tired. [attachment=168754:contour.jpg] Karl

Punching a few holes isn't a problem Leather and slide buckles haven't been a success traditionally. Usually the leather is too thick for the slide and it doesn't move through the buckle when you want it to. Here's a bag I made using the leather I'll make the straps from. Soft and very strong. This design is based on a WW1 Officer's map case. The belts are also my own design. I needed to come up with a comfortable equipment belt for use by film crews. the buckle is a Cobra-S tactical buckle. I want to incorporate them in the bass strap design. This kind of traditional but contemporary twist I love. [attachment=168736:bestsmall.jpg] [attachment=168737:MK2 Setbelt.jpg]

Sure will. I'll have a play tomorrow and see what my brain will tell my hands to do Karl

I try to take a holistic approach with my design work. I'll get the function and features, then the final shape, then the pretty stuff. I'll bear a quick adjustment feature in mind, but everyone will want a specific feature and every feature added drives up the price of each strap. The final strap will be a reasonable compromise between quality/materials/labour/features and price. Karl

I might be able to change your mind The leather I use for instrument straps is a beautiful, supple leather, full grain, Oak tanned hide from a small family owned Tannery in the West Country. It's lovely. Smells amazing. It's soft but very strong, and has a gentle 'give' without feeling loose or stretchy. It's 2.5mm to 2.9mm thick, and I line it with 1mm thick suede for a total thickness of about 3.5mm to 4mm The suede stops the strap slipping. The softness of the leather also lets it mould to your body shape. Karl

Thanks for that. I already know about making it work before making it pretty thing. I design leather items full time I already have an idea for a strap I want to try out. It's an interesting idea.... I need to make a proof of concept proto to see if it'll work. Karl

I have a plan for a prototype ergonomic strap in mind. It'll be specific to left or right hand users, with the pattern flipped for lefties. Karl

I'm easy, I don't want to make life hard for anyone It may be unnecessary if I can find a Kubicki X-factor soon.... Karl

We could meet in Soho. What kind of bass would we test it with? Karl

I'll design and make a prototype to test. Is anyone in West London/Ealing area who could come and try it? I have a 'wanted' ad for a Kubicki X-Factor in the classifieds, but haven't got my own bass at the moment. Karl

That's interesting, thank you. Karl

If I end up making a prototype, It'll certainly need testing........ Karl

Thanks very much for the input. I'll give it some thought. Karl

Thanks for that. Any advance on lengths or is 100cm to 150cm the ideal range? Karl

I still think there's room out there for a contoured strap. I've never seen one yet. No one is contouring them, they're all straight! That Richter price would be fine for a custom made hand-stitched strap. But it seems kinda steep for a machine sewn, mass produced item. It just looks like the standard 'Cobra hood' shaped guitar strap, just bigger..... Nothing much new in design. Karl

Thanks very much for the input, I appreciate it. I think strap attachment point reinfocrment is a good idea. For me, a suede lining (backing) is always essential for a non slip strap, especially since basses are generally much heavier and more prone to diving than guitars. I do line the straps on my shoulder bags, mostly to have them stay put and not slip around. If the strap is properly contoured, and not a straight and parallel strip of leather, you shouldn't need any padding if the leather is soft and suede lined. Total thickness of the strap and liner around 4mm. If the strap is 100mm or wider, the soft leather will spread the weight. The key thing here is contouring. Parallel straps dig in on one side on the downhill edge. People tell me my shoulder bags are the most confortable ever, because of the contoured strap. It fits the body curves. I'll make a prototype bass strap What length range, minimum to maxiumum lengths? Karl

Thanks very much for the warm welcome everyone. Looking forward to sifting back through all the forums to see what I missed. Karl

I didn't really know where to put this. It isn't a 'for sale' thread, but more of a research thing. I'm a leatherworker. I don't do mass produced, machine sewn items, garments or footwear. I make high-quality, hand stitched items such as belts, holster rigs, wallets, cases and pouches, historical re-enactment items, Western and Frontier items, props for TV and film, guitar straps, etc. I use only the very best British materials from small family businesses. All the design, pattern making, prototyping, cutting, stitching and finishing is done by hand, by me. Being a bass player myself, I want to design and make the 'ideal' bass guitar strap. I wanted to hear from you guys about what it should and shouldn't be. What kind of features, length, width, thickness, hardware (if any), should it have? Is there something other makers have missed? All input welcome. Karl

I played bass a great deal in my past and have decided to get back into it. I'm London based. Cheers, Karl