Are you looking for a quick and easy way to improve your guitar playing? Want to add a bit of style while you’re at it? Look no further with our selection of the best guitar straps!
Whether you are sitting down to play at home, or looking to rock out on stage, a good guitar strap is an essential piece of equipment for every guitar player out there. Guitar straps offer great ergonomic support, helping you stay comfortable and avoid injury, plus they can help to form good posturing habits, and help to keep your guitar safe and secure!
With a variety of different materials and designs to choose from, it can be a bit overwhelming to know where to start when buying your first strap. That’s why we’ve put together a list of 5 of our favorites to help you get started. In this list, we will cover everything from some good budget options that get the job done, to some more stylish options that will last you a very long time..
So let’s get started!
Ernie Ball Polypro Guitar Strap
Primarily known for their guitar strings, Ernie Ball also offers a wide variety of guitar accessories, including straps!
This polypro (short for polypropylene) strap is about as simple as they come. It’s 2 inches wide – a nearly universal width for guitar straps – and has a standard plastic buckle for length adjustments. This Ernie Ball strap is also fitted with leather ends that help to keep your instrument nice and secure where the strap attaches to the buttons.
One polyPRO (wink wink) of this strap is that the adjustment style allows for complete customization of length. Some of the straps you’ll see later on in this article have an adjustment system more like a belt (you know, with those little holes all a set distance apart). On the other hand, the more you adjust a strap like this the more worn out it will become over time, eventually leading to the risk of the strap slipping more easily through the tension adjustment system. Still, for how inexpensive it is, these straps definitely get the job done! I have one of these myself and have used it for several years already on a variety of instruments without any issues.
Cost – $7.99
Width – 2”
Length – 41” to 72”
Learn More: Gibson Les Paul: Classic vs. Standard
Ernie Ball Jacquard Straps
If you value the appearance of your strap as much as the functionality (I know I do!), then these Jacquard straps from Ernie Ball offer a couple of cool variations to choose from.
With these straps, you’ll be getting much the same experience as you would with the first strap on our list, only you’ll be doing it in a much more stylish way!
Cost – $14.99 to $19.99
Width – 2”
Length – 41” to 72”
Terry Carter Music Store Black Leather Guitar Strap
So far, we’ve looked exclusively at polypro options, so here is a leather alternative to polypro that still won’t break the bank.
Leather straps offer several advantages over straps made from synthetic materials with perhaps the most obvious one being durability. A leather strap will generally last you a lot longer than one woven from synthetic materials that can eventually start to fray/be unraveled. Another benefit of leather is that it provides more friction, helping to keep your instrument more stable when moving around a lot.
One disadvantage – though it’s a small one – is that the adjustment style offers less customization. Instead of having a buckle like the synthetic straps, these leather straps adjust length via a series of holes at the end of the strap (as I said earlier, it’s more like a belt). This limits you to a set number of adjustments.
Cost – $14.99
Width – 2”
Length – 45” to 55.5”
PRS Deluxe Cotton Strap
Here is an option that offers a great blend of durability and comfort.
If you want a strap that will sit softly on your shoulder, this is the one for you. As with the other synthetic straps, this one comes with authentic leather end pieces for extra strength at the attachment points, but unlike those other straps, the adjustment buckle on this one is metal instead of plastic, giving it a longer lifespan and making it more durable.
Cost – $29
Width – 2”
Length – 34” to 58”
D’Addario Auto Lock Nylon Strap
For the final strap on our list, let’s look at something that offers maximum attachment security.
While it’s very unlikely, the typical strap attachment style (leather end with a hole punched in it) can cause some stability issues. Overtime, the hole can grow bigger/looser and thus be less secure. If stability is the most important item on your list, you might want to go with a strap like the D’Addario Auto Lock Strap, as it is fitted with a spring loaded locking mechanism that really clamps down on the strap button.
So you know, if you plan to be doing any intense guitar flips on stage, maybe this is the best option for you.
Cost – $29.99
Width – 2”
Length – 35” to 55”
Leather Headstock Adapter
If by chance you’ve been looking through this list and wondering how all these straps attach to guitars because your guitar only has one strap button on the bottom of the body, this is for you!
While most guitars have two strap buttons – one at the base/bottom of the body, and one behind the neck – or if it’s an electric guitar – on the end of that top bit of the body that sticks out, some will only come with the one at the base of the body. If your guitar is like this, fear not! It is relatively inexpensive to go to a music store and have a second button installed. However, you have a second option.
With this leather adapter, you can attach the other half of your strap to your headstock instead of a strap button. Some people might even prefer this method regardless of if they have a second strap button or not, as it offers a different kind of support. This style of strap setup is much more common with acoustic guitars than electric guitars, which almost always have 2 strap buttons.
So there you have it. Whether it’s one of the five straps we discussed here, or another, I hope this post will help you along the way in determining what kind of strap is right for you!
