About My Vintage Straps

Sully's vintage straps are handcrafted from cleaned and reconditioned select old/vintage leather.

Each instrument strap is a unique creation and inherently different from every other one. The leather could have distress marks, indentations, surface cracking and other blemishes naturally acquired over the years.

These straps are made for daily use and each shoulder piece is lined with new suede leather.

I will custom fit and finish each strap to the length and attachment points given by the buyer.

Most mandolin straps would work for a small guitar or open-back banjo if you like a small shoulder piece.

Most guitar straps would work for a heavy five-string banjo.

To purchase a strap,
email me and we’ll chat.

SHIPPING BY:
Priority Mail with Delivery Confirmation

Good vintage leather takes time to locate, and I’m always looking. I try to have 8 straps available but don’t always succeed.

Vintage Strap Links:
Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3
Lefty's Straps

Also Available: New Straps

Vintage Instrument Straps: Page 3

Guitar/Bango Strap #347Guitar/Banjo #600 $175 plus shipping

If you start suffering from shoulder fatigue halfway thru a gig, this knockout looking strap will end that problem forever. Which is also just about how long it will take you to wear it out.

The heavy duty shoulder piece was fashioned from an incredibly tough yet very flexible saddle strap that surely spent many busy years riding the range. The leather is supple and check free and still has enough backbone to spread out the weight of a heavy instrument across the full 3” width. Lengthwise it measures 12 1/2”. The quality of the leather is excellent. Color shading, some surface indentations and miscellaneous other age marks create a rather distressed looking vintage character. I replaced all of the original edge stitching with new artificial sinew hand sewn into the existing needle holes. Then I added the two rows of buckstitching along each side made from oiled leather lacing that I skived down pretty thin. The buckstitching was worked thru hand punched diagonal slits which made the already supple leather a little  more flexible as well as adding a nice western flavor for your palate.

Fitting perfectly snug into the meticulously cut and shaped strap slots on the shoulder piece is a beautiful old 5/8” wide western rein strap. I skived it just enough to level things out and the thickness is just shy of 1/4”, which feels just right with the big oversized shoulder piece. The leather is butter soft and brutally strong. There is no checking anywhere on the color matching strap and the color shading, minor staining, and general disposition make it a perfect mate. The top and bottom edges were originally hand dressed and I touched up the bottom edges after I did the skiving.

Although I’ve been accused of being slightly partial to the older Martin guitars and Gibson banjos, I’ll admit there are plenty of exceptionally fine older hand built instruments out there and this strap would be worthy of the finest.

Guitar/Banjo Strap #348Mandolin #154 $95 plus shipping

My wife called this one “pretty.”  I think it has quite a bit more testosterone than she gives it credit for and I’d call it “ruggedly handsome.”

The shoulder piece runs about 8 1/2" long and tapers from 1 3/4" wide on the front to 1 3/8” on the tail. The leather is soft and flexible and has developed just a few light surface checks which are visible near the bottom. A very nice standard vine pattern was hand tooled on the leather many years ago by the original craftsman and although the surface has worn a bit smooth over the years the fine details are still quite visible. I replaced the old cotton thread edge stitching with new artificial sinew, hand sewn into the original needle holes. The curved shape favors the left shoulder of a right handed player. If you’re a right handed player that wears the strap Bill Monroe style over your right shoulder this one will not work for you.

I had a several vintage reins that would have looked nice with the shoulder piece but this supple 3/8” wide one got the nod. The dark brown color contrasts just perfectly with the light brown color as well as matching the darker brown edges of the shoulder piece and the darker color shaded areas in the tooled design. Each end of rein has been skived thinner to make a neat and flexible connection and is secured to the shoulder piece with a row of double stitched sinew.

Ideally, this one would look best with a sewn loop for a headstock or scroll attachment on the front and a non-adjustable button tab sewn on the back end. And since the shoulder piece will not slide on the strap to adjust position I’ll also need a separate measurement so I can properly locate it for you.  If you’re not an experienced player that’s honed in on a definite strap length yet you may want to shy away from this one.

Guitar/Bango Strap #347Guitar/Banjo #594 $140 plus shipping SOLD

Here’s another butter soft beauty to pamper your shoulder.

This shoulder piece was a dirty old saddle strap until I got a hold of it. A thorough cleaning revealed the original buckskin tan color and after I reconditioned the leather and rubbed in a few coats of Neatsfoot oil it softened up to the point that it almost feels like PlayDoh. It measures 15” long by 2” wide and I would’ve trimmed it shorter but I didn’t want to loose any of the original closed stitching pattern.  Of course all of the old stitching had to be removed and I replaced it with new artificial sinew, hand sewn into the original needle holes. There is some color shading present along with a medium distressed character which is not the slightest bit offensive.

Sharing all the same characteristics as the rejuvenated saddle strap is a very supple 5/8” wide western rein strap of excellent quality. It’s tightly gripped by the carefully cut and shaped strap slots on each end of the shoulder piece and will not slide out of position without intentional help. To keep it centered on the shoulder piece I added the strap guide, secured by two rows of double stitched sinew. The guide was cut from the very end of the same rein and the hole in the center was for a rawhide lacing that held the rein to the bit via a small leather slobber strap. That’s probably TMI but an interesting modicum of information just the same.

So, giddy-up off your butt, grab your instrument and see how it might look hitched up to this one. A custom fit using guitar or banjo slobber strap attachments included.




Vintage Strap Links:
Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3
Lefty's Straps

Also Available: New Straps