I’m old enough to remember a time when Levy’s was not in the guitar strap business. In the early 1970’s, there were of course several companies making guitar straps for your electric guitar. The local music store had a spinner rack or a coat rack that held them all. It didn’t matter much which one you bought, because the main difference was the print on the cloth strap. Nobody cared much about guitar straps.
The first Levy’s straps were pretty cool. They cost a bit more, but they were made of leather, they looked cool, and were pretty sturdy too. Back then, Levy’s was already making leather belts, so it was a good fit for them.
Today, Levy’s itself has a huge, bewildering line of cloth and/or leather guitar straps that changes every year. I know this, because I visited their web site. I went to a music store afterwards and I realized that these straps really don’t sell that fast - heck, you can see the last 4 years’ worth at your local music store! That got me thinking about guitar straps.
A few years ago, I was borrowing a Les Paul Pro, and they are heavy electric guitars. I researched and bought a Kepur strap made out of ’BioTherm’. These straps are designed for heavy guitars, and the one I bought does help lighten the load. When my friend took the guitar back, the Kepur strap went with it because I bought it especially for that heavy Les Paul Pro. One guitar, one strap.
Now, the selection of guitar straps out there has never been greater. A huge variety of guitar strap brands, colours, materials, technology and prices are available. But, people just simply aren’t buying them as quickly as they come out. You see, there really is not much point in having more than one guitar strap per guitar. That’s it. And guitar straps are sturdy: I still have a guitar strap I bought in the 1970’s. Players simply do not need to buy a guitar strap very often.
I am a guitar fanatic, and whenever there is a guitar player on TV, I check out the type of guitar the guy is playing. But I never, ever, check out the strap the guitarist is hoisting.
So when it comes to guitar straps, nobody much cares.