Mixdown Reviews Lock-it Straps

Reviewed: Lock-It Retro Vintage Chestnut Bay Guitar Strap

by Nick Brown

At some stage in your guitar playing career you are going to need to stand up to play and/or use a strap. As humble and innocent as the guitar strap may seem, they are of course not all created equal. There are many variations in material, size, width, length, looks, fastening mechanisms and more with the latter being one of the main innovations in the world of guitar strappage. Numerous companies offer locking type straps and attachments that can involve anything from modifying your instrument to installing locks and clips. Hailing from the US, Lock-It straps offer a solution that gives you locking peace of mind without the need for altering your guitar.

Taking the snap-into-place styled locks, Lock-It has utilised a mechanism that creates an additional hold over your existing guitar strap pin that doesn't need modifying and is in fact concealed in the ends of the strap. From a distance these look like your typical strap ends and they use leather, which is a nice touch. Easy to install, the strap is pulled over your strap pin as normal with the thumb button pulled up.

Once the thumb button is released, a snug tight fit is created with the downward weight of the guitar, and the beauty is how the locking mechanism slides into place when released, offering a second layer of protection. As mentioned, the whole design is hidden inside the end, which only has slightly more bulk to it compared to normal strap ends. You'd be hard pressed to notice any difference at a glance.

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