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Belt Buckles and your axe


BriBaby

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Just wondering as I put on my belt on the way out to a 6 hour benefit for a child, who died, whose family is too poor to buy him a decent headstone:

 

I wear the same dang belt every gig, it has a plastic buckle. After years of not really giving a rip (I have tore up the back of my SRV strat, 67 Gibson Firebird, MIJ mid 80's strat), now I have a semi-new Rick 620 and a Dean acoustic that I don't want to mar. I found that belt at a thrift store,with a plastic buckle, but I'm getting sick of it.

 

So what do you all do? Untuck so your shirt

covers it, go beltless? Not give a rip? Turn the buckle sideways? With all the sweet planks I hear y'all talking about, you must have some method........

Once I thought I saw you, in a crowded, hazy, bar........

 

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Simplest solution is to go beltless, then maybe cover up any hard buttons on your pants with tape (contour the tape to the buttons so it's not obvious) if you worry about scratches from them.

 

Untucking your shirt isn't always a good idea since it often shifts with your playing possibly exposing the belt buckle, unless of course, you will be sitting down.

 

Peace :)

"Treat your wife with honor, respect, and understanding as you live together so that you can pray effectively as husband and wife." 1 Peter 3:7

 

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i have a deluxe american strat w/sunburst finish. when i practice i always sit but when i started doing gigs i was standing and for some reason the back of my guitar started looking like hell, couldnt figure it out, i accused my wife of sabatoge till i figured out that it was my damn buckle, now i wear the buckle sideways.
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Yup...belt buckle on my left hip when playing standing up.

 

For live gigs...wait 'till you are on stage...just before the first set...

...then before you strap on your guitar...

...undo your belt buckle...slowly...and silde it over to you hip...

 

...the girls in the audience will ge a nice rise out of that for a few seconds...

 

...'til they realize you ain't gonna' drop your pants! :D

miroslav - miroslavmusic.com

 

"Just because it happened to you, it doesn't mean it's important."

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Originally posted by bpark@prorec.com:

For many years I wore my belt with the buckle on my left hip.

 

Bill

Still do, myself; it's the only sure way I know of to keep your guitars from being scratched up. I did see an ad many years ago about a leather belt buckle that was guaranteed not to damage the back of a guitar, but I haven't seen the ad in a very LONG time.

Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.

 

 

 

 

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if i had an acoustic, thats something id be concerned about, but with my electrics i just dont care. Not because i hate my guitars or dont care about them, but some scratches on the back doesnt ruin its tone or playability...it gives it character(unless someone else does it, then its fight time)... :D
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Usually I would wear a shirt that is not tucked in, with no belt. On the occasion I wear a belt, I always put the buckle to the left side, like over the hip bone area, out of the way.

 

I guess maybe I'm too particular, but I never could understand why players would let their belt buckles randomly remove the finish and eventually the wood on the backs of guitars... especially if there is a chance they might want to sell it some day. Its so easy to avoid. :confused:

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no scratches for me thanks.

I have an Ibanez for which I took a fur pelt, tied it across the body with a couple or leather strings, worked like a charm. There are several makers of similar protectors that are a little less like fur dice off the rear view mirror-type things, but work just as well. I think one is called guitar skins.

Same old surprises, brand new cliches-

 

Skipsounds on Soundclick:

www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandid=602491

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In my old longhair lead-guitar days I used to tie a scarf thru the beltloops. Looked cool, and kept the guitar from getting scratched - at least til I banged against the amp stacks :D

I used to think I was Libertarian. Until I saw their platform; now I know I'm no more Libertarian than I am RepubliCrat or neoCON or Liberal or Socialist.

 

This ain't no track meet; this is football.

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I just don't worry about it.

 

I don't baby any of my tools.

\m/

Erik

"To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting."

--Sun Tzu

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Several of my guitars either came with of were roughed up by me so I don't get to excited about it. The one that's clean is my '71 LP Custom and it's black and shines like new.... so I pull the belt or untuck the shirt when I pick it up. Pulling your shirt out is the simplest thing to do by far.

 

There's likely a market out there for a shuff plate that uses that 3M sticks but doesn't really stick glue.

Go for it... :thu:

I still think guitars are like shoes, but louder.

 

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I used to do the "belt buckle to the side" thing, but my axes always managed to find a way to get dinged-up anyway. I finally decided that those scars were part of the guitar's personality. Hell, I don't plan on selling any of 'em anyway.

 

I must say though, as I've gotten older, I tend to wear my guitars a little higher (no more of the Jimmy Page look for me!), and this has drastically reduced the buckle-rash.

May all your thoughts be random!

- Neil

www.McFaddenArts.com

www.MikesGarageRocks.com

 

 

 

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I'd only worry about it with acoustics. If you're a really hard player, then a belt buckle might cause the back of an acoustic instrument to crack, or maybe make a hole in it (extreme scenario).

 

Otherwise, I don't care much. Like nmcguitar, I do wear my instruments higher than your typical rocker, so scratches aren't much of an issue.

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Didn't some of the old American Gretsch guitars used to have pads on the back of them? Country Gentleman, Tenneseean? Anyway, my current guitars are used and I don't worry. If I ever get a new LP or Martin I'll worry.
...touched down in the land of the Delta Blues.....in the middle of the pouring rain....
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Back in the 60's & early 70's you could always tell a guitar player - cause almost all of them (at least the serious giggers) wore the buckle to the side (not just on stage - it was simply the way they dressed in the morning).

 

I don't see it much any more, but at the time it became very much part of the guitarist's image.

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I don't worry too much either. Upon examining my stance (kinda like examining your golf swing :freak: ) I notice that I keep mine at an angle from my hip taway from my front - not flat across my front. Plus my usual jeans belt has a Rosewood buckle and doesn't seem to scuff too much.

Looks sorta like this:

 

http://www.woodpens.com/images/jl0018.gif

Lynn G
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I actually used to wrap my belt buckle in some shrinkwrap (the kind you have in your kitchen) before I decided that I could just wear it off to the side. Shrinkwrapped buckles get you a lot of odd looks thrown your way, whereas buckles worn of to the side warrant a bit less.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/3/aaronjunmusic.htm

 

"Tell the truth and make it rhyme." - John Lennon

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Man..I haven't heard of...or seen...any buckles to the side for YEARS!!!

...I need to get out more often, obviously...

 

"Belt-fatigue" used to be an issue for me years ago, then I...

a) Got all "Holdworth-like" and started wearing my guitar higher.

b) Gave up caring about what the back of my axes looked like!

How can we fight ignorance and apathy?

Who knows! Who cares!

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Originally posted by NMcGuitar:

I used to do the "belt buckle to the side" thing, but my axes always managed to find a way to get dinged-up anyway. I finally decided that those scars were part of the guitar's personality. Hell, I don't plan on selling any of 'em anyway.

 

I must say though, as I've gotten older, I tend to wear my guitars a little higher (no more of the Jimmy Page look for me!), and this has drastically reduced the buckle-rash.

I wear mine higher and a nice soft untucked shirt. Don't like buckle rash. Never had a rash that gave me character. :D

bbach

 

Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.

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Some time back picked up a few of these 'Elipse' belts with rounded nylon buckles from Bison Designs:

 

http://www.bisondesigns.com/catalog/25mm_ellipse__3162308.htm

 

...if you can find a pattern you like they're great. Not a sharp edge in sight. I don't remember the name of the store I found them in off hand.

 

Tom

http://www.digitalaudiorock.com

The Protools Plugin Preset Co-op

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Some folks could bring back spandex for playing; don't need a belt with that. Unfortunately, I am not one of them;I am big boned...a portly person...a man of girth...ah crud, I'm fat, okay?There simply isn't enough Spandex in the midwest... :cry:

Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.

 

 

 

 

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  • 9 months later...

OK Ya All,

 

Enough already with the belt buckle bichin. If you'd get one of these like I did we'd be able to put this whole thread to sleep.

 

http://www.scratchpadusa.veryaffordablewebsites.com/i//Belt_Buckle_KMS_2.JPG

www.ScratchPadUSA.com

 

I especially liked the fact that it's made in the USA.

 

I'm a Luthier and I'm tired of guys bichin about how much wood I need to plane from the backs of their guitars because THEY didn't take care of THEIR instruments.

 

And HEY! My buddy had his car 'keyed' once. I guess I should have told him, " Those aren't scratches, someone has just added CHARACTER to your car ." Duhhh!

 

BTW; BriBaby, this is what BB uses to protect Lucille.

 

GM

Life is too short, eat your desert first!
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