Revo Guitar Straps is making headway. You’ll see the guitar straps around the shoulders of folks like Zac Brown and Ziggy Marley.
Revo’s idea is simple: comfortable wooden guitar straps, handcrafted in Costa Rica.
Wood?
Yup, wood. They kind of remind me of those wooden beaded seat covers favored by New York cabbies. (It’s possible that I had one one of those on the bench seat of my Nissan pickup in high school).
The idea is that the wood distributes the weight more evenly, rather than concentrating pressure at the apex of your shoulder..
I recently took one a Revo Maple Bullet ($89) strap for a test drive. How did it go? Glad you asked.
Review
Packaging was simple. Plastic sheath with a simple cardboard tag at the top. Once out of the packaging, there were two steps for set up – attaching the strap tail and fitting the strap hole.
- The strap tail can be attached to the main strap at any point up the strap. You just find a slot in the wooden pieces and weave it through. I’m a normal size guy – I wear a Men’s Large and don’t have to duck in doorways – but I had to attach the strap tail at the largest setting. Revo says straps are adjustable from 43″ to 55″. I must’ve been pushing the 55″ mark.
- The strap hole for the neck of the guitar went on fine, but the strap hole for the base of the guitar was more difficult. The strap hole was just too small for the strap peg. I ended up taking a pocket knife, cutting the strap hole a bit, and voila! Good fit. (Note: When I contacted Revo, they actually recommended this approach. They prefer to make the strap tight for all guitars, then users customize for their hardware.)
Once it was set up, the strap was super comfortable. The weight distribution felt more even, and the guitar felt more secure and less “swingy”.
A note of caution: If you leave both sides of the strap attached when you put the guitar down (if you just slide it over your head, for example), it will smack against the back of your guitar when you put it down. Better to gently undo one of the ends and set the guitar down gently.
Bonus feature: We didn’t get to try it out, but Revo says you can get custom inlays in the strap to match your guitar. Sounds like a good looking setup for your nice acoustic.
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