Posted on 770 Comments

An easy and inexpensive solution to attaching a strap to an open back banjo!

Here’s a little tip for open back banjo players who are not real keen on using the kinds of inexpensive straps that use a metal or plastic clip hook on the ends. The metal hooks can scratch the banjo and the plastic hooks are weak. The better and usually quite a bit more expensive straps will usually have a leather tab on the end that you wrap around a banjo bracket or hook, double it back on itself and use a couple of “Chicago screws” to attach. These are fine if you want to step up, but even then someĀ  folks don’t like keeping the strap on the banjo all the time. Whether it’s the crummy strap hooks you don’t like or the Chicago screws that are time-consuming to attach, D’Addario has a neat little piece that you can use to attach virtually any strap to and remove it easily, any time you like.

I’m talking about the Planet Waves (D’Addario) acoustic strap quick release. It has two parts, one stays looped into a banjo bracket, the other is attached to the strap of your choice. It will lengthen the strap a bit, but it’s easy to quickly attach and release. If you want one on both ends of the strap you’d need two. It’s only $5.95 and although it is intended for guitars and works beautifully on them, other creative applications are perfectly legal! You can see it here: https://beyondguitars.com/product/planet-waves-acoustic-strap-quick-release-daddario-dgs15/