FUQ (eff -yu - cue) - FAQ's with an EDGE

Tagged As: Classical Guitar Strap

Question:
Though I appreciate the value of technique when playing classical, and the importance of being in exactly the right position ... I'm not sure I can be @rsed putting my left foot on that silly rest every time I want to play guitar. Plus, I'm in the habit of keeping time with my left foot, and keeping time is very important to me, a. Almost a religion in fact. Is there any practical reason why classical guitar purists tend to sneer at the practice of using a strap? If I were to put a couple of strap bolts on this cheap, Chinese made instrument, and just have the strap adjusted so as to keep the guitar in approximately the same position that it would be if were holding it properly ... would this be in any way a negative on my technique?

Answer:
Those guitars are made light so there might not be much wood where you want to drill etc., and you will be putting a load on it, besides sitting it down and bumping the end button...not real good for a guitar. You can get a strap for a classical guitar. It goes around your neck like a sax strap, and then goes behind the guitar and loops back up at the waist where a little hook grabs the lower edge of the sound hole. I know this looks dangerous but I used mine a lot and considering how Willie Nelson's Trigger looks (he uses that sort of strap), all the damage on Trigger is other places than at the lower lip of the sound hole -- so it must work OK. But Willie might have epoxied a sheet of aluminum inside the lower lip...which is not a bad idea...or at least a little crescent of 1/8 birch ply about 3 long -- which you can get at a model/hobby shop.