If you’re looking to attach your strap to your acoustic guitar you might find it a little odd that you only have one strap button on the body of the guitar.
A Lot of Guitarists find themselves asking why does my guitar only have one strap button?
Shouldn’t there always be two buttons, one for each end of the strap?
Acoustic guitars sometimes only have one strap button, because the front end of the strap is meant to be tied with string, around the headstock.
Why does my acoustic guitar only have one strap button?
Because of the larger body size of some acoustic guitars, it isn’t possible to attach the strap to the guitar body at both ends, and still be in a comfortable playing position.
For some larger sized guitars, the body of the guitar is so large that if you attach the strap to the body at both ends you would have trouble reaching the upper frets of the neck.
There’s a certain amount of balance that goes into a guitar, how the body sits, how high the neck rests, ect.
Having the strap connected at the base of the guitar, and at the neck means you have more control over the balance of the guitar.
This means the same guitar will suit more people.
Some guitar bodies are so large that, if standing with a strap with two strap buttons, you wouldn’t be able to reach all the fret comfortably.
How to put a strap on a guitar with one button or peg
The back or bottom strap button will attach as normal.
The front of the strap will need to be connected with a string or small rope. Straps will often come with a shoelace type of string, just for this purpose.
Using the string, tie it to the front hole of the strap.
Then take the remaining slack of the string and pass it underneath the strings by the nut of the headstock.
Wrap the string around the back of the headstock, and tie.
Ensure you go behind the strings and that you haven’t ties the strap string in a way that interferes with your guitar strings.
How to add a strap button to an acoustic guitar
It is entirely possible to install an additional strap button to your acoustic guitar.
One thing you’ll want to watch out for, as mentioned above, is that you ensure your guitar will still be balanced correctly after you install the second strap.
A second strap button can be installed with minimal intrusion to the structure of the guitar.
Some will claim this can impact the tone or integrity of the guitar, however, it isn’t possible to say this is true for all guitars, or to what degree.
Any guitar shop or luthier will have no problem doing this for you if you would like to get it done.
If you want to take a more DIY approach to adding a second strap button to your acoustic guitar, here’s a video explaining the process in detail:
