Hideous Strap Button - what’s a girl to do??

[EDW]

I would be inclined to get a fret marker or similar dot and fill it. You could try to make it invisible or use a nice wood, mother of pearl or abalone and make it decorative

Search - StewMac

www.stewmac.com

 

[TBB]

I would be inclined to get a fret marker or similar dot and fill it. You could try to make it invisible or use a nice wood, mother of pearl or abalone and make it decorative

Search - StewMac

www.stewmac.com

This is a great idea!

 

[Spieler]

Thank you, Spieler!

I’ve removed the button and ended up with a small hole which, as @badhabits predicted, is practically invisible. I might look into filling it at some point, but now that the white monstrosity has gone I’ll probably forget it’s even there!

View attachment 166609

Ahhh... 1000% improvement already!

Also (in response to various thoughts in this thread), some strap buttons are smaller than others, some are mushroom-shaped, others more squished hourglasses, still others more of a raised disk with a divot to retain a strap string....

But it looks like you're sorted for now.

Onward.

~ S.

 

[TerryM]

Much nicer without that gastly white thing. Nothing against white, but that one looked huge.

If you ever do decide to go with a button, Waverly buttons are about 13mm x 13mm, and you can find them here directly from StewMac or here via their Amazon store. They're always more expensive (like x 2) from Amazon and frequently sold out of the snakewood. Usually have ebony and tortoise.

 

[merlin666]

Thank you, Spieler!

I’ve removed the button and ended up with a small hole which, as @badhabits predicted, is practically invisible. I might look into filling it at some point, but now that the white monstrosity has gone I’ll probably forget it’s even there!

Glad you got it removed. This looked like serious uke abuse and I hope the mutilation was reflected in very low price. Strap buttons are not only unnecessary eye sore but can also be hazardous as they increase risk of uke bumping or getting caught in things.

 

[Kenn2018]

The screws for Waverly buttons are in general, of a larger diameter than most other buttons.

Your Kamaka looks just fine with the hole.

 

[ghostrdr]

Thank you, Spieler!

I’ve removed the button and ended up with a small hole which, as @badhabits predicted, is practically invisible. I might look into filling it at some point, but now that the white monstrosity has gone I’ll probably forget it’s even there!

View attachment 166609

wow! Cool extra soundport you made there!

 

[man0a]

I heard (maybe from Aldrine) that Sarah Maisel (a popular ukulele teacher) installed a strap button on her Kanilea (Aldrine is a fellow Kanilea-sponsered musician). The strap button broke off and she decided to just get rid of it instead of replacing it. She just put a band-aid over the hole. You can try looking for that in her videos.

 

[UkingViking]

Gotohs are a touch smaller than those long river buttons at 12.5 mm in diameter, same 9 mm height.

Gotoh makes three sizes of buttons, these would be the EP- something with 1. They come in brass or aluminium with different finishes.
Approximately same size and shape as a Gibson strap button.
Those called something with 2 are bigger, 14 mm i believe, like many other generic guitar strap buttons.
Those called something with 3 are huge, probably for bass guitar.

So remember to look for the right Gotoh model!

 

[TBB]

Gotoh makes three sizes of buttons, these would be the EP- something with 1. They come in brass or aluminium with different finishes.
Approximately same size and shape as a Gibson strap button.
Those called something with 2 are bigger, 14 mm i believe, like many other generic guitar strap buttons.
Those called something with 3 are huge, probably for bass guitar.

So remember to look for the right Gotoh model!

Eek! Thanks for the heads up!

 

[MichaelW]

Any luthier should be able to supply a new button if you have one locally.
SUS seem to have a selection of metal ones.
JP Guitars have wooden ones.

JP Guitars - Sales: Wood strap buttons

 

[TBB]

Any luthier should be able to supply a new button if you have one locally.
SUS seem to have a selection of metal ones.
JP Guitars have wooden ones.

JP Guitars - Sales: Wood strap buttons

I really dislike the metal ones that SUS sell, but the wooden ones from JP guitars don’t look too bad. Thanks, Michael

 

[mlolya]

Ah Ha! A very tiny side (bottom) sound port!

 

[Jerryc41]

Unscrew it & replace with a beautiful matching wooden button from Waverly. If the Waverly screw is larger than the screw hole, no problem. If it’s smaller, you’ll need to fill the hole first, then screw in the new one after the filler is dry. You could ask a luthier on the forums what to use for filler.

My thoughts, exactly.

Waverly Guitar Strap Button - StewMac

Buttons to match our bridge pins and endpins. A touch of class for your guitar.

www.stewmac.com

 

[Wiggy]

That micro-port should lower the body resonance by about .000037hz resulting in more bass. If you were to insert a very thin cocktail stirrer straw 35mm long, you potentially would be able to tune it down by .0000372hz.

 

[TBB]

That micro-port should lower the body resonance by about .000037hz resulting in more bass. If you were to insert a very thin cocktail stirrer straw 35mm long, you potentially would be able to tune it down by .0000372hz.

I’m off to search for a cocktail stirrer straw…

 

[Kenn2018]

Any luthier should be able to supply a new button if you have one locally.
SUS seem to have a selection of metal ones.
JP Guitars have wooden ones.

JP Guitars - Sales: Wood strap buttons

Those look to be Waverly buttons.

 

[ampeep]

Since you don't use a strap, no need to replace it. Maybe a bit of wood filler or a really small dowel. Colored black to match.

 

[Doug W]

Glue a Mother of Pearl fret dot in there. Worms or locusts could enter through that opening.

 

[TBB]

UPDATE!!!

I stuck this little guy in the hole, as per the suggestions of a couple of the lovely people on this thread (thank you!)



My mother’s a New Zealander and paua has a lot of really good associations for me, so I’m pretty pleased with it.

It’s not quite flush with the top - I just kind of stuffed it in there - which nags a bit at my OCD, but I’m not sure what I can do about that so I’ll probably just forget about it now (given enough time and therapy )