Tune in to Guitars

Keep up with the latest guitar news on playing, vintage collecting, and innovative new guitars like Wallpusher. The art of guitars today is “tuned” to several publications. Here are the best places to go for info. Acoustic Guitar is a magazine

founded in 1990.  Consisting of magazines, e-newsletters, digital services and books, it made the leap to an online companion in 1995 (acousticguitar.com).  This site hosts sheet music, song transcripts, reviews and interviews. Guitar World (guitarworld.com) is a magazine located in New York, NY; offering tuning advice and products.  This magazine prints articles on artists/guitarists, rock albums and videos; also blogging on different brands.

Finger Style Guitar (fingerstyleguitar.com) covers all styles and music types of guitars.  Located out of Bedminster, NJ; this magazine is in fact connected with Facebook and Twitter.  While covering all musical genres, Finger Style Guitar features a style of playing that consists of plucking strings with fingers. Vintage Guitar Magazine (vguitar.com) has been published monthly since 1986.  It consists of information/history on instruments, entertainment, interviews and famous players.  Connecting with maintenance, it contains descriptive articles on instruments, gear, music and artists.

Prime and bass acoustic guitars
Image via Wikipedia

TC Guitar Magazine (tcguitar.com) connects musicians to types of playing, tuning, accessories and tips to left handed players.  This publication gives links to buying guitars and guitar lessons. Canadian Musician (canadianmusician.com) has covered Canadian artists, technique, gear and new releases/products since 1979. This publication covers guitar, bass, keyboards, percussion, brass woodwinds; also featuring vocal, song writing, recording, artists, blog and schedule of events.

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Another happy customer: Jim Trick

Another happy customer: Jim Trick, came to the shop for his custom adjustable guitar strap the other day.

What’s in a strap? Your guitar strap is perhaps the most important accessory to your guitar playing, and should make your playing easier, not harder. Wallpusher Guitar Straps are designed to give maximum flexibility to the player, so they can change the height of the guitar at anytime during play. If you want to make your playing easier and more fun, you can order your own handmade guitar strap on our etsy page.

Jim Trick with his Wallpusher Guitar Strap

We had fun with Jim, showing him the shop and many guitars in different stages of production. He played us several of his newest songs, and really loved the ease with which he could change the height of his guitar for solos or rhythm playing.

He was impressed by all the stages of making a guitar, and loved seeing the tools we use. He tried his hand at a Japanese Pull Saw, and did a great job! We ended the night with a ceremonial trashing of the old guitar strap, Jim was so happy with his new Wallpusher strap, he won’t need the old one again!

We love sponsoring our favorite musicians, and Jim is definitely one of them. We met Jim and his wife Alison at Soulfest 2009, were impressed by his playing and stage presence. Jim is an accomplished acoustic guitarist / singer who is able to weave real life stories into melodies ranging in style from contemporary folk to acoustic rock. Jim sings and speaks at concerts, retreats, colleges, churches, Mens ministries,  Singles groups, keynote addresses, leadership training, workshops and youth groups. Find out more about his work and talent at www.jimtrick.com or listen to his latest album on myspace.

If you want to make your playing easier and more fun, you can order your own handmade guitar strap on our etsy page.

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LEATHERWORKING- making guitar straps

Our guitar straps have gone INTERNATIONAL!! Just recently, they were reviewed by Guitar Wink, where he described their innovative function and the ease with which they can help the player to change the height of the instument effortlessly!!

Just so you remember, these straps are featured TODAY on Etsy, so if you have a minute, we’d love it if you could go and heart our guitar straps, tell you friends, or order one.

So how do they work?

Wallpusher adjustable straps have been designed to solve a single problem inherent in every other strap they’ve used: the ability to vary the

height of the instrument up AND down during a musical performance. Sometimes a certain section demands more technical work and we would like the instrument to be higher on the body while other times we like the instruments to rest lower and more relaxed. The guitar straps Wallpusher has designed function QUICKLY and EASILY to allow a player to raise or lower the instrument almost instantaneously.

They’re so basic and easy to use!!


So how do we make them?

Depending on the type, we make sewn, riveted and chain mail models, the construction could take anywhere from 8 hours to 24. The sewn straps are made on our refurbished Singer 3115. A leather sewer from the 1800s, we refinished it with gold leaf and tractor paint and now it is used by several interns and employees to create the straps.

Of course the first step is to choose the leather, which is tricky because it has to be stretchy, but not so much that it’ll fall off the guitar, and tight, but soft enough to be comfortable. Once the leather is chosen at the local store, or reclaimed from recycled goods, it is cut with dies made custom out of cast iron to make the shapes necessary for the strap.

Determining the perfect functional components of the strap took years, but now that we have the size of the rings, the type of material, and other factors under our belts, we have to sew!

Rivets are best hammered together on an anvil, and the chainmail is made by hand from recycled metal.

AMAZING SALE: 50% off our Guitar Straps!!
Previously $80, the straps are now only $33 through March 14th!

Product Features

* Our guitar straps offer easy one-handed adjustments in seconds!
* 2″-wide guitar strap
* Classic look comes in black, red, yellow, and green to suit your personal style.
* Provides a comfortable fit while you’re playing guitar
* Colors Available: Dark Red, yellow, black, brown, green, cow
* Organic Leather
* Perfect tool for solo gigs and all musicians
* Made in MA, USA
* Wipe with damp cloth
* Item Weight: 1.5 pounds

This guitar strap is so simple, so basic – yet so perfect. The price is perfect too. This guitar strap is like no other in that it is adjustable and can be altered during play. Musicians everywhere love the ability to effortlessly adjust the guitar or bass higher to solo and then drop down easily on stage. Light, beautiful, easy to clean, easy to store, not big and bulky.
Sometime you just have to get back to the basics. Sometimes, it’s the simplest design that works the best. Sometimes, all those fancy, additional features offered are just not worth it.

Each strap comes with a tag stating the number in the series, date of creation, and my signature. As always, being a handmade strap each one is unique, and the color and cut may vary slightly.

If you have any questions about how to make guitar straps, or would like to order one, please contact us at info@wallpusher.com or contact us via our Etsy Shop. We’re happy to create custom or wholesale staps, just let us know what you’re interested in!