I have to start this by apologizing to Hannah, the really awesome strap crafter (Says it on her business card) from Ukestar Straps.  Hannah was kind enough to send me one of her handmade ukulele strap back in January.  No excuses, time got away from me. So on with the show!!   

Most guitar players have a strap for their guitar, especially electric guitar players. Guitars are big and most people can’t hold a guitar while standing and play it (Unless you are my friend Paul, he is weird). Ukuleles are small; you can wedge it between your belly and your arm and still play it just fine, right?

  The answer is yes and no. On one hand you can simply hold it with your arm and gut. It is light and that is what a lot of people do, perfectly fine, but………..You knew there had to be a but. When you wedge the uke you are creating some problems: 

1. You are not letting the instrument completely vibrate, letting the full sound come out.
2. You put a nice line in your arm from holding it too long.
3. After a while a buildup of sweat and “stuff” will start to show where you hold it with your arm and can cause permanent discoloration.
4. Your strumming hand is limited to what it can do since it is locked into position of the arm holding the uke.

Me Holding my Jenny Using the Ukestar Strap

To resolve these “problems” people will buy a strap for their uke. As I mentioned before in a earlier post there are several straps. The one from Ukestar Straps is a handmade classical guitar strap style but made for ukuleles,  meaning that it holds the instrument by the sound hole, but Ukestar Straps are way better than your mass produced ukulele straps from Levy. 

1. It is handmade in America with love ( I could stop here)
2. Many different fabrics to choose from (NOTE: She has 5 up presently, but there is a spot that you can custom order size and fabric LINK)
3. There are 3 sizes. Absolutely genius mainly because I see so many different sized people playing ukulele. As a 6″ 1′ man with a slight gut I got a medium, IZ would have benefitted from a large, where Jake could probably use a small.
4. Unlike the levy strap that has a hard plastic clip, these have an amazing clothe covered hook to protect your beloved ukulele.
5. For $20 you cannot beat it. A factory made one from Levy is $15. For a whole $5 more you have a product that is so much better in so many ways.

Clothe Wrapped Hook

All I can say is that my strap changed my playing. I love it, I love it , I love it. The real beauty of it for me is the fact that I don’t have to take it off to change ukes. Just unhook and hook another one on.

The Star Button on all Straps

Buy one today, Hell buy two (one for you and one for a friend)  

A few fun things to know about Hannah. Besides being a strap crafter she is in a band called the Ukettes and is a graphic designer (Which explains the really professional tags and other printed materials that come with the strap)