A Guitar Strap and 2 Capos for the Poor Man

Are you like me a poor man that makes his guitar attributes himself, but isn't statisfied with the look and quality of a shoestring strap and a rubberbands-pencil capo? Well then, here's the perfect instructable for you!

In this Instructable I will show you how to make a great guitar strap out of two leather belts and capos out of markers, all under 1$

Step 1: The Guitar Strap

The Guitar Strap

I didn't have a strap for my acoustic guitar, and don't like the ones they sell in the stores. I wanted a cheap, thin, leather and strong guitar strap, so that's why I made this.

What we will need:

- 2 leather belts, prefferably with same color. (Or 1 really long one)
- A small bolt and a matching nut

I bought my leather belts in a thrift store for a total of only 0,75$. I didn't find a long one, so I had to buy two (luckily I found matching ones), which works fine as well. You can use whatever material and color that you want, I just chose leather because it looks great and is really strong.

Step 2: Making a Loop Around the Guitar Neck

Now, you have to take the belt that you think is the best looking.

Shove the end with the holes under the strings behind the nut, and with the very tip of the belt and the holes you have to find a position so that the belt is tight around the guitar neck. It's best to look at the pictures for this step.

Now with a pair of scissors, you will probably have to make a bigger hole of the one you've chosen, and stomp a hole in the end of the tip.

The following step is to loop the belt back around the neck, and put a bolt through the two holes so they're connected. Now screw the nut in the bolt so that everything fits really tight (that sounded pretty hot).

It should be nearly impossible now for the belt to come off.

Step 3: Connecting the Belts and Finishing It.

What we're going to do now is connect the two belts with eachother, which is pretty simple.

Just put the end of the belt you haven't used yet through the buckle of the other one. Reffer to the picture if you don't get it.
You can also do stuff like connecting the belts with a bolt and stuff, but hey, why take the hard way?

Now, we have to find a comfortable position to connect the second belt to the strap button. I suggest doing this by standing up with the guitar and adjusting the belt size near the button and see which position fits you the best. After you find it, cut off the unnecessary piece of belt that remains (the buckle), and jam a hole through the belt.
It's best to make the hole not too big, so that it fits tight on the strap button. You can also make more holes to adjust the belt, or do it with the buckle.

If you don't have any strap button protectors, cut of a small stroke of leather from the remains that you have left over. Make a hole in it, and place it over the strap button aswell. It gives the belt a little more protection from falling of.

Hooray! We have now made a really great looking and dirt cheap strap! Go to the next pages to find out how to make some great capos!

Step 4: The Simple Capo

The Simple Capo

Before I made these capos I used a piece of metal and rubber bands, but I would need 4 bands to have a good sound, and it looked awful. After 24 hours (yes I needed a day to come up with this. Shut up.) of breaking my head over how to make a good capo that looks great too I came up with these two.

This one is really easy to make.

What you need:
-A piece of a ballpoint pen or markers (I will explain those with the other capo)
-A piece of string (a shoelace will do)

I found a ballpoint pen lying around that I could unscrew, and the middle tube was perfect for the job.
You can also use the markers that I will explain later in this instructable.

Just pull the string through the tube, and tie a tight knot. I'm not an expert on knots, so if anyone knows a knot that is easy, strong and easy to untight, please let me know!

Now you can just cut of the remaining string.

Finished! Seeing as how my strings are hard to press, this capo does it's job really well, and looks great too! If you go to the next step I will show you how to make a little more advanced capo.

Step 5: The Advanced Capo

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The Advanced Capo

This is another capo I've made. It presses the strings down more firmly, but is also a bit harder to make.

What you will need for this one:
- Markers (not necessary)
- Thick rubber
- 2 cable ties
- Some kind of metal handle (reffer to picture)

I took the handle of a small safe handle of which I screwed it off. Aynthing similar will do the job.

Step 6: Making Tubes From Markers

Take a marker, and measure how much you have to cut off. One end of the tube should be able to slide over one side of the handle, leaving a little bit of space on the other side. Reffer to the pictures if this isn't clear enough.

You can make many with different colors, and you can also use them on the first capo!

Step 7: Rubber and Finishing.

Cut off a rectangle of rubber and slide it over the handle like in the picture. Pierce through the rubber with scissors to make it easier. The rubber I chose is pretty thick.

Now take the bigger piece of rubber and fold it around the smaller piece. Zip them together with the two cable ties. Cut the remaining pieces of the cable ties off.

And tada! Youre finished! All you have to do now is lock the capo arond the neck like described in the picture. If you feel the rubber is too thick, just cut some off.