I’ve been using these about twice that long & the original strap buttons are still on my old Fretsling straps, one thing I learned over the years is to clean and lubricate them (ball bearings) periodically, never have failed me in all of that time in many different situations.Been using these for over 20 years, with zero issues:
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I've tightened them with a wrench before a gig and had the nuts come loose during a gig. They were installed properly. I do use a thick leather strap though. Now I put locktite on the nuts during installation and that resolves the issue.I don't know how people are getting Schallers to "fail on them"??
The only reasons they can fail (in my experience) is due to them not being installed correctly in the first place! The common mistakes are:
1) Not enlarging the hole in the strap enough, so the nut and washer doesn't really "bite" down hard enough
2) Not tightening the nut hard enough. Use a vice to hold the body of the lock, and tighten the nut with a spanner - NOT just "finger tight"!
3) Nut working loose over time...This is usually a side-effect of 1) and 2) above. I check the nuts on my straplocks from time to time, but haven't needed to tighten them up for maybe 10 years?
4) Installing the "cups" that hold the part that is screwed to the guitar upside down (so that they face outwards from the strap, instead of inwards!).
The only time I have ever had a Schaller strap-lock fail in 30 years of playing was due to 4) above, and being young and stupid!
In 3....2....1.....I honestly can't hardly wait for the next straplock confirmation bias thread, any bets on how it will go?