My guitar a fender squier seems to have a little bit at the bottom to attach a strap but there is nothing else to clip the other end of the strap other than the actual head of the guitar? Is this right or am I going to damage it by doing this? It seems a little weird as the guitar itself came with a strap so you would assume that it would be designed to take one :/
I realise I might not have described the problem/question very well so here are some pictures to show you what I mean:
Thanks :)
It's pretty common for acoustic guitars to not have a strap pin - just the end pin.
Many straps come with a bit of shoelace type cord. You pass that under the strings between the tuners and the nut and tie the strap on.
If you want to add a strap button, they're cheap. The safest place to put it is on the heel of the neck. Don't go into the side of the guitar unless you know what you're doing - the side itself won't support the weight; you need to drill just right to catch enough of the neck block to have support. (I added a strap button to my Martin by going into the neck block - honestly, it was the scariest bit of work I've done on one of my guitars. I probably measured a dozen times before I drilled... you can't really undo a hole if you put it in the wrong spot!)
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You can tie your strap to the head but I've found that the strap can get in the way if you use your thumb at all for any techniques like muting on the low strings on the first couple of frets.
+ 1 to shoe lace.
I have repaired soooo many guitars where someone has gone into the heel on the neck and split the timber.
Think of it this way.... if that small piece of timber was meant to support the weight of the guitar by a screw, it would come with one! (it doesnt...and the manufacturers dont put it there for a reason).
Aside from anything else.. the guitar has a tendency to fall "forward" while you play, and although 99 times out of 100, people catch their guitar before it hits the ground. I get 6 to 10 guitars a year where the owner doesnt catch it in time... and thats messy.
