Christmas is nearly here!
23/11/20
And what better way to celebrate the occasion, than with a superb English sourced and manufactured Bison Boa guitar strap!
You'll probably think I'm being sponsored to give, what will shortly become obvious, such an outstanding review! But I promise I am not. You know me - I love my guitars and my gear. But I have always been a bit of an Ernie Ball, cheapo strap kind of person. But when daughter number two asked what I wanted for my birthday, I thought a strap worthy of my Martin 28 OM would be rather nice. I look around and soon found Bison Boa on the web and then on Amazon. As it turned out, with the lockdown there was only one model available, which I thought would suit an electric guitar better than an acoustic. On their website, there were several straps that took my eye, but were sold out.
I contacted Bison Boa direct and struck up a great conversation with their Grant Cruick. He explained they were developing a brand new range (more of below) but they had one single strap left that was made from a one-off. Grant said:
"I do have ONE 100% Beef in a limited edition. The tannery we get the 100% Beef leather from sent us two hides of the same leather in a matt finish. We made those two hides into twenty two straps and simultaneously received the news from the tannery that they wouldn't be continuing to produce this particular variant of the leather. So we simply sold the straps as the two hides limited edition. We still have the last one. It's very similar to the one you see on the site in that it's the same colour and exactly the same leather, but its a matt appearance to the surface. You'd be welcome to this last one if you'd like. There'll certainly never be another made as we're looking to change up the lines."
Well, I love all things unique so the order was placed there and then. And what a superb birthday present from my daughter it did make, as you can see in the above photo. I love not only that it's unique, but also that it's English and from a small English company.
With Christmas approaching, many months after, I thought I'd give Grant a shout to see if there was anything occurring on their new line. I was in luck, as Bison Boa are just about to launch their new range. I thought a nice retro strap for my 60's Stratocaster would be a lovely present - and hey presto - see the first photo above. Needless to say, it's on order from Amazon for Mrs Skidders to give me for Christmas.
The company use individually sourced leather from C.F. Stead - check out their amazing history here cfstead.com/heritage
Bison Boa guitar straps are available on Amazon - you can also check out their website bisonboa.com
One last thing - I did see a "vegan" guitar strap advertised recently. Oh please - get a grip!
I contacted Bison Boa direct and struck up a great conversation with their Grant Cruick. He explained they were developing a brand new range (more of below) but they had one single strap left that was made from a one-off. Grant said:
"I do have ONE 100% Beef in a limited edition. The tannery we get the 100% Beef leather from sent us two hides of the same leather in a matt finish. We made those two hides into twenty two straps and simultaneously received the news from the tannery that they wouldn't be continuing to produce this particular variant of the leather. So we simply sold the straps as the two hides limited edition. We still have the last one. It's very similar to the one you see on the site in that it's the same colour and exactly the same leather, but its a matt appearance to the surface. You'd be welcome to this last one if you'd like. There'll certainly never be another made as we're looking to change up the lines."
Well, I love all things unique so the order was placed there and then. And what a superb birthday present from my daughter it did make, as you can see in the above photo. I love not only that it's unique, but also that it's English and from a small English company.
With Christmas approaching, many months after, I thought I'd give Grant a shout to see if there was anything occurring on their new line. I was in luck, as Bison Boa are just about to launch their new range. I thought a nice retro strap for my 60's Stratocaster would be a lovely present - and hey presto - see the first photo above. Needless to say, it's on order from Amazon for Mrs Skidders to give me for Christmas.
The company use individually sourced leather from C.F. Stead - check out their amazing history here cfstead.com/heritage
Bison Boa guitar straps are available on Amazon - you can also check out their website bisonboa.com
One last thing - I did see a "vegan" guitar strap advertised recently. Oh please - get a grip!