What most people fail to realize is that the guitar strap is what physically connects the guitar to your body and you wouldn't be able to play comfortably in a standing position without it. That said, it's important to have an adequate strap for the job. The good ole $7.99 Ernie Ball nylon strap is fine for sitting in your room practicing but I can't tell you how many times I have seen one of these straps break "on the job."
After realizing the nylon straps weren't going to cut it, though Gibson and Fender make nice lower end models FUNCTION-WISE, I decided to give leather a go. As a kid, this wasn't much better because I couldn't afford anything of decent quality. A $30-50 leather guitar strap was a piece of junk. Somewhere around 2000 or 2001, I heard of this company making absolutely killer leather guitar straps. They were too expensive for my pockets containing nothing but some unspent milk money at the time but the name always stuck around. Around the time of Fall 2008, I decided that I have had enough of junk guitar straps and it was time to check out this company.
The company was El Dorado guitar straps. In my mind, there are three companies making good high quality leather guitar straps: El Dorado, Jodi Head, and Gretsch (I'm sure there are more, but these are my top 3). In my opinion, El Dorado is the best of all from top to bottom. The straps are incredibly durable, comfortable, and the best looking strap I have ever seen. I called the El Dorado phone number expecting to speak to some receptionist used to fielding mundane phone calls day in and day out. To my surprise, Bill Silverman, owner and founder of El Dorado, answered the phone and fielded all of my questions. After about a twenty minute phone conversation about his company, I ordered my first El Dorado strap. It was a hand-tooled original model in dark brown; a perfect match for my cherry red ES-355. I received it four days later and couldn't have been happier.
I have since ordered two more straps and spoken with Bill a few more times and can't say enough about how "right" he's doing things at his company. El Dorado also makes other guitar accessories such as pickguards and hardware and I hope to one day check some of that out as well. For now, I'm perfectly content with my guitar straps. Although we're only talking about guitar straps, El Dorado captures some sort of magic that seems somewhat lost in the guitar industry as a whole. They focus on creating a high quality product that will create a connection with the owner (literally if you think about it). Many companies used to be known for creating this experience but it's unfortunately becoming a thing of the past.
Personally, I will only use El Dorado from here on out, but everyone should really consider getting themselves a high quality strap of their choice. Maybe you'll choose El Dorado, maybe you won't, but don't underestimate the value of having a high quality guitar strap partnered up with your instrument.
Trust me, this isn't the last you'll hear of El Dorado from me.
Me using my El Dorado strap. Photo courtesy of Studio B (www.hellostudiob.com).
