u/chazwazzle

Since the whole straw season vs. felt season question seems to come up here fairly often, I figured this was worth sharing.

The New York Times, September 14, 1922:

“STRAW HAT RIOTS EMBROIL EAST SIDE”

Apparently September 15 was traditionally the last day of straw hat season, and some New Yorkers decided that meant they had the right to smash the straw hats off other people's heads. It got bad enough that police reserves were called out, thousands of hats were smashed, straw hat bonfires were started, and seven men were convicted of disorderly conduct.

The magistrate presiding over the cases apparently had to remind everyone that “a man has a right to wear a straw hat in a January snowstorm if he wishes.”

So the next time somebody tells you you're wearing the wrong hat for the season, just remember: New York City once had actual straw hat riots over this shit.

I love this thing

Finally finished my second rhinestone guitar strap!

I put my name on this one and I’m really happy with how it turned out. I used E6000 glue, a wax-tip pickup tool for placing the individual rhinestones, and glass rhinestones from Planet Rhinestone. I also used some generic glue syringes from Amazon, which made applying the E6000 much easier and more precise.

I designed the layout in Google Sheets, which actually worked surprisingly well for planning out the pattern and spacing.

The whole thing took probably 6-8 hours. I think I’m probably done making these for a while but it’s an addictive hobby.

Tonight is actually my first gig wearing it, so I’m really looking forward to finding out exactly how much the stage lights are going to turn me into a giant disco ball.

Pretty happy with the finished result, though. What do you guys think?

Well… I made one rhinestone guitar strap, and apparently that opened the floodgates.

This one took forever. It’s definitely not the cleanest work, but thankfully nobody should ever be close enough to inspect it with a magnifying glass while I’m wearing it on stage.

I also managed to mess up one entire line of stones. By the time I realized it, there was no turning back, so I improvised and made it work. Hopefully no one will notice, but of course I’ll see it every time I pick it up.

Despite the mistakes, I’m having way too much fun making these. I’m officially hooked.

I used e6000, glue syringes from Amazon, a wax tip pen, and glass rhinestones from planet rhinestones

This is my first-ever rhinestone project. I’m a country musician and a huge fan of the old-school flashy country aesthetic…Porter Wagoner, Nudie suits, rhinestones on everything.

So naturally, I decided to make myself a Porter Wagoner-inspired guitar strap.

I’ve played one gig with it so far, and under the stage lights it absolutely sparkled like crazy. It was exactly the over-the-top look I was hoping for.

Looking back, I think I probably would have skipped the AB crystals and gone with clear stones instead. The ABs are fun, but I think a classic clear rhinestone look would be a little closer to the vintage country style I love. Maybe that’ll be project number two. I need to work up to a Nudie Suit

Replaced the tuners on my banjo and had these Keith D-tuners laying around. Still figuring them out but pretty fun in small doses

Picked up this 90s Rockhopper last year from someone who had it sitting in their basement. It rides so sweet that my Brompton is in trouble. It’s still wearing what I believe are the original tires, but since most of my riding is city streets and bike paths, I’m thinking about switching to some big-volume slicks. I’ll probably ride these tires till they give out but what would you want to see on it?

Picked up a 1970 Accutron 214 Spaceview (N0). For the last several years my Omega Seamaster hasn't left my wrist...but this thing is real fun

I originally learned about these through my love of bluegrass music and Tony Rice's guitar playing. I read his autobiography and these came up a few times. Turns out aside from being one of the greatest flatpickers to ever do it, he was really into Spaceviews. Went down that rabbit hole and ended up here.

This thing runs on a tuning fork at 360 Hz, and you can actually hear it, just a steady little hum. I wouldn't say its loud but definitely there. I guess its a bridge between mechanical watches and quartz movements? A welcome addition to my rotation. Hopefully when I wear it my guitar playing gets better...