Hello there, back again with another article for you! This time we will be looking at Marleaux bass comfort straps. Marleaux is a German bass guitar company that has been active since 1990. The company builds handmade bass guitars that belong to one of the highest price segments and quality that you will ever be able to purchase!
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See Marleaux Bass Guitars here
Marleaux does not only manufacture bass guitars but also features bass guitar strings, bass preamp pedals and high-quality comfort straps.
In this article, I would like to feature their comfort straps. The reason I have chosen Marleaux was not to use it with my Ibanez SRC6 short-scale bass guitar which is one of the most lightweight instruments I have ever seen.
My choice was purely based on having a comfortable experience with my Schecter Hellraiser Hybrid PT-7. As you may guess easily, this guitar is a 26.5″, 7-string guitar that features a mahogany body.
I must say it’s pretty heavy and standard straps don’t really feel comfortable as they don’t have a wide area that surrounds your shoulders and take that extra weight. Instead, they have the opposite effect in that you almost feel like the strap cuts your shoulder area. Thomann's 70th Anniversary Offers
To prevent this problem, I started researching comfort straps on the market. Unfortunately, most straps that are made for guitars don’t necessarily claim to solve this problem.
So I thought I should have a look at what bass players use as they usually have to deal with weight more than we do with electric guitars.
Marleaux comfort straps come in 3 different sizes (or lengths). Apart from lengths, they are identical and feature a neoprene material that is 8.5cm wide.
Marleaux Comfort Straps Tech Specs
| Marleaux Straps | Tech Specs |
|---|---|
| Type | Flexible |
| Material | Neoprene |
| Width | 8.5cm |
| Adjustable Length | |
| Short | 85cm to 105cm |
| Long | 97cm to 122cm |
| X-Long | 105cm to 145cm |
| Colour | Black |
8.5cm is the width of the pad, and the base of the strap is 5cm in width. Both ends of the strap feature dual holes. This may probably be due to heavy instruments featuring double strap buttons to have maximum security with your comfort strap.
However, on electric guitars, you will be only able to use a single hole. I have tried using both by folding the end underneath the wider area, but the distance between the strap button and the bottom wouldn’t allow it. This is definitely for guitars/basses with double strap buttons 🙂
On the right strap button, I prefer using the first hole as shown in the image below. But for the left strap button, if we follow the same approach, you actually end up with the extra length of the strap end being in touch with your left hand when you play above the 15th fret. Check out the best guitar pickup company, Seymour Duncan here!
The only solution is to cut this end, but I don’t think one ever would have a problem with using the 2nd hole as overall, this strap is built like a tank!
As presented here, yes! Marleaux bass comfort straps can be used with electric guitars as well!
The thick padding really works! This guitar is a pain in the neck (literally!) to play, with Marleux Comfort Strap, I don’t really feel the weight anymore. It’s a really comfortable strap and a safe/stable way to play these heavier, longer-scale length instruments.
As for the size or length that you should be aiming for, I can only say it depends. I’m an average size dude with 1.75cm in height, I have picked up the long one which is adjustable from 97 cm to 122 cm. Ads - Check out these ads to support this web page
The long one is the most popular one with an average of 4.9/5 ratings. I have also gone through all the user reviews possible to see how they picked up the right size. It’s pretty simple, it completely depends on your body size. If you are a huge guy, you may want to go for the extra-long version.
In order to be fully sure, I actually tried my regular strap on my Schecter and determined the ideal adjustment for this guitar. That length was around 102-105 cm which perfectly lands in a large option.
I believe I could even go for the short one but then it would be limited in length in case I would like to extend it a bit more.
Marleaux Bass Comfort Strap Review
To summarize, if you are after a solid and comfortable guitar or bass strap that would carry all the weight of your instruments, I would definitely recommend it. Just be careful with the version you are adding to your cart.
It’s a bulky strap, so don’t expect a fine, thin strap. But this is where it shines. The pad really works and you won’t have any pain in your shoulder area.
Price-wise, it’s 64€ for all sizes. I would say it’s slightly overpriced. I would expect it to be in more like a 50€ price range. But given the fact that it’s made in the EU, Germany, I can understand. Ads - Check out these ads to support this web page
Also, these don’t look like mass-produced straps. Marleaux company can be considered a boutique bass guitar company. So no wonder, they are also able to supply one of the best straps around in this price range and still succeed with them!
Hope this brief article has been helpful to you! I will keep posting as long as I can, but you need to keep me awake and buy me a coffee in the below link 🙂 Thanks for visiting my blog and supporting me so far! I will hopefully see you in the next review here!
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