Red Monkey Ace of Spades Guitar Strap Review: Hand-Tooled Leather and Serious Quality

It’s 11pm on a Tuesday and you’ve just finished tracking guitars for a song you’ve been wrestling with for weeks. You catch your reflection in the live room window: a beautiful ’59 Reissue Les Paul paired with a $35 nylon strap that looks like it came free with a beginner pack from Guitar Center.

We’ve all been there. You've spent real money on the guitar, a bunch of cash on the amp, hundreds (generously) on pedals, and somehow the thing physically connecting you to the instrument is an afterthought. You're tired of it. You want something that feels as serious as the rig you've built, photographs well on stage, and won't disintegrate after three tours. That's the rabbit hole that leads most players to a hand-made quality strap in the first place.

Verdict up front: Yes, recommended, but only for a specific kind of buyer. The Ace of Spades is a genuinely special, hand-tooled leather strap from a small workshop that does things mass-produced straps cannot replicate. It is also three to four times the price of a perfectly functional Levy's. If you're a working guitarist, a serious hobbyist with a collection that justifies it, or a player who cares about the visual and tactile language of your gear, it earns its keep. If you're shopping primarily on comfort or you're new enough to playing that you haven't formed strong opinions about gear, save your money and revisit this in two years.

Value for Money

Let's be honest about what you're paying for. At its $175 street price, the Ace of Spades is competing in the same tier as Couch, Souldier, and El Dorado custom work. What you get is genuine full-grain leather with a bold stud hardware pattern and a deliberately distressed "relic" finish that actually looks aged rather than scuffed up with sandpaper. The leather is thick (around 3mm) and the edges are burnished by hand.

Is it objectively worth four times a quality Levy's? In pure utility terms, no strap is. But the build genuinely justifies the premium tier.

Ease of Use

This is where boutique straps often stumble and the Ace of Spades does better than expected. The length adjustment uses a traditional buckle-and-holes system with about 10 inches of range, which covers everyone from chin-high jazz position down to knee-height rock stance. The strap button holes are sized correctly out of the box, owing to Red Monkey asking when you order if you plan to use strap locks or not.

Two real-world notes: the leather is stiff for the first few weeks and you'll want to work it in by wearing it around for a bit before a gig if you're picky. And the relic finish does transfer a tiny amount of black onto light-colored shirts, so be cautious the first month. Both issues resolve themselves; neither is a dealbreaker.

Results Delivered

A strap has one job functionally and several jobs aesthetically. Functionally, the Ace of Spades distributes the weight of a heavy guitar (I tested it with an 8.5-pound Telecaster) better than any 2-inch strap has a right to. The leather molds to your shoulder in a way synthetic straps never really do.

Aesthetically, this is where it earns its reputation. The relic black finish photographs beautifully and feels wonderful. It makes the whole rig feel finished.

I know it's a luxury, but it does make me more drawn to playing. And if it makes me practice more, I'll take all the help I can get.

Comparison to Alternatives

The honest competitive landscape:

• Couch Guitar Straps (~$30–$80): Vegan, vinyl-based, great graphics, will not age the same way and will not feel the same.
• Souldier (~$40–$120): Vintage-style woven, lovely for SGs and hollow bodies, lacks the leather presence for most jacquard models.
• El Dorado (~$200–$350): Closest direct competitor, USA-made tooled leather, comparable quality, slightly different aesthetic vocabulary (more Western, less rock-and-roll).
• Levy's MSS2 (~$65): Excellent strap, do not let anyone tell you otherwise. If "best value" is your filter, stop reading and buy this.

The Ace of Spades wins on craftsmanship and the specific relic-black aesthetic. It does not win on price-to-comfort ratio, and there are legitimate alternatives that cost meaningfully less. But this Red Monkey strap is more about being rock 'n roll (and in great company) than being fussy about comfort.

Who It's Best Suited For

This strap is dialed in for a specific player: someone whose stage look is part of their artistic identity, who plays out regularly, who owns guitars worth $2,000+, and who appreciates the kind of small-batch craftsmanship that comes from a workshop where the person who tooled your strap probably tooled the last twenty straps too. Blues, rock, alt-country, and roots-music players gravitate to this for a reason. Namely, because the visual language matches the music.

It also suits collectors who want a strap that holds value. Used Red Monkeys in good condition routinely sell for 70–80% of retail, which is not true of most strap brands.

Who Should Not Buy This

I'd talk you out of this strap if any of the following describe you:

• You're under two years into playing. Your money buys more joy invested in lessons, a better amp, or pedals you'll actually use. Come back to this when you know what your stage look is.
• You primarily play heavy instruments (basses over 10 pounds, baritones, Les Paul Customs you gig with for 3+ hour sets). Get a padded ergonomic strap. Your shoulder will thank you and the Red Monkey will sit in the case.
• You're a bedroom-only player and gear photography isn't a hobby. Nobody but you will ever see this strap. That's fine, but be honest about whether the boutique premium is buying you anything you'll actually experience.
• You're philosophically opposed to leather. Red Monkey makes some vegan-friendly options but the Ace of Spades isn't one of them.
• You're choosing between this and rent. I'm only half joking. This is a discretionary purchase, full stop.

Final Recommendation

Buy the Red Monkey Ace of Spades in Relic Black if you're a gigging or seriously-collecting guitarist with a rig that already reflects real investment, you play music where the visual identity matters as much as the tone, and you want a piece of gear that will outlast most of your guitars and look better the longer you own it. For that player (and you probably already know if that's you) this is one of the few accessories in the boutique tier that genuinely delivers what its price implies.

For everyone else, the Levy's MSS2 is sitting on the shelf at your local shop for sixty bucks and it will hold your guitar up just fine.

Overall: Excellent for the right buyer, overkill for most.