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Born and Bred England Cord Wrap and Card Wallet — Rebranding to DENAGY

In light of some big changes over at Born and Bred, we’ve had the chance to bring out and review some of their previous line of products – and introduce you to the brand new DENAGY. These two pieces are high end leather goods we can fully recommend, and the new product line brought with the rebranding to DENAGY introduces an increase in both quality and luxury.

CONSTRUCTION

Both the card wallet and cord wrap are handmade with Italian vegetable tanned leather that feels both sturdy and flexible. Edges are burnished and coated. Rivets and snaps are solid brass.

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The card wallet is hand stitched with in-house waxed nylon thread. The stitching is expertly done, uniform, and very strong. Between the quality stitching and sturdy rivets and snaps, you’re looking at products that will stand the test of time and look great along the way.

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FUNCTION

The wallet is a snap-closure main pocket with a single card pocket sewn to the back. It may be a card holder, but it’s very high capacity. Including one card in the front pocket, I managed to get 13 cards in! This is a bit of a stretch though, and 9 cards is a more reasonable limit. The wallet is fairly thin, though the snap does present a drawback here–it adds over ¼” (0.6cm) of thickness, bringing the wallet to about ⅞” (2.2cm)  with 9 cards. In exchange, you get the security of knowing your cards will never accidentally fall out.

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I really like this cord wrap. As you can see in the image below, it quite perfectly holds my workout headphones. It’s downright convenient to have them nicely wrangled in instead of the usual tangled mess. The notches keep your cord nicely lined up. It may struggle to hold a bigger cable like a computer charging cord, but it should handle most earbud headphones well.

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AESTHETIC

Both the cord wrap and wallet have a strong and defined look, carried by the presence of the snaps and rivets that give a slight biker feel. The leather is thoroughly dyed, and doesn’t succumb to scratches or marks too easily. Both of these products are refined yet rugged in appearance.

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REBRANDING: BORN AND BRED BECOMES DENAGY

The DENAGY brand was inspired by a nostalgia for 50s surf culture, a time when innovation went hand in hand with quality and style.

Paul De Nagy’s lifelong passion for making things by hand originally led him to making surfboards, but an appreciation for style led him into the fashion world and, in 2009, founding Born and Bred. Over the years his company grew to include leather wallets, accessories, carry goods, and collaborations with other like minded designers.

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Paul believes that hand made goods take on the personality of the person who makes them and it is with time, effort and love that they develop soul. He often describes leather work as having a zen like quality, a constant search for perfection that one can get lost in. It is this search for perfection that has led him to further refine his collections under the new name DENAGY. Essentially, Paul has quite literally put his name on the line.

The rebranding to DENAGY brings with it an added level of luxury and refinement. This evolution in quality, look, and feel includes use of more premium materials, such as shell cordovan leather and finer thread; new construction techniques; and use of better tools.

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Most people can’t believe that these products are handmade, which is ultimately the goal. That, along with the hope that your grandchildren might one day find your wallet in the attic and will want to use it…

We’re excited for the new and improved DENAGY. Make sure to check out their website, and be looking for a full review of one of their new luxury products within the next couple months.

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Pinegrove Leather Guitar Player’s Wallet – $67

Can you imagine life without music? What a boring, dull place it would be. Having the ability to create music by playing an instrument is even better. It’s fun to get together with friends and spend time creating and enjoying music. It can also get messy. You can unfortunately lose accessories quickly and easily. As a guitar player, I’ve lost countless picks, string winders, and even a few capos over the years. One of the reasons for this is simply because I never have a place to keep those items stored and organized.

I’ve finally found the solution to my woes…courtesy of another musician. Rod Boyes of Pinegrove Leather is doing just that – creating unique, useful pieces for musicians. Best of all, his creative medium is leather…really nice leather.

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About Pinegrove Leather Company

Pinegrove Leather, run by Rod Boyes and Lou Comerford Boyes, has a simple, straightforward mission – to bring people beautiful things to enjoy. Pinegrove is based in the beautiful Pennine town of Hebden Bridge, England, well known for its art and creativity. The company name comes from “The Pine Grove Blues”, a famous Cajun song that Rod used to play when with the Cajun Aces dance band from 1993 to 2003.

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Construction

Pinegrove selects each piece of the leather it uses in person from a UK warehouse. According to Rod, “we like leather that’s real and natural, though we sometimes offer brighter colors too. Some of the leather we use, like the “distressed” style, has been given its effect artificially, but otherwise it’s the real thing, made to last a lifetime. We do not use any wild animal skins or any products derived from non-sustainable sources.” Pinegrove is proud to acknowledge that they design and make everything right in the north of England.

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The leather used on the Pinegrove Leather Guitar Player’s Wallet has a great, waxy feel to it – sturdy, yet nice, soft, and pliable. The heavy duty stitching is uniform. The pick slots, pockets, straight seams, finished edges all speak to the attention to detail and time invested in creating this piece.

Function

The Pinegrove Leather Guitar Player’s Wallet is a cleverly designed, well thought out piece. You can tell that it was created and made by someone who has spent a lot of time with guitar in hand. The pick section of the pouch will hold up to 15 picks (3 per slot). The design lends itself to a “grab and play” method for selecting a pick. It also features two full size pockets on each side, each of which will easily hold a set of strings and a string winder or a capo. In fact, you can carry a set of strings, a string winder, and a capo all at the same time. The storage capacity of this wallet is impressive. You’re certainly not limited to just carrying guitar accessories in this wallet too. It will easily handle all of your cash and cards too. And, it will easily slip into your jeans pocket or a coat pocket.

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Aesthetic

Pinegrove Leather describes their style as “modern vintage with art nouveau, western, and 1950s jukebox influences mixed in as well. The Guitar Wallet I received is a very attractive piece featuring dark and light brown leather. The pick shaped inlay on the front of the wallet creates an attractive visual focal point on the front. As mentioned, the leather feels nice and will age really well. It’s certainly tough, sturdy, and well made – but still retains softness to it.

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It’s easy to stick in your pocket and go or stick it in your guitar case. Honestly, it’s a great choice because it consolidates so many pieces that are usually scattered about in your guitar case, pockets, or left behind from wherever you played last.

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Conclusion

The Pinegrove Leather Guitar Player’s Wallet is a great addition to anyone’s guitar gig bag or case. It’s a problem solver and organizer. At £39 (roughly $67 US), it’s a perfectly acceptable price point given the fact that it’s expertly crafted, features high quality components, and is backed by a lifetime guarantee. As a bonus, you’ll get a really nice, sturdy leather keyring too (thanks Rod). If you’re looking for a way to keep your guitar gear organized in a manner that looks really good (and will get noticed by your buddies) then we encourage you to check out the Pinegrove Leather Guitar Player’s Wallet. The guys at Pinegrove Leather certainly are not limited to creating leather pieces for guitar players. If you visit their site you’ll find pieces specifically designed for harmonica players, drummers, whistle players, and some excellent looking pieces created for travel (along with a really nice looking messenger style bag).

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Pinegrove Leather Vintage Style One Inch Guitar Strap – $77

A strap is a strap is a strap…right? Wrong, wrong, wrong. There are so many variations of guitar straps out there and they’re made from everything you can think of too. So, how do you wade through all of the boring, well-intentioned but poorly constructed straps and find a superior strap? You find one that’s built by musicians for musicians.

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About Pinegrove Leather

Pinegrove Leather, run by Rod Boyes and his wife, Lou Comerford Boyes, has a simple, straightforward mission – to bring people beautiful things to enjoy. Pinegrove is based in the beautiful Pennine town of Hebden Bridge, England, well known for its art and creativity. The company name comes from “The Pine Grove Blues”, a famous Cajun song that Rod used to play when with the Cajun Aces dance band from 1993 to 2003.

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In putting together this review and our other review for Pinegrove Leather’s Guitar Player Wallet, I was able to dialogue a little with Rod about his company and how they operate. So, you’ll find a little question/answer dialogue in a few sections within this review.

Tim at BL: What sets Pinegrove Leather apart? What makes you unique?

Rod: Pinegrove’s focus on music accessories is due to my own interest in making music. I am a singer, guitar player, and harmonica player. Over the past 25 years I have played bluegrass, Cajun, and Western swing in a variety of bands. My current band is called The 309s – named after the last song Johnny Cash ever wrote & recorded. We play a wide range of American music from the 1920s to the 50s, including Western swing, jump blues, honky-tonk, and some rockabilly too. We have recorded two albums, both of which can be heard at our website, www.the309s.com. The history of Pinegrove goes straight back to making music. I had been playing harmonica for a year or so and had built up a collection of blues harps, but had nowhere to put them. I raised the idea with my other half, Lou (an expert seamstress), who found some flimsy scrap leather in the bottom of her sewing box and made me the original roll-up case. Admiring comments from friends at sessions sparked the idea for Pinegrove, and here we are today with a complete range of harmonica cases. That old one has been retired for a while now, but I still use it for storing a set of hole punches in the workshop.

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Construction

I received the Pinegrove Leather Vintage Style One Inch Guitar Strap from Rod in light tan leather. This is one fine guitar strap. The “Vintage” name for it is well deserved as this would be an excellent strap to don on an old Rickenbacker, Gretsch, or Gibson hollow-body. I, however, have none of those, so it went on my trusty ol’ BC Rich acoustic (which I hear is becoming somewhat of a collector’s item itself).

The strap and shoulder pad are substantial pieces. And the hardware is heavy duty as well. I can’t imagine what it would take to wear out this strap. I do know this…whatever it would take would certainly jeopardize the integrity of your guitar. So, my advice is just take it easy and let this strap last forever while keeping your guitar in good shape.

Tim from BL: What type(s) of leather you use? Where do you get your leather?

Rod: As I like to be creative with different textures of leather, I use quite a wide range. These are mostly sourced from A&A Crack in Northampton, the traditional home of British shoemaking. Most of the leather is around 5oz (2mm), although our guitar straps use 9oz (4mm) buffalo hide. I use a mixture of top grain, full grain (for a natural grain effect) and nubuck cowhide. I sometimes use full grain pigskin for linings. Recently we have used capeskin glove leather from Pittards for making hatbands for an upmarket milliner. I buy all the leather myself and spend a long time checking it for quality in strength and finish.

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Tim at BL: How you perform your construction (machine, all by hand, combination of both)?

Rod: Most pieces are pressed out for perfect results every time. Our cutting “knives” are custom made to our designs and totally unique. Some hand cutting and punching is still required. Stitching is performed using a specialized walking-foot machine, which can take the heavy thread we use. Handling the machine requires a lot of skill as there is no automated control and mistakes cannot be covered up. One you’ve made a hole in a piece of leather it stays there! When you become a leather crafter you become obsessed about neat stitching, way beyond what most people would ever notice! Some pieces, such as our single harmonica pouch, are wet molded by hand. Edges are burnished by hand.

Tim at BL: Tell me about the type of thread and other components you use.

Rod: I use the best quality, synthetic, decay-proof thread from Coates. Our buckles and studs are solid brass, mostly English made by Abbey England’s foundry in Walsall.

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Function

The strap, due to its thickness, is a little stiff at first. However, once it’s in place on your strap pegs, it’s perfectly secure. As I took the strap on/off over the course of a few weeks, it has softened up and become much more pliable.

The 2.5” wide shoulder pad is fantastic and very comfortable. Adjusting the strap is something that takes a little time given the nature of the two Chicago style screws/posts that connect the strap together on each end. The screws are tucked away behind leather belt loop sheaths to protect the finish of your guitar, which is a great feature. The strap can be adjusted from 41” to 55” in length.

Aesthetic

The thick buffalo leather, along with the expertly sewn lines of the heavy gauge thread combine to create a very attractive strap. It also has a nice feel to it – while just carrying it and when wearing it. I’ve had multiple comments about this strap. Pinegrove also makes this strap in black and dark brown.

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Conclusion

The Pinegrove Leather Vintage Style One Inch Guitar Strap is a great choice. It’s ingeniously designed and expertly crafted in a way that will accentuate your guitar and keep it positioned just where you want and need it while playing. And it will last forever. If for some reason it doesn’t last forever, it has a lifetime guarantee behind it from Pinegrove Leather. At £44.50 ($77 US), it’s a great deal. And, as with all Pinegrove products, you will receive a handy guitar pick keyring too.

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Koch Leather Guitar Strap – $60

Leather and music are an inseparable duo. It’s been that way for decades and there’s no reason to believe it will change any time in the near future. While we’re all thankful that parachute pants went the way of the Dodo, leather is an iconic piece of music’s past, present, and future.

Koch Leather is no stranger to the music scene. They’ve been making their guitar straps for the past couple of years and they have been well received. Not only are a few well-known Christian musicians sporting Koch Leather guitar straps – they also worked in collaboration to create a line of straps for Hogjim Guitar Gear.

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About Koch Leather

This is the second piece Best Leather has reviewed for Koch Leather, which is owned and operated by Josh and Jen Koch in Pinetop, AZ. They’re just about to wrap up a successful Kickstarter program (congrats!) and we look forward to seeing this talented couple launch into their budding business full time.

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Construction

Black Horween Chromexcel + Koch’s attention to fine detail = one awesome looking, perfectly functioning guitar strap. One of the things I appreciate about Koch Leather’s construction practices is clean lines and attention to detail. It’s evident in all of their products when looking at the way the leather is cut, the seams are sewn, the rivets are placed; it is easy to see they take pride in their workmanship.

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Function

The Koch Leather Guitar Strap does its job well and feels great when you’re strapped into your guitar. The wide mid-section of the strap is comfortable across your neck and shoulder, which allows you to play comfortably while standing or sitting for long periods of time.

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One thing that’s important to point out about the Koch Leather Guitar Strap is that it features two adjustment points. Many straps of this design usually only have one piece that is adjustable. Having both ends be adjustable allows the strap to be very customized to anyone’s guitar playing style. And, it’s a great feature for guitar players who are tall or who have additional girth in front of them…or those who have both of those situations to contend with.

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Aesthetic

Again…it’s Horween Chromexcel and Koch Leather makes it. Beyond that, the color is spot on for a guitar strap. Black is always “in” – but, if you desire, it can be ordered in two other colors: chestnut or brown. It’s hard to go wrong with a nice, thick strap made of leather when you combine it with the eye pleasing wood tones on an acoustic guitar. If electric guitars are your thing, it will definitely compliment those as well.

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The finish of Horween’s Chromexcel combined with the clean lines of Koch’s construction combine to create an aesthetically pleasing piece of leather. And, it’s extremely functional to boot.

It’s a piece that gets noticed too. Every guitar player has a strap of some sort…so, it’s not something that gets noticed much most of the time. However, several different guys immediately noticed this strap – and they quickly pointed out the dual adjustability feature too.

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Conclusion

Ditch the conventional, run of the mill straps at the music store and get yourself a quality piece of leather from Josh and Jen. The Koch Leather Guitar Strap is well worth the $60 investment. It’s a piece of equipment that will last as long or longer than your guitar and will age well year after year while giving you the ability to comfortably play your guitar from any position.

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**Act quickly and you can get in on the tail end of Koch Leather’s Kickstarter, which ends on August 17th. If they hit their stretch goal, there may be an additional color available for the guitar strap and their other products. So go support their Kickstarter – inquiring minds want to know what that other color is going to be!