the stand

[yodedude2]

shout out to all you barker bass players: how do you adjust your stand?

i have finally set upon a fixed approach to stand usage after two years: i set the bass so that the inner lower arms are 'flat'. i have the upper two pieces locked together to a predetermined fixed height. (no, they don't fit in the bag that way, but they're adjusted so that my nose is even with the nut on the bass neck, and i ain't changin' them!) i set the tripod with one of the legs facing the audience and set the bass at a 45 degree angle to that. i then slightly tighten the tripod mount just enough to keep the bass somewhat in place as i move it about. (i will reposition the barker several times during a set, sometimes several times during a song!) the endpin is extended just enough to provide an axis point to rotate the bass about horizontally.

sorry if this confuses anyone, but it's become pretty critical to me to get the stand setup just right for comfortable playing. those six hour gigs are killers! any comments? later, ron

[modeshapes]

I stumbled upon this handy method:
After setting up the legs, I raise the top of the stand to just slightly higher than the Pfaff Family Jewels, if you know what I mean.
This puts the nut (of the bass -- haha!) just slightly below eye level, right where I like it.
BTW, unlike Ron, I torque the stand so the bass remains completely stationary, which is unimaginative of me. But I love simply walking away, without having to do a single thing to the bass, when I get a break!