Wearing the bass: High v Low

[fearceol]

I often see in jazz magazines pictures of famous bassists wearing the instrument below the stomach. I agree that this is a matter of personal taste, but cant help but wonder how this position impedes your playing. One finger per fret ??... I dont think so. Maybe looking cool is more important to some.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Its all entertainment, and they probably feel more comfortable with it that low, i cant play with any of my basses high up as i get horrible horrible cramping around my elbow joint.

[40Hz_of_Love]

I wear my bass pretty low (so that it covers my naughty bits) and it's more comfortable for me than wearing it on my stomach (or higher). And no problems with one finger per fret whatsoever.

[bassybill]

If you wear your bass too low, sooner or later it will impede the development of your technique and fluency. The angle of your left wrist (if you're right-handed) guarantees this.

But if looking cool (or thinking that you do) matters more to you than technique, hey, that's fine - depends on your reasons for being a bassist. Not everybody wants or needs great technique anyway.

[Baryonyx]

I just wear it nice and high. As high as Mark King/Jonas Hellborg keep it. It just feels so much better that way, no stress on the wrists, and it's so much easier to reach all areas of the fretboard.

Wearing the bass slung low looks so dorky to me, because I look and I think "I'd like to see him trying to play A Show of Hands on that!".

[905]

I usually wear it around waist-level, so there's minimal difference between playing standing up or sitting down.

Lately I've been experimenting on the higher frets, so I've started wearing it higher.

[Bassist4Life]

Originally Posted by fearceol

I often see in jazz magazines pictures of famous bassists wearing the instrument below the stomach. I agree that this is a matter of personal taste, but cant help but wonder how this position impedes your playing. One finger per fret ??... I dont think so. Maybe looking cool is more important to some.

Really? Jazz bassists? Who?

Are you sure you weren't looking at a rock/metal mag?

In my experience, jazzers tend to wear their basses high.

Joe

[fearceol]

Originally Posted by Bassist4Life

Really? Jazz bassists? Who?

Are you sure you weren't looking at a rock/metal mag?

In my experience, jazzers tend to wear their basses high.

Joe

Sorry ! My mistake. I meant to say Bass Guitar magazines, and jazz bassists almost always DO wear their basses high.

[steveb98]

Originally Posted by fearceol

I often see in jazz magazines pictures of famous bassists wearing the instrument below the stomach. I agree that this is a matter of personal taste, but cant help but wonder how this position impedes your playing. One finger per fret ??... I dont think so. Maybe looking cool is more important to some.

I've never seen Jazz players play their bass that low. Playing a bass or guitar that low is asking for future health problems. It forces you to bend your wrist at drastic angles that can lead to CTS and similar repetitive motion problems. You see lots of Rock players who image and hair flips is there first concern do it. Yes, there are some who have done it for years without issue, but I bet they only do it onstage, they practice and probably rehearse sitting down.

I recommend is sit down to practice and adjust your strap so comfortable sitting. That way when you stand the the bass will still be at the same height. Also helps that things you learn sitting down the bass is in the same position when you go to play them standing.

[kherber]

I don't think wearing the bass low necessarily impedes anything. I've been wearing mine for almost 34 years, and it seems to just get lower and lower. I started out wearing it relatively high, now it's an inch away from being lower than the "naughty bits."

One of the things I like about the low carry is the amount of strap slack. I can move the bass around as I like. I can pull the neck up and get a sort of string bass position to it, or slide it around my hip for a different position.

I'll admit that trying to play it that low in an absolute horizontal position is pretty uncomfortable for the left hand but, like I say, I usually move it around.

I sat in while visiting a club a couple weeks ago, and rather than adjust the bassist's strap, I just dropped it on. It was a typically high (not real high) position, and I found it very uncomfortable and confining. People who put on my bass usually respond with "what the f---" and we'll have to adjust the strap for them.

I like the low position because of the freedom it gives my right arm. I've evolved my floating thumb approach into what amounts to a floating hand (doing most muting with my left hand these days). I like the fact my right hand can attack the strings in different ways, and that I can actually play from the shoulder.

Doc

[PrimusNut]

Cliff Burton wore his bass REALLY low and it didn't effect his playing, and Rob wears his bass very low too, both are/were awesome bassists.

Sure, for some more "complex" music it would be better worn up high, but Cliff played Pulling Teeth down low. I guess for some it is more comfortabe down low. It all depends on the person, and what is comfortable for them.

[WillBuckingham]

Originally Posted by PrimusNut

Cliff Burton wore his bass REALLY low and it didn't effect his playing, and Rob wears his bass very low too, both are/were awesome bassists.

Sure, for some more "complex" music it would be better worn up high, but Cliff played Pulling Teeth down low. I guess for some it is more comfortabe down low. It all depends on the person, and what is comfortable for them.

Good point. I like the "complex" music in quotes.

[Audiophage]

Originally Posted by PrimusNut

Cliff Burton wore his bass REALLY low and it didn't effect his playing, and Rob wears his bass very low too, both are/were awesome bassists.

Sure, for some more "complex" music it would be better worn up high, but Cliff played Pulling Teeth down low. I guess for some it is more comfortabe down low. It all depends on the person, and what is comfortable for them.

Yeah, but if he was still alive he might have developed some physical problems. Probably not though, he never looked like he was straining himself to play anything.

I don't think that playing with the bass up to you neck is the best thing for someone. I've played friend's basses without having time to adjust the strap and I found that my right wrist would start to cramp up from that.

I generally can easily get 4 fingers per fret in my lowest register and all of the nice little right hand nuances with my bass around my waist or lower stomach.

[Dr. Feelgood]

Cliff and other low-strapping bassists tend to move the bass to one side when going to the upper register of their instrument. It makes it much easier to play songs like Pulling Teeth.

[Dr. Feelgood]

Also, I'd like to add that IME the thing that is most important in regards to wrist angle is the angle of the bass, not how low it hangs.

If the bass is really low, it is almost impossible to play with no angle, parallel to the ground.

And indeed, a high strapper never has a massive angle, otherwise the headstock would be much higher than his head, and his reach would have to be bigger.

[SuperDuck]

Like the trousers of a very old man, my bass has slowly crept up over time to the point where it's been likened to a bow tie.

[MeYHymN]

FWIW, this is where I find mine most comfortable. I still tweak it up and down on occasion. I've got long arms, and sometimes it's not a blessing. I sometimes catch myself holding the bass at almost a complete vertical angle like an upright. I can't wear the bass any higher as I don't like holding my right wrist at an angle, it just doesn't work for me. Any lower and my left wrist gives me fits. Working with computers for a living probably doesn't help either.

[PrimusNut]

With Cliff practicing bass 4 hours a day (read that on Wiki), since he was 14, plus piano since he was 6, I think that if he was going to develope any physical problems, They woul dhave already started. And your right, it didn't look like he was stragning himself.

I wear my bass so that the middle of the bass is over my "naughty bits", with the top horn (Rickenbacker) being around my belly button.

And I tried to adjust my strap to sitting height a few weeks ago. It felt so odd, I had to lower it, when I am standing, having my bass low feels much better. I also care about how I look when wearing the bass, but if I ever started to develope pain wearing it low, I would immediatly raise it a bit.

[Wes]

I wear mine high because when it used to be low it hurt my wrists. It always surprises me how Claypool had his bass so low and at a horizontal angle too.

[fearceol]

An interesting mix of responses guys. I suppose it just confirms my initial remark that it's a matter of personal preference.