Annoying issue playing standing.

[darwin-bass]

tl;dr - sorry in advance if this has been said.

When sitting, the bass rests on your leg and that determines the position of the neck related to your body.
When standing, the bass hangs from the strap and that determines the position of the neck relative to your body.

It isn't about whether or not your rest your arm on the instrument. It is all about the strap going over your shoulder and where it attaches to the bass. If you want standing and sitting to put the bass in the same position, you'll need a different bass body shape that has a leg cutout back by the bridge.

 

[shortscalesrule]

I'm going to jump on a "get a different strap" bandwagon. Those cheap nylon ones slide all over the place. You may be using your left hand to support or position the bass without realizing it. I like straps with suede or non-slip material on the back.

 

[aprod]

Stop resting your arm lazily on top of the bass body: Just hold your elbow out a little farther so you have a nice straight line from your elbow to your plucking fingers, with no bend in your wrist.

This is the OP's answer.

 

[bigjames]

I have not read the other posts in detail (just the first few). My thoughts:

While standing: Shorten your strap to bring the bass higher on your body. Took my some time to adjust to this, but once I did I found it way more comfortable to play.

While sitting: for fun, try playing with the bass on your left leg with the butt of the bass against your right leg. See pic. I was taught to play this way when I took lessons and it helped.

 

[JimmyM]

I don't buy into that "same position as sitting" nonsense even a little. It never felt the same to me either, and it makes my arms very uncomfortable. Whoever came up with the idea that it's the way to go for everyone is full of crap if you ask me. Look at other players, get some ideas, try out a few different things, and then ignore the absolutists out there and do what you want.

 

[coy garcia]

Playing sitting and standing is different for me. Standing I want it to hang a little lower so I can move and be a performer as well as player. Others wear it high. I think everyone comes to their own solution and what will work for them.
I make sure I practice at least few hours standing before a I do a show.

 

[bobdabilder]

I put the bass on my left leg which points the neck a little higher. This is almost exactly how I wear it on a strap. Neck angle and body position wise.

 

[Ric5]

Hello mates!
I wanted to share with you this annoying issue that I have when I play standing. Its just uncomfortable and makes my shoulder and hand hurt.

I had advices from a couple people who said " you must sit, place the bass where you like the most, then put the strap on and get up, that way the bass will stay in that place "
So I did that!
This is how I play while sitting. My most confortable position.
View attachment 4685774
notice that 1)my leg fits in the curve of the bass's body, 2) the body does not exceed my middle chest and my left arm makes an almost 90ª when playing in the 1th fret.

Then I put the strap on (third image )


And as soon as I get up, the bass shift position. ( see the red lines ) The reason of this is that I rest my right arm in the body, so that the bass goes forward and up.
I tried to avoid this but the ONLY way to maintain the bass in the exact same position is not resting at all my right arm, which I find impossible.
Also, the strap falls straight from my neck, so if I wanted to bring the bass back on purpose , the strap would be even pushing me back forward .
View attachment 4685782 View attachment 4685779

So I hope you understand the idea and could give advices. Does that happen or happened to any of you guys?

Thanks!!

the solution is simple ... wear long pants ... problem solved ...

also eat plenty of carrots ... and use tort and flats ...

 

[Bob E]

I think you supposed to hold the bass like a classical guitar player would for that sitting and standing strap thing to work... I don't care for it.

 

[10emmanuel]

i

Alternatively, try resting the lower cutaway on your left thigh instead of the right?

f I do that the 1-5 frets are too far away to me

 

[10emmanuel]

Reducing that compound angle at the wrist is critical for me due to residual nerve damage in my forearm and wrist from spinal injury/surgeries. To help with that, I make extended strap buttons for my basses, which shifts how they hang on a strap towards the bridge side, bringing the nut closer into the body. I just epoxy two strap buttons together, one on top of the other, and cover them with black heat shrink tubing. It is surprising how big a difference even that very small upper horn “extension” makes in the way a bass feels on a strap.

View attachment 4686205View attachment 4686206View attachment 4686207View attachment 4686208

amazing idea!

 

[10emmanuel]

standing

 

[10emmanuel]

First thing I noticed is that your strap looks like a POS. Get a 3.5 incher. I like the foam type, with a fully length adjustable strap. See Below. You're going to get a crapload of comments from every armchair physical therapist on TB, so I'll leave that to others.

Levy's MRH4GF-BLK Garment Leather Guitar Strap - Black

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/accessories/neotech-mega-bass-strap/367528000000000?cntry=us&source=3WWRWXMP&source=3WWRWXMP&msclkid=c7c6287b18da177844ff4a01b3270a76&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=**LP - Shop - Accessories - Fretted Instrument Accessories & Parts - Accessories&utm_term=4578229007499648&utm_content=367528000000000 | Neotech Mega Bass Strap - Bass Specialty Straps - Fretted Instrument Accessories & Parts - 8301052 | $21.83

I have a couple straps and that happens with everyone

 

[10emmanuel]

I have not read the other posts in detail (just the first few). My thoughts:

While standing: Shorten your strap to bring the bass higher on your body. Took my some time to adjust to this, but once I did I found it way more comfortable to play.

While sitting: for fun, try playing with the bass on your left leg with the butt of the bass against your right leg. See pic. I was taught to play this way when I took lessons and it helped.

View attachment 4686516

didn't your left shoulder get tired when playing in the 1-5 frets? ( while sitting)

 

[Outbush]

The two posts above show just how varied

I think you supposed to hold the bass like a classical guitar player would for that sitting and standing strap thing to work... I don't care for it.

View attachment 4686619

When doing the classical guitar position seated with the bass on the left leg the nut moves even further away making the angle at the wrist worse and stretching the fretting arm right out. The bass guitar is so much longer than a classical guitar that I don't like this position at all. To me I think the OP needs the nut closer not further away. Strap extensions are a great idea but actually not readily available so you have to make your own.

Could someone here on TB manufacture and sell us what is drawn (roughly) below in black, silver and gold (or just alloy or stainless bar for that matter), 1" and 1.5" lengths please (and ship to Australia). It is "The Outbush Patented Straplock Extender Manufactured by (insert name here) who ain't gonna pay no royalties to some hick Aussie who plays in shorts, barefoot if he can manage it, often a bucket hat and sports no tort". Yep, you choose the thread size and the O.D. (3/8" or 1/2"?) and supply the machine screw/cap screw to fit the strap pin itself. Metric, imperial yada yada - just supply the screw in the pack. You could sell it through the TB store here.

 

[10emmanuel]

Hello mates!
I wanted to share with you this annoying issue that I have when I play standing. Its just uncomfortable and makes my shoulder and hand hurt.

I had advices from a couple people who said " you must sit, place the bass where you like the most, then put the strap on and get up, that way the bass will stay in that place "
So I did that!
This is how I play while sitting. My most confortable position.
View attachment 4685774
notice that 1)my leg fits in the curve of the bass's body, 2) the body does not exceed my middle chest and my left arm makes an almost 90ª when playing in the 1th fret.

Then I put the strap on (third image )


And as soon as I get up, the bass shift position. ( see the red lines ) The reason of this is that I rest my right arm in the body, so that the bass goes forward and up.
I tried to avoid this but the ONLY way to maintain the bass in the exact same position is not resting at all my right arm, which I find impossible.
Also, the strap falls straight from my neck, so if I wanted to bring the bass back on purpose , the strap would be even pushing me back forward .
View attachment 4685782 View attachment 4685779

So I hope you understand the idea and could give advices. Does that happen or happened to any of you guys?

Thanks!!

THANKS TO ALL!

I read all the comments and tried in different positions following your advices.
I found that playing in the classic guitar position while sitting, although I still have to figure out very well the technique and the holding, is actually confortable. so I adjust the strap to have the bass hanging in that way when standing but here is what I found:

I think the reason why my best position ( first photo sitting ) is the actual most confortable is because, besides of bringing the nut closer to me, I hold the bass from moving and that way my left hand is totally free to move and finger better. That's why I tend to rest my right arm so lazily also when I stand, because that way the bass is kind of still.

So now that I am standing and the bass's head is up closer to my head imitating the classic guitar position, I need to hold it with my left hand, which makes imposible so slide through the neck , otherwise, it keeps falling down, and to avoid this, I should press the bass' body agains me, which makes my wirst bent a lot , not to mention get tired for pressing..

Look at the photos and see how the the bass's head dives down.
The strap actually doesn't slides down, it just stretches down, but the material, as some mentioned, even though is indeed cheap, is not making the strap sliding down.

I am actually starting to get frustrated.

 

[10emmanuel]

I did

I had this same problem in the beginning of my gigging days.

I agree with the notion of moving the rear strap pin to reposition the bass for your individual needs. I've always done this to an instrument that feels uncomfortable.

That also allowed me to adopt a classical guitar position while sitting, which over time has become more comfortable than over the right leg position.

Once you get the strap pin in a comfortable position, the bass will almost want to go between the legs naturally. You then lengthen your strap until the bottom curvature of the bass body sits just on top of the left leg.

One way to test this without drilling a new hole for the pin right away. Would be to use a wood clamp, and small thin rope, string, or twisted rag. You run the rope/etc. through your strap hole loop and then on both sides of the bass body. Now use the wood clamp to secure the rope pieces to the bass. Use a rag between the clamp to protect the bass bodies finish.

Now you can try out new strap pin positions without drilling a hole first.

Over the years I've found that I like the bass hung lower when standing than is actually possible while sitting. For this reason I have 2 main straps of different lengths that I can just swap out when I stand. That only works for me though on most basses after I reposition the rear strap pin.

One bass that I find to be almost already perfect position is the Ibanez EHB1000. But that's also due to it's light weight and lack of a headstock to cause neck dive.

I didn't quite understand how can I do it without drilling

 

[10emmanuel]

I've gotten in the habit, over the years, of not resting the bass on my thigh but instead letting it hang between my legs (stop snickering). I also tend to lean back when playing seated, rather than hunching forward. As a result, the bass is positioned exactly the same for me whether seated or standing. That position also causes me to get a nice vibration from the upper horn directly into my sternum, which gives me a thrill. YMMV.

(Sorry for the manspreading, but here's a photo)...
View attachment 4686379

if you dont hold the bass, does it dive?

 

[Outbush]

I have just taken some photos to try and illustrate my suggestions made in the long post way back on page 1.

The first 2 photos are of me in a comfortable seated position. Note the bass is not parallel across the body; it is not parallel (or in-line) with my shoulders. You can see in the second photo the wrist is flat and in line the the forearm and very comfortable. The nut is not really far away.

These next two photos show what happens when I stand up and try to hold the bass in the same horizontal position and with the neck pointing out a bit as when seated (photo 1). Notice how there is now a more acute angle at the wrist - it feels kinked when I play like that and gets uncomfortable much more quickly (photo 2).

These final two action photos show what happens when I have the bass more steeply angled up and have the bass in a position than is almost parallel with (in-line with) my shoulders. Notice how the wrist once again is nice and flat with the forearm and the wrinkles or folds are now not visible. The angle of the elbow is almost the same as when seated and the distance to the nut is almost the same as when seated. Also if you look closely you will notice that unlike the photos just above the strap has moved away from my neck. (Incidentally the strap is a GruvGear Duostrap and I bang on about it here on TB all the time because it make the bass feel a third lighter and way more balanced and is great for backs and shoulders).

To achieve this change you will need to focus for a while on consciously changing how you hold you bass when playing standing up but that will become automatic over time. The other thing you will need to do is a little mod that anyone handy with tools will be able to do - moving the back strap button from the traditional position in line with the middle of the bridge 100mm/4" up the bass (See photo below). A great suggestion of how to measure this to suit you personally appeared earlier in this thread. The Duostraps have 2 shoulder straps and one diagonal strap from the top horn to the back strap pin and you can see that diagonal strap in the "normal" strap position in this last photo, however the shoulder straps can be seen attached to the relocated strap pin where a normal single strap would attach. This new position will move the nut up and closer to you allowing all the changes I have mentioned here and in my first post a couple of days ago.

Finally, this is not a one-size-fits-all solution for every bass player on earth but the OP and I seem to share a very similar way of holding our instruments and with a short period of adjustment it should address the issues in his original post. I would not recommend these changes to Paul Simonon of The Clash or Simon Gallup of The Cure (whilst I'm on a UK thing) as it is not suitable to them and their way of playing so I'd ask that no-one states this is outright "wrong"; I'm trying to help with a tailored response. (Better if it costs nothing too. )

 

[SteveCS]

I have just taken some photos to try and illustrate my suggestions made in the long post way back on page 1.
...

Your images seem to have been lost.