back pain????

[shwato]

dear Michael and Steve,

i have recently bought a bass and started to play it for around four to eight hours a day, in doing this my playing has improved alot although, i get terrible back pain from supporting the olympic white 2008 american standard fender jazz bass for this amount of time. Aswell as standing i play with the bass rested on my knee while sitting down,although this hinders my left hand technique as the bass doesnt sit as highas id like and have to lean to reach the lower frets! I was wondering if you both knew of any double shoulder straps or any ways in wich to aleviate my pain? any time spent answering this e-mail is highly reguarded as i understand how busy you both are! thankyou

oh any chance of any australian shows?

 

[Michael Manring]

Hi schwato,

I like to use two straps on my basses when I can. I use them in a crossing configuration that's a bit hard to describe, but perhaps you can figure out something on your own. This helps by balancing the weight on both shoulders, but you should look into other options, as well. I very much hope you'll consult a professional, preferably someone who specializes in musicians' physical challenges. Playing bass is tough on the body and problems such as this almost never go away on their own. Good luck!

 

[JimmyM]

Michael, if you don't mind me adding my 2c...

I used to get horrible shoulder pains from using a Jazz or any bass that's as heavy. By the end of the night, I'd have a screaming headache every gig. Tried different "comfort" type straps...nothing worked. Tried two straps...didn't work, either. I could never get the balance right, and one shoulder or the other would still take the brunt.

Talked to Todd Johnson about it because I heard he had similar problems. He suggested that ultimately the only thing that would work is just getting a lighter bass. So I switched to a Precision. That worked. Then I switched to a Precision Lyte. That worked even better, though I had to put overwound pickups on it so it didn't sound wimpy.

So yeah, now I'm convinced that the best solution is just to get a lighter bass. Hurt like hell to get rid of my Jazz. It wasn't anything vintage, but it was a superb bass. But I'm way happier not having any pain at the end of a gig so it was worth it.

 

[SevenReasons]

I've been there too. I'm playing 5hrs a night standing on a cruise ship gig and had to ultimately sell my "baby" because it was just to heavey. I have tried a ton of stuff and a crap load of physical theorpy aswell. I did however just purchase the strap that George sells on his fbass site at his recommendation. It made a huge difference and I have tried a ton of straps in the last year in the search for something that could help. HIGHLY suggest checking it out. Little pricey but worth it.