Bass height- How high and why?

[BoogerMan79]

There seems to be a lot of variance in how high different players strap on their basses. I'm trying to figure out the optimal height but haven't quite dialed it in yet. Some guys sling their basses down by their crotch. I'm curious as to why, even though I would never do that, as that seems to make serious playing more difficult. But some guys seem to like their basses super high, and I'm most interested in why they do that.

What makes or breaks a given height for you?

I like it high...because I'm fat...and my arms aren't that long even though I'm fairly tall.

 

[vindibona1]

I guess I've found that if it's too low the left hand has to contort (and I have no idea how or why guys play bass slung so low) and too high and the right hand gets jammed for plucking, though slapping seems to like a nice high bass. I've also found that my Yamaha likes to be a lower than my Fender Jazz basses and my Ibanez lands somewhere in the middle. I guess I just needed to try a bunch of stuff.

 

[sean_on_bass]

This is the usual approach, from an instructional standpoint. If you sling it too low standing, it will nose dive when you sit, as your thigh pushes up on the body. Instructors will tell you to keep raising it till sitting doesn’t change its orientation.

Yes this is how i set my strap, so its about the same place as when i am sitting.

 

[stratovani]

I hold my bass so that the neck joint is right over my bellybutton, and I cock the neck up at anywhere from 30 to 45 degrees. That way my wrists are straight and relaxed, and the risk of carpal tunnel syndrome is greatly reduced. Of course there's a certain amount of flexibility in the wrist joint, but what you don't want is too much extreme wrist bending. Check out these guys. Perfect position, right where the bass should be. Wrists straight and relaxed, allowing them to do what they do best. BTW that's me at the bottom, practicing what I preach.

 

[vindibona1]

I hold my bass so that the neck joint is right over my bellybutton, and I cock the neck up at anywhere from 30 to 45 degrees. That way my wrists are straight and relaxed, and the risk of carpal tunnel syndrome is greatly reduced. Of course there's a certain amount of flexibility in the wrist joint, but what you don't want is too much extreme wrist bending. Check out these guys. Perfect position, right where the bass should be. Wrists straight and relaxed, allowing them to do what they do best. BTW that's me at the bottom, practicing what I preach.

View attachment 3062368

Two questions:
Can you do slap effectively with the bass at that height?
Does the pickup guard/cover get in the way of your right hand? What's it supposed to do, exactly? Never understood.

Other things I noticed from the photos... Paul's left hand... Just like any good guitar player would approach bass. Is the Hofner a short scale too?

If Marcus were playing a 5er, would he raise it up a bit to be able to pivot a bit more to get to that low B string? Also, while it may be a photo-optical illusion, it looks like his bass also has a pretty round radius and appears to have rolled fingerboard edges. I could be wrong. All my electrics have rolled fingerboard edges and I can't say enough about how much more comfortable they make playing. I even rolled the binding on a Chibson LP and I no longer take my genuine Gibson LP out to play any more (and it's for sale... a numbered limited edition).

I think I like my basses just a tad higher than you. My wrists are no longer very flexible and I have arthritis in my hands which starts at the tendons in the back of my hands. I'm telling you, I am SO sensitive that 1/2" too high or too low just feels crummy. I think I'm pretty well dialed in. I'll have to take a couple selfies to illustrate where I've got my basses now.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[stratovani]

Two questions:
Can you do slap effectively with the bass at that height?
Does the pickup guard/cover get in the way of your right hand? What's it supposed to do, exactly? Never understood.

Other things I noticed from the photos... Paul's left hand... Just like any good guitar player would approach bass. Is the Hofner a short scale too?

If Marcus were playing a 5er, would he raise it up a bit to be able to pivot a bit more to get to that low B string? Also, while it may be a photo-optical illusion, it looks like his bass also has a pretty round radius and appears to have rolled fingerboard edges. I could be wrong. All my electrics have rolled fingerboard edges and I can't say enough about how much more comfortable they make playing. I even rolled the binding on a Chibson LP and I no longer take my genuine Gibson LP out to play any more (and it's for sale... a numbered limited edition).

I think I like my basses just a tad higher than you. My wrists are no longer very flexible and I have arthritis in my hands which starts at the tendons in the back of my hands. I'm telling you, I am SO sensitive that 1/2" too high or too low just feels crummy. I think I'm pretty well dialed in. I'll have to take a couple selfies to illustrate where I've got my basses now.

Thanks for sharing.

First off, I never learned to slap, and in my present situation I have no need of it. Tom Petty's music doesn't have any slap in it! Second, the reason I have a cover over my pickup is because I feel that the true P-Bass sound is somewhere between the pickup and the neck, so the cover forces me to play there. Coupled with well broken in flatwound strings you get that strong thumpy sound associated with classic P-Bass sounds of the past. It's really just a personal preference, since the P is such a versatile instrument used for many different styles.

As far as Paul goes he started with the Beatles by playing guitar, and when he switched to bass he played it with a pick. That's just the way he prefers to hold his pick, which I think is a large triangular pick. Myself, when I play with a pick I use a Fender 351 medium cellulose pick, held with just my thumb and index finger, and my other fingers are flayed wide open. Been playing like this since the 70s, so it's what I'm used to. Once again, personal preference.

 

[vindibona1]

First off, I never learned to slap, and in my present situation I have no need of it. Tom Petty's music doesn't have any slap in it! Second, the reason I have a cover over my pickup is because I feel that the true P-Bass sound is somewhere between the pickup and the neck, so the cover forces me to play there. Coupled with well broken in flatwound strings you get that strong thumpy sound associated with classic P-Bass sounds of the past. It's really just a personal preference, since the P is such a versatile instrument used for many different styles.

As far as Paul goes he started with the Beatles by playing guitar, and when he switched to bass he played it with a pick. That's just the way he prefers to hold his pick, which I think is a large triangular pick. Myself, when I play with a pick I use a Fender 351 medium cellulose pick, held with just my thumb and index finger, and my other fingers are flayed wide open. Been playing like this since the 70s, so it's what I'm used to. Once again, personal preference.

Of course it all comes down to personal preference... and probably the influence of our era. You and I are the same age. I must have played with a pick as a kid. Probably thumb too. It's been a LONG time.

Today I'm trying to become a well rounded player, and have been playing musical theater stuff and sometimes with a worship group. If I weren't trying to do any slap and many other styles I wouldn't be quite so picky. I've taken a few shots of my basses and how high I've got them now. Looks pretty normal. After looking at the shots I thought that my Yamaha was MUCH smaller than my Ibanez, but after seeing the photos went and measured... Bodies are the same size but the overall length of the Ibanez is 1.5" longer. Whooda thunk it? Looks like I compensate by moving the Ibanez left laterally about that distance. My right hand though seems to fall more naturally on the jazzers, particularly where I want to thump. On the Yamaha I find myself having to pull my hand to the right a bit so I'm on the edge of the fingerboard. If not I'm thumping a couple frets in, which doesn't sound as good. Also, while they all have the same strap model, the Yamaha has the strap in the very top slot and I've still had to add a hole between the first two holes (see red strap stick out).

 

[stratovani]

Of course it all comes down to personal preference... and probably the influence of our era. You and I are the same age. I must have played with a pick as a kid. Probably thumb too. It's been a LONG time.

Today I'm trying to become a well rounded player, and have been playing musical theater stuff and sometimes with a worship group. If I weren't trying to do any slap and many other styles I wouldn't be quite so picky. I've taken a few shots of my basses and how high I've got them now. Looks pretty normal. After looking at the shots I thought that my Yamaha was MUCH smaller than my Ibanez, but after seeing the photos went and measured... Bodies are the same size but the overall length of the Ibanez is 1.5" longer. Whooda thunk it? Looks like I compensate by moving the Ibanez left laterally about that distance. My right hand though seems to fall more naturally on the jazzers, particularly where I want to thump. On the Yamaha I find myself having to pull my hand to the right a bit so I'm on the edge of the fingerboard. If not I'm thumping a couple frets in, which doesn't sound as good. Also, while they all have the same strap model, the Yamaha has the strap in the very top slot and I've still had to add a hole between the first two holes (see red strap stick out).

View attachment 3063812

First of all I love these pictures! Love the way you hide behind your camera! I got a good chuckle over it! But seriously I think you have your bass just a little higher than I would have mine, not much, just a little bit. Looks fine to me. I just can't understand why some players would have their basses either somewhere around their knees or right up against their chin. Just doesn't look comfortable, and looks like it would invite wrist problems somewhere down the line.

BTW those are really sweet looking basses.

 

[oysteivi]

During the first couple of years of playing bass, I lowered the bass 2-3 times to combat shoulder pain from lifting my plucking hand up to the strings. When my right arm hangs relaxed with the elbow nearly straight, my fingers end up at a comfortable height for plucking the strings. Pain free for years now. If I play sitting down, I quickly get right shoulder pain, but as a hobbyist rock bassist I don't need to play sitting down

If shameless self promotion is OK, this video shows fairly well how I play: