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Chair or Stool Recommendations

tubatodd

tubatodd

Oct 31, 2004
2,456
4,424
Birmingham, AL
#1
My gig is a 17 piece big band. I sit in whatever chair is provided and play my bass guitars with a strap. The bass sits in the middle as opposed to sitting on a knee. It hasn't really been a problem, but I'm noticing that after a 3 hour gig, my back hurts, my legs are achy and my flat butt hurts. I was thinking of getting either my own chair, a stool (fairly short) or just a good cushion.

What say you Talk Bass??? Any product recommendations to make my gigs and rehearsals a little more comfortable?
 
#2
It seems to me that anyone who sits in a chair with a bass strapped on for three straight hours is going to have an unhappy body. Same for standing with a bass strapped on for three straight hours, though not in exactly the same way. Sure, a cushion will help your but, and a chair that's just the right height to encourage the best possible posture sitting will help your back and legs, but only to an extent. I suspect that the single most helpful thing you could do would be to alternate periods of sitting with periods of standing, rather than sitting the entire time. Is there a reason why you can't do that?
 
#3
Lobster11 said:
I suspect that the single most helpful thing you could do would be to alternate periods of sitting with periods of standing, rather than sitting the entire time. Is there a reason why you can't do that?
Click to expand...
I suppose not, however most of the stages we perform on are rather small. So when I get settled in with all of my gear and get to my seat, I'm pretty much stuck there. Visually, we're all sitting (except the vocalist) so it might look odd.
 
#4
I've gotta think that if you have 17 people all sitting for three hours (even if you're the only one with a bass in his lap), you're not the only one with this problem. You might want to ask around and see if there are others who are having similar problems and who would appreciate the opportunity to stand part of the time. If you're not the only one, maybe there would be a way to tweak the show so that everyone (at least, everyone who wants to) has the opportunity to play standing for parts of the performance -- e.g., maybe those tunes on which their respective instruments are featured or at least prominent. With a little creativity on the part of the band leader/director, varying who sits/stands when from tune to tune could actually add some visual variety to the show. Do you have a leader/director who you think would be open to such an idea?
 
#6
A seat cushion certainly seems like a no-brainer. Maybe an inflatable one that would take up virtually no space in your gig bag?

If you have a 15-minute break every hour, then maybe the answer is in what you do during those 15 minutes. I'd imagine that there are particular kinds of stretches and exercises that would be particularly helpful in this context, so maybe you could consult a chiropractor, fitness coach, or yoga instructor (etc.) for specific suggestions. I've got to think that your situation is an "occupational hazard" in many lines of work, so I'll bet there are stretching/exercise/yoga routines "out there" designed to specifically target this problem.

That said, I kinda like my idea of building into the show a component in which different players are standing for different tunes....
 
#9
I always sit as well, but have never found the "classical guitar" position to be comfortable. It tweeks the back, and it extends the neck out too far for my taste.
At home, I use a plain 'ol office chair with a 6x8 chunk of wood under my right foot. It elevates the leg so the bass rests nicely on my right thigh without slipping off. This seems to keep my torso in line. A classical guitar foot rest also works, and is way more gig bag friendly.
On gigs, I bring a stool, that for me, has a perfectly positioned foot rest, which provides the same leg lift as the 6x8. It's comfortable with one or both feet up, or a combination of both for a bit of variety during the set. If you notice, maybe not in the pic, but when the seat is raised, the foot rest is in front of the seat, and not under your butt cheek like a basic bar stool.

Throne-large.jpg
 
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#11
MD said:
I always sit as well, but have never found the "classical guitar" position to be comfortable. It tweeks the back, and it extends the neck out too far for my taste.
At home, I use a plain 'ol office chair with a 6x8 chunk of wood under my right foot. It elevates the leg so the bass rests nicely on my right thigh without slipping off. This seems to keep my torso in line. A classical guitar foot rest also works, and is way more gig bag friendly.
On gigs, I bring a stool, that for me, has a perfectly positioned foot rest, which provides the same leg lift as the 6x8. It's comfortable with one or both feet up, or a combination of both for a bit of variety during the set. If you notice, maybe not in the pic, but when the seat is raised, the foot rest is in front of the seat, and not under your butt cheek like a basic bar stool.

Throne-large.jpg
Click to expand...

I have this stool; got it through Musicians Friend years ago when they were blowing them out. Only difference is the foot rest on mine is about 8" above the floor.

I like this chair because it's one of the few ones that raises up high enough to be a good stool for use when playing an upright bass. However, the padding on mine really isn't that comfortable, so after 15-20 minutes it gets annoying. Thankfully, I had a co-worker who gladly offered to recover and add some more padding in it, so it works great now. It doesn't fold up really small, but is still easy to transport and very sturdy.
 

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