Hold your bass pretty low?

[T-MOST]

I play with my bass straps adjusted to "sitting" level. That way it's the same standing or sitting.

 

[Kbone_ATL]

For me, it depends on what bass I'm playing with , and how much I've had to drink before the show. If I'm close to seeing double, I raise it up a little bit

I once saw a fat guy with his bass over his huge belly, then I saw the top strap come unhooked because there was so much slack, and the bass held in place by his belly!

From my experience it seems like rock/metal players hang it low, and the jazzy, blues, or pretentious guys wear it high.

 

[Corevalay]

I can usually tell how good someone is by where there bass is when they put it on..
The higher the Bass the better the bassplayer...
They're are of course exceptions, but I find this to hold fairly true...

Define good.
I'm sure they play what you consider to be good but what some of us would consider to be stale.

I can just picture the guys you speak of. They all play the same funky basslines when trying out a bass or warming up. But then when it comes to songwriting and playing in a band... complete fail.

Stereotyping isn't too fun, is it

 

[lowfreq33]

I lowered my bass a few years ago, alleviated some pain I was having in my wrists.

 

[Pollinator95]

Technical progresive death metal ... he holds his bass just above his croth. I usually play like that for fingerstyle, and a bit lower for picking.

 

[jordy_on_bass]

Depends on what I am playing/what bass I am playing.

When I am playing metal (fingers), I usually play my Warwicks and wear them reasonably high. Usually with the bottom of the body just above my belt. I love to slap, strum and hammer the strings on my 'wick and having it higher is just easier, and also with the furious fretwork that I wrote, wearing it lower proved those basslines to be almost impossible.

Whenever I play more root note rock stuff, I prefer to play my blackbird. Because of the shape, I wear it lower than the 'wicks and generally play with a pick. I did a bit of vocals with the rock outfits I played with and for some weird reason, playing lower and singing at the same time was easier so I just did that. Now that I am training my voice to do back up vocals for metal, I am practicing playing with my bass strapped high and screaming. It is much harder, especially since I feel like I can't use my diaphragm.

I guess it is all personal preference at the end of the day. Whatever floats your boat

Cheers,
Jordan

 

[WalterVega]

Yeah, I play with it pretty low. Provides crotch protection from thrown items....

+1
Other 'justification': If you play naked, your bass MUST hide your private parts!

 

[DougD]

I wear my bass so that it's in the same position whether i'm sitting or standing. That way i don't need to make any major adjustments while playing. I knew some people that had problems and couldn't play without major hangups if they had to sit or stand while playing. That caused me to look for a way to avoid that issue.

 

[ZombieSpacebat]

I can usually tell how good someone is by where there bass is when they put it on..
The higher the Bass the better the bassplayer...
They're are of course exceptions, but I find this to hold fairly true...

 

[stratovani]

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I position my bass just like these guys, with the neck pickup over my belly button.

 

[dreasher54]

I wear my bass rather high. It seems easier to play that way.

 

[Ric5]

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I position my bass just like these guys, with the neck pickup over my belly button.

Yes it is a simple matter of ergonomics.

 

[stratovani]

I wear my bass rather high. It seems easier to play that way.

Whether your bass is slung too high or too low, either way you forcing one wrist or the other into a stressful position, which if done for a long enough time could eventually lead to carpal tunnel problems. Look at the pictures I posted of Geddy Lee, John Entwistle, and Marcus Miller. Their wrists are comfortably straight, which I attribute to the bass' position. Entwistle's left wrist is bent, but that's because his left elbow is flared out quite a bit. Bring in the elbow, and his wrist would straighten out or maybe bend just a bit. The human wrist is extremely flexible, and a certain amount of flex is acceptable, but prolonged unnatural bending of the wrist can lead to problems down the line.

I'm not picking on you personally, these are just general observations I've made over the years.

 

[Art Araya]

too low is very bad for your left hand. good way to slow down your left hand technique and develop carpal tunnel. (it is comfortable for your right hand however).

the converse is not good either, too high. this is good for your left hand but bad for your right hand. you want to avoid sharp wrist bending angles in either hand.

i was taught that you want to set up your strap so that it's at the same place as when you sit with the bass in your lap.

it should be ergonomics and not how cool it looks.

 

[onosson]

too low is very bad for your left hand. good way to slow down your left hand technique and develop carpal tunnel. (it is comfortable for your right hand however).

That's why when I play low, I drop the body of the bass but tilt the neck up, close to an upright bass position. I actually started doing it for comfort, but so many people asked me if I played upright that I eventually bought one! (sold it 15 years later, but that's another story...)

 

[rageatmachine14]

I hold my bass like this....

 

[stingray2112]

I always where my slung pretty low. I've tried it up higher or at a medium level but slung low just feels the best for me.

 

[MRDOOM]

I usually wear my basses so that the strings are directly over my belt and are running (more of less) parallel to it.

 

[pica]

Something like this.....

 

[mowburger]

I guess I wear my bass a lil on the low side, the middle of the basses body is right over my coconuts, but I do have longish monkey arms, my fingertips just about reach my knees! Yeah I'm a freak!

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