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How can people play with a long strap?!

#61
I wear mine where the strings are right at belt level.I set all my straps to the same height allowing for differences in horn cutaway. I never understood a bass hanging under your chin.Your fretting hand may reach higher but the kink in your arm,wrist and elbow for the plucking hand always aggravated me.Also,is it just me or does it seem like everyone who plays with their bass jacked up high seems to lean backward when they play.That's got to put a terrible strain on your lower back.
 
#63
wrathofgod said:
Sorry i cant post a picture, since i'm on mx mobile device, so here the link to a pic on our facebook fan page:

Black Lizard's Photos - Goldene Krone, 23 July 2011 | Facebook

So e people told me that i play my bass veeeery low, but i could even go further down. This is just a very confortable way to play. Since i have a very heavy head on my bass, i kinda need to keep it stable. So i use the right thumb to push down on the pickup, to keep everything in balance. And since its the easiest with my arm stretched out, i play lowish.
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So you really "fight" your bass.... interesting.
 
#64
there is no trick, its just more difficult because its so far different from playing sitting down. we call the guys with high basses "chin fiddles" lol. lets face it , it looks more badass and cool with a bass slung low. and your stances will look better. my picking hand is right at my coconuts.
 
#65
Whatever feels totally comfortable to you is the correct technique / playing position.

This being said...I wear my basses around or below belt level. I play metal, don't slap & I use a pick => I need a very relaxed right hand wrist and the lower my bass sits, the better. I also keep the neck at an angle (almost 45 or so) in order to keep my left hand wrist relaxed too. I'm not saying this is the way to go even if you'd be playing metal stuff with a pick as well, I'mjust saying what works for me.

Now I've picked up a nice neat trick from an older TalkBass message: if you don't know what's the ideal instrument position for you (high/mid/low), just do a bit of air guitar and notice your hands' positions. Then strap a bass and adjust it so that your hands will be in about the same positions ;)

And keep this in mind: if you're building fatigue and your wrists start to hurt after a while, then you're doing it wrong no matter how correct or "by the book" your playing technique / position is. So spend a bit more time finding what's right for you - it pays off ;)
 
#66
My favorite quote of bass all-time:

"There ain't no dough past the fifth fret!"

If you are king of slappity, tappity, klangmeistering (thanks for this JimmyM) then you probably will always play your bass around your chin.

If you rock it like me and the old schoolers, especially with a pick, slingin' it low is the way to go. I used to play it lower then I do now, but the strings on my bass normally sit right around my hips.

So, if you rock it like me, low is the way. If you are king of the upper registers, put it under your chin....
 
#69
It's akward, I tried super low one show and it was a fiddled to hit notes the entire time I had it down, so I brought it back up just a smidge to under the waist and back to business as usual...

My height honestly changes to whatever feels good at the time but never higher than it would be if I was sitting down practicing, that's just nutz
 
#70
dj5 said:
Never said there is only one correct technique/position.
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There is a range of optimal positions and sub-optimal.

The funny thing is that if you tell a guitarist or bassist that their technique isn't proper/ergonomic, they get all upset despite the fact that they spend little to no time devoted to ergonomic playing. Most musicians base their technique on what they've seen on MTV, at least when they still played music.

If a bassist tells you to wear it like a bowtie, they're putting a lot of strain on their right hand and considerable reach to the lower positions. AKA, wrong!

If a bassist tells you to play it at or below your knees, it puts lots of strain on your back, neck, and shoulders while simply making it difficult to play anythig remotely complex. It also forces the fretting hand to a death grip. Also not good.

If you want good technique, check out Ed Friedland and Gary Willis. IMO, playing a bass up high or down low has no real overall tonal impact, so ya might as well be comfortable and playing in a way where you can be fast and efficient when needed.
 
#71
TRichardsbass said:
If you rock it like me and the old schoolers, especially with a pick, slingin' it low is the way to go. I used to play it lower then I do now, but the strings on my bass normally sit right around my hips.
Click to expand...

I never got it, it's actually for pick playing that I keep my bass high enough. When I put it lover, my right harm is vertical and my pick too. The angle between my strings and my pick makes it unplayable (almost 90°)
 
#73
Actually the best way to play is sitting down. When I play standing up I wear the bass high enough so I can reach all frets, and I wear it low enough to still look cool. That makes the strings sit around belt buckle level.
 
#75
When I set my bass height I place my fretting hand around the neck at the nut and my plucking hand down at the bridge and adjust the strap so that my fretting hand is not so high and my plucker is not too low. I try not to concentrate on the body or neck, just the strings, it's all about where the strings lie.
 
#78
dj5 said:
Never said there is only one correct technique/position.
It's just when you get to Hook level, and have to curve your back and stand like he does to reach round the neck at all, you're putting image over sense.
If you decide where your bass goes by looking at yourself in the mirror rather than wrist comfort/reachability,etc, then you put yourself into the group of people whose opinions can be easily summed up - image is more important than technique, so we know where you're coming from. You don't drive a car from the back seat because you think it might look cool, do you?
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Hook, April, Trujillo...I'm sure at least one of them plays better than you.

Don't underestimate the importance of image. It's actually very important. Go into a Metallica audition dressed in a 3-pc suit with a 7-string strapped up to your neck and see how far you get. Likewise, go into an audition for Chick Corea in a black t-shirt with a skull dripping blood on the front and a bass at your knees and see how far you get.

There are bands out there who think image is unimportant. They are called "unsuccessful bands."
 
#79
Yeah, it's funny. In that Trujillo video I posted when they show him trying out different basses to use he is playing at a pretty comfortable level. When he does the audition with Metallica, i.e. when he is 'on', it's down low. Image is definitely important, but not more important than being able to play well. In both those scenarios that Jimmy mentioned if you could play well it would be the equalizer. The guys that came in to audition for Metallica all had different strap lengths and string counts. I dig Trujillo's stage presence, he's practically on all fours. With the way he moves around it makes sense for him to have it that low. Hook on the other hand looks like Keith Urban after a 5 month bender
 

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