How High Do You Wear You Bass?

[MCS4]

I change my bass height all the time depending on what is more comfortable at that moment, primarily for health/muscle/joint reasons but sometimes for the style of the music I am playing. In an ideal world I would spend more time in a slightly higher position as I find that I get a slightly better tone on fingerstyle playing that way on average (easier to strike the string from a better angle), but right now a lower position tends to be more comfortable for me for various physical reasons.

 

[Mili]

This
I don't care about what people say, I care about efficiency!

Ps: I love Alain, he is awesome. Isn't he?!

 

[Stewie]

I put mine right on the floor

 

[Polka1]

Right hand is only half the battle.
Note choice and interval jumps are a big part of technical stuff.
To quote the Good Rats " Speed ain't nothin without class".

Given that DD wrote some of the most influential music in the last 40 years or so, I'd say he had the note choice.

After all, technical chops ain't nothing if no one wants to listen to you.

 

[buldog5151bass]

I wear mine so that it's the same height whether standing or seated.

This. Unless you dig a serious punk image, strap height shouldn't matter visually. Frankly, I generally practice sitting (never mind playing in pit and jazz bands), so it only makes sense to do this.

 

[Isaac J]

I once did an experiment. I sat down with my bass, made up a bass line with a lot of octave work that was challenging to play. Then stood up with a strap and adjusted height until I could play the bass line at the same tempo. Turns out, it was quite high. Kind of looks "nerdy" but if you look at old Beatles video, they used to wear their instruments quite high.

So I argue the "dumbing down" of bass lines that happened after the mid to late 60's classic rock era is partly due to bass players wearing their bass way to low to "look cool" at the expense of playability.

As with others, I set my height where the strap is just tight when sat down. I find wearing the strap especially high digs into my shoulder more too.

 

[Nashrakh]

I seem to remember Billy Sheehan, in the early / mid 80s, said that this is the way to go. Since a lot of folks practice sitting down, your body gets used to the mechanics playing at that height...if it's not the same when you stand, your mechanics will be off.

If it were that easy - at least for me, sitting down puts the instrument further to the right than standing up would. So there's always a bit of a shift going on - the only way to alleviate that somewhat is looping the strap through a belt hoop on the right side, bonus for fixing neck dive too.

 

[WI Short Scaler]

I never play sitting down but would imagine I wear it about waist high. See avatar.

I think there was a time when I wore it lower, long ago.

 

[rtav]

How high do I wear my bass?

 

[Gustopher]

Enough not to have a bend in my right wrist, any higher is uncomfortable... conversely any lower hurts my left wrist and restricts me. So, this is just right.

 

[Eilif]

Varies based on gig and whether I'm standing or sitting.

For my country and rock gig I'm slinging it with the neck plate around belt level. It's comfortable and looks cool.

For gospel on Sunday I'm sitting down and as the bass doesn't rest exactly where I want on my leg I've started wearing it pretty high. It really does help with some of the faster runs and makes it easier to push my right hand towards the bridge when I want a bit of a snappier tone.

 

[FrenchBassQC]

I wear mine so that it's the same height whether standing or seated.

Same here.

 

[ThinCrappyTone]

I used to wear mine like a coffee table necklace. Now its about medium.

 

[Slevage]

Given that DD wrote some of the most influential music in the last 40 years or so, I'd say he had the note choice.

After all, technical chops ain't nothing if no one wants to listen to you.

but that's a different thread.

 

[RedHatter]

Just above the belt, same position seated or standing.

 

[210superair]

I put mine right on the floor
View attachment 3542888

You beat me.....lol.

I have played slab in bands before, and I must be a square, cause I like it pretty high up. Like others said, I don't like it to change between sitting and standing.

 

[Coolhandjjl]

Players like The Beatles wore them high because anything lower looked like you were strum'n too close to your junk, which was contrary to the morals of the era...

 

[rtav]

Players like The Beatles wore them high because anything lower looked like you were strum'n too close to your junk

Great potential band name: The Junk Strummers.

 

[ElectricBass72]

I wear my bass high. I look like a dork.. but it's comfortable.

 

[bassrique]

I hammer-on and pull-off 4ths and Maj 3rds. I make all types of chord shapes for legato passages. I use my forearm to mute when slapping. All sorts of things I like to do including touching my chin to the upper horn so my skull vibrates be in the middle of the night. Headphones are great but not needed. Looking cool isn't cool in my eyes.