I had an idea.. But I don't think it would work hahaha

[lo0nyt0on]

I had an idea a while back..... I'm a tall guy 6'4 and very long arms (when I did boxing I had reach that scared people lol)

I have a friend who dose upright and I was messing around with his electric upright bass.... I loved the sound,the no fret neck, the classy look, but It's not comfy to play for my...


Then i thought about it... Has anybody ever hooked a strap on an upright and played it guitar style?.. I was messing with it and it felt fine..


I think it would be fun... Possibly completly customize one Emg pick ups, custom tuners,... I mean go the whole 9 yards on a conversion to turn an upright into a guitar styled bass...


Would it work? Has anybody ever done it? Why? Or why not?

 

[pklima]

Sure. Highland folk music here often uses a smallish DB that's hanging in a horizontal position. With a small bass it's very doable, 1/4 size bass will have a scale length around 35" and a 1/2 will be around 38". You'd just need to reach around the body.

Not sure if you want to play a three-set gig with a 3/4 size DB hanging off you, though. It's not that heavy, but it's bulky which means it's farther out from your own center of gravity. That's really what makes it more tiring to run around with it.

The old Gibson mandobasses and some contrabass banjos had two endpins, one at a 45 degree angle which would let you play it in a guitarish position. That never seems to have really caught on, though.

But if you just want a guitar-styled bass, well...

 

[stingray2112]

I've seen some people do it on videos from youtube but it looks pretty hard to move around with. If you ever decide to do one of those "throw the bass around your back" tricks please take a video.