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Keeping your pants on???

I know this may sound crazy but I have just strated playing and I am a big guy and wear my pants over my gut but have always tucked in my shirts and snugged up that belt for security but now I am worried about scratching the back of the bass with my buckle.
Do most of you just wear you shirts out or just not wear a belt or just not worry about a little buckle rash?

I do have the bass up almost on my chest, I feel I can reach everything better but just wondering if I am the only one worried about this.
I know I should loose weight so my hips would hold up my pants right..................

Thanks
 
Depending on the gig, there are different things you can do. If it's a real casual deal like jeans & a tee shirt, the shirt will be over your belt. Or you can wear shirts made to hang outside of the pants.

If you're wearing jeans, but with a sport shirt that you prefer to tuck in, you can always fold one of those red or blue bandana-style handkerchiefs so that half is behind the pants/belt buckle and the other half hangs out over the belt buckle while you're playing. That protects the bass just fine, but isn't really an option if you're dressed up.
 
Could go grab a cummerbund (think that's how they spell it....) and slap that on. You know, the thing a lot of community bands wear...... goes around your waist, part of a tuxedo thing. Covers your belt..... comes in a bunch of colors. Might look a bit funny, but when y ou have your bass on no one probably sees it anyway :)
 
I tuck a cloth the color of my pants over the buckle. I've been doing this for years and no buckle rash on any guitars/basses of mine.

Yank it out between sets and continue to impress the ladies with your otherwise usual fashion sense. Just remember to tuck it back in for each following set.

Use just enough cloth to cover the area of concern. Or else, it'll look like an apron...that would be lame.

Try it, it works fine and your instruments will remain in good condition.
 
I know this may sound crazy but I have just strated playing and I am a big guy and wear my pants over my gut but have always tucked in my shirts and snugged up that belt for security but now I am worried about scratching the back of the bass with my buckle.
Do most of you just wear you shirts out or just not wear a belt or just not worry about a little buckle rash?

I do have the bass up almost on my chest, I feel I can reach everything better but just wondering if I am the only one worried about this.
I know I should loose weight so my hips would hold up my pants right..................

Thanks

I too am a big guy (6',315 lbs) who wears his pants over his gut and generally plays with the bass up fairly high...not bowtie high like some of the jazz guys I've seen, but fairly high.

The way I reassure myself that I won't make any buckle marks on my bass when it strays into belt territory...is that I don't use buckles, ever.

Go to a law enforcement/EMS/Fire Department supply store or
maybe a gun shop and ask for a velcro belt. They aren't too expensive and they work great. The ambulance service I rode with back in '97 made us change to velcro belts back then. I resisted...just long enough to get used to them and realize that they are a great idea for musicians.

Now it's the only belt I wear, so I can't forget and scratch up the back of an instrument.