Opinions on "The Swopper" (Or, a thread about practicing in comfort.)

[Addison]

Howdy,

I do lots of sitting while I play bass at home. Some of it is legitimate practice (certainly not enough of it is anymore, unfortunately), but mostly what I'm doing is learning new songs for my main cover band or for the 2 or 3 other cover bands with whom I fill-in regularly.

I just took a gig a couple of weeks ago that required memorization (no charts allowed) of about 30 cock-rock tunes from the 80's I had never played before. I had a little over 2 weeks to learn and memorize everything, so this required a TON of sitting in preparation for the gig.

I currently use a pretty nice pear-shaped drum throne as my practice stool, but I can only stand sitting in it for an hour or so. Maybe I'm getting old or a I'm a big wuss (more likely), but it's just killing my back and my butt falls asleep. This discomfort requires me to constantly have to get up, put the bass down and walk around for several minutes to stretch and get the circulation going again, and doing that is a waste of time.

I've started looking into better stool/chair options and the most interesting find that I've made is The Swopper.

Here's a video:


They look amazing, and from what I've gathered online, some pretty respected guitarists are raving about them to use for practice and/or studio use. Unfortunately, the price tag is $700. Yikes!

So, I guess my questions for everyone are these...

How much would you spend for worry-free comfort while practicing at home?

Am I insane for even considering this thing?

Does anyone here suffer from the same issues I do, and what do you do to help curb your discomfort?

Thanks!

 

[RoadRanger]

A saddle style drum throne works. I have several of the round ones and yah they suck.

 

[Addison]

A saddle style drum throne works. I have several of the round ones and yah they suck.

Thanks... as I said in my post, that's what I'm using right now.

This is the one, and I don't dig it.

Part of the reason is that in order for it to swivel, you have to loosen the height adjustment, and then it gets all wobbly.

Other than that, it just isn't comfortable for me for long periods.

 

[alfoders]

I use a well-padded keyboard portable keyboard stool. Lots of width for my fat a** and height is adjustable. No back support, but I can sit for hours on it in full comfort.

Got this one from Walmart for cheap:
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[Geri O]

Most guys I see using a bicycle-seat-style throne use the Roc 'n Soc throne. I don't have one, but they are very comfortable. Drummers, keyboardists, and bassists use them and for long periods of time. Almost $200.

I have a $300 office chair at home that was given to my girlfriend when her company got new chairs at work (they gave her 3 of them). I modified mine to not use the arms and that thing is absolutely awesome to sit in. Even with that, I'm 58 and I still have to get up for a few minutes every hour or so during marathon practice sessions. That's probably not a bad idea, regardless of how comfortable your chair is.

 

[Qlanq]

I have only ever been standing when I've played bass.
Apart from the time I spent watching a snooker tournament and playing bass.
That was for about a fortnight.
Never really felt comfortable sitting down playing.
Then again, I don't do much sitting down.
I'm 53.

 

[MalcolmAmos]

I use a tall wooden stool, with a padded pull over cover I got from Walmart. It's high enough that I can back up to it and sit down - or just lean on it. So I have the option of standing, sitting and leaning.

I end up doing all three and I think using all three during a gig may help in your situation. For practicing I just use my computer chair, it's armless and can be adjusted for height, etc.

Good luck.