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Slung low or high?
- Thread starter Thir13teen
- Start date
I probably keep mine a bit higher than most people my age, generally, just above belt. I keep it so it's at exactly the same level as when I'm sitting so (with a jazz bass) the upper horn is right under my chest. It gives me nice upper fret access without straining my wrist, and gives the lower horn some nice buckle rash from my outlandish belts.
Some of that might have to do with the first strap I got (still my main one), which came to me set at that length, and I just kept. Even on it's longest setting, the lower horn is only at my groin. The other part might be that the guys I was looking at when I started playing all kept it fairly high (Entwistle, JPJ, Macca).
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Some of that might have to do with the first strap I got (still my main one), which came to me set at that length, and I just kept. Even on it's longest setting, the lower horn is only at my groin. The other part might be that the guys I was looking at when I started playing all kept it fairly high (Entwistle, JPJ, Macca).
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I think bassists can get away with having the bass super high though, when guitarists do it I can't help but think they look like t-Rex's, and not in the good way.
When I first started bass, it was all about the Rock N' Roll man! Keepin' that thing as low as possible! Then I saw Rob Trujillo and put it even lower! 
I would laugh at dudes like Entwistle who looked goofy with their basses so high.
Then my bass teacher told me about how he used to be in a death metal band, and he was told that in order to look cool he HAD to have his strap low. He told those guys something along these lines "You guys can rock out in one place with your straps down low like that. Do your thing. But I'm gonna have it higher up so I can run around and go crazy!"
That changed it for me. I'd much rather be able to go nuts around a stage while still maintaining my balance without a bass hindering my movement.
The thing that made me keep this length and not go back to the old "Rock N' Roll" length, was that my bass teacher had said that it would probably help my playing if I started putting my thumb behind the neck instead of having it hang on top of it like a lot of blues guitarists do. When I finally got comfortable with that and my high strap length, I found it hard to play well with my strap low! As Billy Sheehan put it -"I kept sucking and sucking more and more as my strap length got lower and lower!"- which greatly applied to my situation as well (not to say I'm anywhere close to as god as Mr Sheehan, but you get my point).
Now I think it's actually cooler for guys to have their straps high, with dudes like JPJ, Entwistle, McCartney, etc. who just GROOVED and that's the coolest thing in my eyes (and ears )
So for those who are interested, that's my two cents.
I would laugh at dudes like Entwistle who looked goofy with their basses so high. Then my bass teacher told me about how he used to be in a death metal band, and he was told that in order to look cool he HAD to have his strap low. He told those guys something along these lines "You guys can rock out in one place with your straps down low like that. Do your thing. But I'm gonna have it higher up so I can run around and go crazy!"
That changed it for me. I'd much rather be able to go nuts around a stage while still maintaining my balance without a bass hindering my movement.
The thing that made me keep this length and not go back to the old "Rock N' Roll" length, was that my bass teacher had said that it would probably help my playing if I started putting my thumb behind the neck instead of having it hang on top of it like a lot of blues guitarists do. When I finally got comfortable with that and my high strap length, I found it hard to play well with my strap low! As Billy Sheehan put it -"I kept sucking and sucking more and more as my strap length got lower and lower!"- which greatly applied to my situation as well (not to say I'm anywhere close to as god as Mr Sheehan, but you get my point).
Now I think it's actually cooler for guys to have their straps high, with dudes like JPJ, Entwistle, McCartney, etc. who just GROOVED and that's the coolest thing in my eyes (and ears
)So for those who are interested, that's my two cents.
I actually think geezer was lower in 1970. The live footage in Paris 1970 is a good indication. I may well be wrong.
I think it all depends on what style you play, what positions on the neck, your own length and arm length etc. etc.
Mostly I have the bass about half way my belly (the upperhorn of the bass is touching my chest). When I play on the higher notes (i.e. 12th - 24th frets) I'd like to have the bass as high as possible : The upperhorn of the bass almost touches my chin.
Yes, ridiculous high you would say, but it makes it very comfortable when you play the higher notes. Plus I have small hands
Mostly I have the bass about half way my belly (the upperhorn of the bass is touching my chest). When I play on the higher notes (i.e. 12th - 24th frets) I'd like to have the bass as high as possible : The upperhorn of the bass almost touches my chin.
Yes, ridiculous high you would say, but it makes it very comfortable when you play the higher notes. Plus I have small hands
That is roughly how I wear mine too. I stumbled onto it one day when I belatedly realized that while I had trouble reaching the B string on a fiver on the higher frets when standing, I never had that problem when playing basses sitting in store trials! Shortening the strap a few inches solved that problem for me on the fiver and it causes no issues with my four strings.
Ken
I like it this way
Works great too it you sit down
Owww ow ow ouch ouch.... lol. The first photo isn't too bad but that second one just makes me writhe in agony, with the twisted contorted arm....
I've never understood how players can have full careers with their arms and hands cranked around like that. They must avoid that area of the neck most of the time?
My career was ended in only a few years by this same contortion gigging with just a 4003 4-string.....
Let's Be Careful Out There, guys and gals...
As for me, I don't let fashion get in the way of a straight wrist and naturally positioned left arm. What I do is extend the upper horns on my basses until the entire neck is comfortably positioned, especially down in half position. But then again, I'm old and don't gig anymore so my appearance is no longer crucial. Also I have to accomodate my injuries with an even straighter wrist and arm than normal.
Finally, as for the subject of appearance, I don't find the guy with the 4003 stuffed under his chin uncool looking at all. Looks very vintage and nostalgic to me.... Everyone in the thread looks cool to me (except John P twisting his arm in half in the above photo, that just hurts).
LS
- Mar 8, 2011
- 12,232
- 51,187
- Disclosures
- Authorized greenboy designs builder/Owner of BNA Audio
Yes, I understand you with that second picture. Isn't the best one I could find... Maybe he hold his left hand only when they took a photo of him. Or he is used to it this way
The positioning of the left hand differs per person, I guess.
The positioning of the left hand differs per person, I guess.
Owww ow ow ouch ouch.... lol. The first photo isn't too bad but that second one just makes me writhe in agony, with the twisted contorted arm....
I've never understood how players can have full careers with their arms and hands cranked around like that. They must avoid that area of the neck most of the time?
My career was ended in only a few years by this same contortion gigging with just a 4003 4-string.....
Let's Be Careful Out There, guys and gals...
As for me, I don't let fashion get in the way of a straight wrist and naturally positioned left arm. What I do is extend the upper horns on my basses until the entire neck is comfortably positioned, especially down in half position. But then again, I'm old and don't gig anymore so my appearance is no longer crucial. Also I have to accomodate my injuries with an even straighter wrist and arm than normal.
Finally, as for the subject of appearance, I don't find the guy with the 4003 stuffed under his chin uncool looking at all. Looks very vintage and nostalgic to me.... Everyone in the thread looks cool to me (except John P twisting his arm in half in the above photo, that just hurts).
LS
I like it this way
Works great too it you sit down
This is sorta what I'm like.
Yes, I understand you with that second picture. Isn't the best one I could find... Maybe he hold his left hand only when they took a photo of him. Or he is used to it this way
The positioning of the left hand differs per person, I guess.
Possibly, though I hope John P. isn't unknowingly tearing stuff up in his left arm doing this. You don't know that the damage is done until it's too late - you just notice one day during practice or rehearsal that you don't work through the soreness anymore and it's there all the time when you play.
So I hope that's not happening. John Myung is another virtuoso who I just hurt to watch because his wrist is almost cranked in half when he's playing.
Oh well, that's how my hopes for a professional career were ended, which is why I'm so sensitive to this issue.
But like I said, I don't let fashion get in the way of this anymore. On my Bunny 6, I have to extend the upper horn almost 5 inches with an ugly contraption I made out of wood and velcro to get it into a position where I can play it comfortably on the strap. If it weren't for my hearing, you bet I'd gig it with this thing strapped to the horn lol.... I usually just stood in the back out of the lights anyway, so I wouldn't embarrass the band too bad probably...
LS
