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This was a first

N

Nvr2old

Guest
Dec 27, 2012
75
6
Minneapolis
#1
I've only been gigging a year now and I thought I've experienced every train wreck possible and played my way out of them all, but Saturday at a large private party with the dance floor full I had a new one thrown at me; strap unhooks just as the song gets rolling. :eek: First I tried holding the bass up with my knee and standing on one foot - and that wasn't going to cut it - and then I tried to quick reattach the strap and hope no one noticed - and then the other side of the strap falls off as I got the one side back on. :rollno:

So, resourceful performer that I've become, I hook the E string with my pinkie and third finger and hold the bass up with just those two fingers and continue playing (luckily I didn't really need the E string in this song). I don't think anyone even noticed.
 
#10
The first time that happened to me was 40 years ago ;). No Straploks back then; there was a complicated leather 2 ply flap-like affair that you put behind the end pin, and at the other end was a screw and a T-nut that you bolted through the strap end. It never, ever came loose. Thank god for Straploks!
 
#13
My Gawd! YES, this has happened to me a couple of times in those days of old! I almost dropped my pride and joy......

I went to Dunlop strap locks and don't worry about it anymore......except MAKE SURE that they lock into place! I double check mine each night by trying to pull them apart because one time when I THOUGHT I had locked it down....boom! I almost dropped my bass again!

Oh and like Roy Vogt posted....Nice Save!!!:bassist:
 
#17
On Saturday, the guitarist in one of my bands just about dropped his Les Paul when his strap came off in the middle of a song. And he was using straplocks! I'm not sure what was going on. Once he reattached the strap, the cable came unplugged from the guitar. I think he was ready to call it quits. :D
 
#19
seanm said:
I gave up on strap locks after too many "false positives". So I just use oversized holders. You have to unscrew the holders to remove the strap.

Still have to check the screws now and then though.
Click to expand...

I like this idea. It's not as if I ever take the strap off anyway. I'd never worried about it before, but then I caught Victor Wooten a few weeks back at one of his Guitar Center Q&As and took to heart his advice to worry less about "playing" the bass and instead "groove" with the bass. Transformational. Of course now that I'm suddenly jumpin' and boppin' and all manner of swingin' up there :hyper: the strap doesn't stand a chance without something to hold it on permanently.
 

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