Strap height

[KingBollock]

When I played in band when I was young, I always had my Bass covering my gentleman's area, which is where I wear it while sitting down, I don't have it on my lap I let it hang down between my legs. After 16 years of not being in bands, so not having to stand up, and getting bigger and bigger as the years went by, I was surprised to find that when I stand up I can no longer have my Bass that low because my belly shoves the top of the Bass away from me so that the strings are almost parallel with the floor. So when standing, I have to have it over my bellybutton.

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1348501369' post='1814411']
Doesn't it depend on how you're sitting?
[/quote]
Not if you know how to sit properly.

[Bassulike66]

Gotta' be loooooooow.....

Its not just your body parts that drift south as you get older but you also get blurry!

And that's not our drummers kit before you say anything!

[attachment=119224:Route 44 5 may 12 062.jpg]

[attachment=119226:Route 44 5 may 12 102.jpg]

Edited September 24, 2012 by Bassulike66

[lojo]

[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1348501369' post='1814411']


Yep that's exactly where I got it.

Doesn't it depend on how you're sitting?
[/quote]

It assumes your sitting as instructed in the example I gave

[hollywoodrox]

[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1348501369' post='1814411']
Yep that's exactly where I got it.

Doesn't it depend on how you're sitting?
[/quote]

I get right shoulder pain especially when sitting down! especially if Im playing something I find tricky I think i get tense

[chrismuzz]

[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1348494929' post='1814287']
If you are unable to play naked in public without being arrested for indecent exposure then your strap is at the wrong height.

[/quote]

Brilliant!

I've got a way to go then

[lowdowner]

[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1348494929' post='1814287']
If you are unable to play naked in public without being arrested for indecent exposure then your strap is at the wrong height.

(I do have gorilla arms btw)
[/quote]
surely this doesn't just depend on the length of your strap but the length of your *cough* as well ...?

[KingBollock]

[quote name='lowdowner' timestamp='1348513027' post='1814641']
surely this doesn't just depend on the length of your strap but the length of your *cough* as well ...?
[/quote]
I've got a bit of a chest infection, I can *cough* for hours.

[Dave Vader]

[quote name='lowdowner' timestamp='1348513027' post='1814641']
surely this doesn't just depend on the length of your strap but the length of your *cough* as well ...?
[/quote]

That my dear chap is why I now have an EUB
(I thank you....)

[lowdowner]

[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1348515395' post='1814691']
That my dear chap is why I now have an EUB
(I thank you....)

[/quote]
boom-crash...

[Westie9]

Someone's already mentioned it but I tend to have mine slung at the same height when sitting to when standing up...

[Fat Bob]

Mr S Hawkins once told me that the length of your strap is inversely proportional to your female tendancies........i.e. bass on your chin....not a good sign.....bit like knee nuts, chest nuts and chin nuts.....

[4 Strings]

Don't know if someone has said this already, but, assuming right handed, the right side can go down with the long strap but tip the neck further upwards than 'normal' This straightens the wrist on both hands and allows a low right hand. Bit like, but not as far as, the old Bill Wyman position.

Someone posted a (new to me) clip of Jamerson and I was surprised how low he had his, but he also raised the neck end.

I'm a bit of a short strap softy, bass rests on my belly, can't play as well with it low and I couldn't give a tinker's cuss what it looks like.

[rushers]

[quote name='Westie9' timestamp='1348516953' post='1814730']
Someone's already mentioned it but I tend to have mine slung at the same height when sitting to when standing up...
[/quote]

Yeah, this is what I've been taught and the way that makes sense in my head, sometimes maybe a TAD lower, just so I can reach the lower notes, perhaps that's just because of the Dingwall though....

[Big_Stu]

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1348699432' post='1817247']Someone posted a (new to me) clip of Jamerson and I was surprised how low he had his[/quote]

Cropper says he was the same when he first started in bands, ended up with a strap specially made to get it at low as he wanted & referred me to his last album cover.

[Cat Burrito]

I think as a result of misspent teenage posing I've always strung really low. I raised it & raised it as I started getting serious about playing / older, only to then think sod it - it's just a part of me these days so back down it went. I'm 5 months off 40 so probably not too cool to still be doing it but the beauty of being 5 months off 40 is you genuinely don't care what others think

[4 Strings]

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1348700221' post='1817253'] Cropper says he was the same when he first started in bands, ended up with a strap specially made to get it at low as he wanted & referred me to his last album cover. [/quote]

Interesting, as his strap got shorter with age his sadly missed oppo went the other way;

[attachment=119448:Duck Dunn.jpg]

[iamtheelvy]

Comfort and good technique is important if you don't want your hands to be crippled in a few years time.

Cool is what you make it...

[Les]

It seemed to be quite the thing to wear your bass high years ago. When I was dragged kicking and screaming out of a 14 year retirement about 6 years ago I duly dragged my Ray from under the bed, slung it on at the rehearsal and the guitarist looked at me and said "we're not fu**ing Kajagoogoo you know"

[jezzaboy]

I`ve recently started moving my strap up, as I came to the conclusion that I feel more comfortable playing the bass in an almost sitting down position.

[Ou7shined]

Mostly I'm like....



But now and again I'm like....



And I don't give a fig about the right ways and the wrong ways of how to play your bass. I convey emotion and the physical characteristics of the music as part of my performance in any way my body feels fit. I'll admit that I did used to go out of my way to crush the stereotype of the bassist who stands motionless and upright at the back though. And even though I have this supposed lousy technique my chops still rule.

And the strange thing is I can play perfectly well like this or while sitting down with it under my chin... and have done for many a year. I guess I'm flexible.... literally.

[chriswareham]

Used to have my bass so low that it took two straps buckled together to get it there. Being six foot four tall didn't help either. Nowadays the strap is a lot shorter, but I often slouch forward and have the bass only a few inches from the floor, so I still appear to be subliminally channelling the Peter Hook stance...

Edited September 30, 2013 by chriswareham

[Spike Vincent]

[attachment=145104:magnums.jpg]

My bass has got a little higher as I've got older.

[neepheid]

[quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1380573753' post='2227423']
I convey emotion and the physical characteristics of the music as part of my performance in any way my body feels fit.
[/quote]

That's a real posh way of saying "I loup aboot like a gype"

[Ou7shined]

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1380618250' post='2227792']
That's a real posh way of saying "I loup aboot like a gype"
[/quote]

Oops that was the vodka speaking..... but yeah you're absolutely right.