Born 2B Mild Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 I have noticed an ergonomic thing happening to me when I stand and play, and I wonder if I'm alone on this or if others identify with me and have solved it in someway. Since playing five and six string bass, I have found myself hunching over the neck to see the finger board better. I've just tried (as a temporary experiment) wedging a piece of foam between my waist and the back of the bass body, and low and behold everything is tilting up at me and I don't need to hunch. So, does anyone else experience this and do luthiers ever make compensations in body profile for it? Or have I had too much coffee and am seeing an issue that no one else is bothered about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe_bass Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 I'm thinking I don't, but I'll probably end up checking when I get home! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayFW Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 I love the idea of one of these: [url="http://www.littleguitarworks.com/torzal/"]http://www.littleguitarworks.com/torzal/[/url] Couldn't justify the expense though (approx $3000) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Born 2B Mild Posted January 30, 2009 Author Share Posted January 30, 2009 [quote name='RayFW' post='395413' date='Jan 30 2009, 02:16 PM']I love the idea of one of these: [url="http://www.littleguitarworks.com/torzal/"]http://www.littleguitarworks.com/torzal/[/url] Couldn't justify the expense though (approx $3000)[/quote] Wow! I love discovering new things, particularly about bass, so that link was great, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgraham Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 I used to do something similar when I first started playing, as I always practiced sitting down. This meant that I naturally tilted the top of the bass in towards my upper body. I now only practice (rehearsals/home) whilst standing. I also refrain from staring at the neck; not that I never look at the neck, I just try not to stare perpetually at it. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 I still find it FAR too easy to just watch my fingers when practising at home, which is massively counter-productive when I get to rehearsal and I'm supposed to be inter-acting with the guitarists and locking in with the drummer. One of my targets for 2009 is to learn to play entirely by feel, with no need to look at the neck at all. This is not being helped by the fact that I play several different basses as the mood takes me. Whether I'm standing up or sitting down, I now choose something in the room to focus on and I look at that to ensure that I don't start watching my fingers again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lfalex v1.1 Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 [quote name='Happy Jack' post='395446' date='Jan 30 2009, 03:03 PM']I still find it FAR too easy to just watch my fingers when practising at home, which is massively counter-productive when I get to rehearsal and I'm supposed to be inter-acting with the guitarists and locking in with the drummer. One of my targets for 2009 is to learn to play entirely by feel, with no need to look at the neck at all. This is not being helped by the fact that I play several different basses as the mood takes me. Whether I'm standing up or sitting down, I now choose something in the room to focus on and I look at that to ensure that I don't start watching my fingers again.[/quote] The TV! With subtitles on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bremen Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 [quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='395491' date='Jan 30 2009, 03:41 PM']The TV! With subtitles on![/quote] Good enough for Jaco, apparently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 This is why bassists grow beer guts. I serves a specific purpose, if you play bass and don't have a beer gut, you don't have the dedication. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bremen Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 [quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='395508' date='Jan 30 2009, 04:03 PM']This is why bassists grow beer guts. I serves a specific purpose, if you play bass and don't have a beer gut, you don't have the dedication.[/quote] Exactly so. And that's why the Warwick Thumb has that hollowed back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 If you are tilting the body toward you are you then not also tilting/rotating the neck around a bit, which is 'potentially' storing up long term strain injury problems (especially on a wide necked bass)? Just a thought! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 The Little Torzal twist is the best solution because it tilts the body up towards you, but the twist keeps the neck at more friendly angle. If you can live with the whole bass tilted and it's not putting a strain on your left wrist you should also look at the [url="http://www.nortonguitars.com/"]Norton Basses[/url] which allow you to tilt the whole neck and body centre in relation to the wings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Born 2B Mild Posted January 30, 2009 Author Share Posted January 30, 2009 [quote name='BigRedX' post='395631' date='Jan 30 2009, 06:41 PM']The Little Torzal twist is the best solution because it tilts the body up towards you, but the twist keeps the neck at more friendly angle. If you can live with the whole bass tilted and it's not putting a strain on your left wrist you should also look at the [url="http://www.nortonguitars.com/"]Norton Basses[/url] which allow you to tilt the whole neck and body centre in relation to the wings.[/quote] Well, I'll go to me granny's and back! Innovation is still alive in bass guitar design. I'm finding out some interesting things here. Thanks for that, BigRedX, but the chance of me getting to try before I buy are somewhat slim. But you never know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 You're welcome (as they say)... Judging by your join date you may have missed [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=5525"]this thread[/url] where you'll find plenty of interesting and innovative ideas in the design and construction of our favourite musical instrument. There should be a couple of hours of reading there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 [quote name='Born 2B Mild' post='395402' date='Jan 30 2009, 01:57 PM']I have found myself hunching over the neck to see the finger board better.[/quote] At times I have suffered from this. I try to avoid it by only looking at the dot markers on the top edge of the neck and not the fingerboard - but habit can be a terrible thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Woodcock Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 [quote name='Born 2B Mild' post='395402' date='Jan 30 2009, 01:57 PM']I have noticed an ergonomic thing happening to me when I stand and play, and I wonder if I'm alone on this or if others identify with me and have solved it in someway [...] Since playing five and six string bass, I have found myself hunching over the neck to see the finger board better.[/quote] Out of interest do your strings follow the camber of your neck? I've never had a problem seeing the fingerboard on my basses but I played a student's one recently and his action was set so that his strings were in a straight line - this meant that when looking down at the board his view of all the other strings was obscured by the B string. [quote name='Happy Jack' post='395446' date='Jan 30 2009, 03:03 PM']I still find it FAR too easy to just watch my fingers when practising at home [...] Whether I'm standing up or sitting down, I now choose something in the room to focus on and I look at that to ensure that I don't start watching my fingers again.[/quote] I wouldn't really advocate this approach - remember that practicing and playing are two different scenarios. Practicing at home gives us the opportunity to study everything we do under a microscope, to fine tune our motor skills and spot any bad habits creeping in and to do this we need to look at what we are doing - try practicing in front of a mirror, you won't feel like your eyes are glued to your fretboard then but you'll still be able to focus on what your hands are doing and from a perspective that often highlights inefficiencies of technique previously unnoticed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacDaddy Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 [quote name='Born 2B Mild' post='395402' date='Jan 30 2009, 01:57 PM']Since playing five and six string bass, I have found myself hunching over the neck to see the finger board better.[/quote] why do you need to look at the finger board? You know where it is Use all 4 fretting fingers with 1 per fret and you're away. If you know where your fingers were, you can change postion and still know where you are. I remember seeing a band on the tellybox. The guitarist was singing, and as he changed chords he turned his head to look at his fretboard, which meant he wasn't singing into the mic. Reminded me of Norman Collier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh3184 Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 [quote name='RayFW' post='395413' date='Jan 30 2009, 02:16 PM']I love the idea of one of these: [url="http://www.littleguitarworks.com/torzal/"]http://www.littleguitarworks.com/torzal/[/url] Couldn't justify the expense though (approx $3000)[/quote] I have an idea of making an ultra ergonomic bass which consists of that plus fanned frets, just to f*** over the heads of people watching me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peted Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 [quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='395508' date='Jan 30 2009, 04:03 PM']This is why bassists grow beer guts. I serves a specific purpose, if you play bass and don't have a beer gut, you don't have the dedication.[/quote] You beat me to it! +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrcrow Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 [quote name='Born 2B Mild' post='395402' date='Jan 30 2009, 01:57 PM']I have noticed an ergonomic thing happening to me when I stand and play, and I wonder if I'm alone on this or if others identify with me and have solved it in someway. Since playing five and six string bass, I have found myself hunching over the neck to see the finger board better. I've just tried (as a temporary experiment) wedging a piece of foam between my waist and the back of the bass body, and low and behold everything is tilting up at me and I don't need to hunch. So, does anyone else experience this and do luthiers ever make compensations in body profile for it? Or have I had too much coffee and am seeing an issue that no one else is bothered about? [/quote] i do that as well with a 5 and a flattish fretboard curve i hadnt thought of packing it out but sounds like a good idea i had thought of changing the strap fixing position to tilt the bass a bit going back to a 4 so i am hoping that will improve my 'sight' reading Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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