View Full Version : Hows it hanging?
Punk rock low?
Tech Bass high?
I played with a few posistions and found that with my bass low so I finger around my belt (stop it) and the neck around my shoulder is the most comfortable.
I also found a 3 inch wide leather strap to be the most comfy.
What works for you?
Bev
Hamm Guitars
07-17-2007, 01:19 PM
For the most part I like it slung low, but the guitar really kind of dictates where it hangs with me.
For example, my uncut Teles are allways 'off the hip' on the side as if I play them for a long period of time in the front I start wearing a hole in my fore arm.
I like my pick arm to be straight at the end of a strum.
As far as straps go, I have always liked the 'seatbelt' straps as they slide around easily.
violation
07-17-2007, 01:26 PM
Low... always low.
There's a few people around here who have it up to their chest haha looks funny as hell.
Punk rock low... actually, just so that my left hand can comfortably reach the 1st fret and my right hand is close to straight. (So kind of a little below my stomach).
Jeff Flowerday
07-17-2007, 02:49 PM
I respect anyone who wear's the guitar so they can actually employ proper technique. I always thought wearing it around your knees was a little gay and funny as hell.
:rockon2:
I draw the line at where you can't reach the guitar comfortably/while standing up straight (and really... around the knees would be a little uncomfortable to play). I find it uncomfortable if the guitar's up too high... but maybe i'm just short :D
flashPUNK
07-17-2007, 03:49 PM
I've been told I play too high, but yeah, I like to be able to play properly... not to mention, avoiding wrecking my wrists from playing too low, I'd like to have some longevity to my career (if thats what it turns into).
Jeff Flowerday
07-17-2007, 05:24 PM
I've been told I play too high, but yeah, I like to be able to play properly... not to mention, avoiding wrecking my wrists from playing too low, I'd like to have some longevity to my career (if thats what it turns into).
If your avatar is any indication that's not too high at all. :rockon:
Jeff Flowerday
07-17-2007, 05:32 PM
I draw the line at where you can't reach the guitar comfortably/while standing up straight (and really... around the knees would be a little uncomfortable to play). I find it uncomfortable if the guitar's up too high... but maybe i'm just short :D
If it works for you it works for you. :rockon2:
Slung low I can lay down the chords but lead work becomes more of a challenge. Twisting my wrist around like that gets tiring real quick and it makes low string runs difficult.
.02
adamthemute
07-17-2007, 06:25 PM
I guess I hold it not to high but not to low. Between John Lennon and Billy Corgan.
Lester B. Flat
07-17-2007, 07:35 PM
Sit down with your guitar, hold it against your body and stand up. That's where it should be. You low slingers will be out of business by the time you're forty.
violation
07-17-2007, 07:51 PM
You low slingers will be out of business by the time you're forty.
James Hetfield has been kickin' it for 44, Zakk Wylde for 40, Marty Friedman for 45, :tongue:
Lester B. Flat
07-17-2007, 08:04 PM
James Hetfield has been kickin' it for 44, Zakk Wylde for 40, Marty Friedman for 45, :tongue:
Slash is a low slinger but he keeps his neck up, maybe theses guys do, too. Got any pics? Anyway, my message is 'better safe than sorry'.
violation
07-17-2007, 08:41 PM
James' neck is low (don't know how he has it that effin' low), Zakk has the neck pretty high, Marty is kind of in between the two.
They usually only keep it low for rhythms though... leads are a different story. Like Zakk will prop the guitar up on his leg / knee area, Friedman puts his foot on a wedge and kind of balances the guitar on his leg, etc.
Another one that comes to mind is Sully Erna of Godsmack... he's not old but he has it INSANELY low. Then again Godsmack's guitar work isn't exactly hard, lol. Drop C and a lot of chords done with 1 finger, lol.
esp_dsp
07-17-2007, 09:02 PM
i cant play with my guitar low.. i miss all the notes so up high it is
GuitaristZ
07-17-2007, 09:18 PM
wearing your guitar low is for sissies...
I wear my guitar high, and im proud of it
^^possible bumper stick content...
I_cant_play
07-17-2007, 11:27 PM
it really does make a difference whether you're playing lead or rhythm. For rhythm stuff I can have it pretty low as long as it's just open chords or riffs or whatever. If I need to play barre chords or leads I gotta have it at a medium height. If it's too high I feel weird, if it's too low my wrist hurts after 3 notes..
Michelle
07-18-2007, 09:38 AM
Good points Lester, that seems to be the way I do it, I can let it hang a little lower with guitar but with a long-scale bass, I need it higher. I use 5 or 6" wide strap, (leather with cool conchos), really saves the shoulder.
Gunny
07-18-2007, 09:39 AM
At the belt for me (bass). There's no right or wrong to this. Looking at old Beatles pictures, George played with the instrument fairly high. That's just not my preference for guitar or bass.
I think playin' a bass with the body almost under your chin is a little silly looking, but that's just me.
I also chuckle when I see a bass player usin' it where the instrument body is at the crotch and the neck almost straight up. Again, just not for me.
And KORN style slingin is what I call something for the skateboard crowd.
I agree with 3" strap for bass.
Finally, a dear friend of mine [drummer] used to answer the question "How's it Hanging?" with "Like grapes, only fewer"
ENDITOL
07-18-2007, 08:07 PM
With the guitar body around my waist or higher...around there. Angling the neck up helps for stretches and runs etc.
flashPUNK
07-18-2007, 08:27 PM
I've been told I play too high, but yeah, I like to be able to play properly... not to mention, avoiding wrecking my wrists from playing too low, I'd like to have some longevity to my career (if thats what it turns into).
If your avatar is any indication that's not too high at all. :rockon:
Heres a recent photo.. i guess not too high.. but its not exactly low either.
Keep in mind, i'm not a tall guy either... 5'5"
http://www.flashpunk.ca/n513785046_165981_5743.jpg
stratovani
07-18-2007, 08:29 PM
Like a lot of geezers I like my guitar sitting right on my gut - makes seeing the fretboard a lot easier, and at my age I no longer give a damn what people think about my guitar's position!
bluecoyote
07-19-2007, 10:58 AM
My position is about middlin' Just high enough to rest my elbow on the body and the back of the body under my ribcage. No real science in the position other than it feels right.
In the 1960s I used to think that Peter Quaife's (The Kinks and who lives in Burlington. Ont.) high position of his Ricky bass was very very cool and I emulated that for a few years posing in my front of my bedroom mirror! Man, I was so bloody sexy!
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x170/Bluewalrus/3kinks.jpg
NewGuitarGuru
07-30-2007, 11:23 PM
Heres a recent photo.. i guess not too high.. but its not exactly low either.
Keep in mind, i'm not a tall guy either... 5'5"
http://www.flashpunk.ca/n513785046_165981_5743.jpg
Looks good to me, that's about where I keep it. It's good for what I do, methinks.
I'm about belt line now but used to be lower. As I have aged the strap has shortened.....or perhaps my belly has enlarged....whatever.
Good one, never thought of that but I guess if you have a large Molson muscle it could cause you some difficulty.
Got a visual on that and it looks like your wrists would also be bent at a sharp angle if your guitar was verticle. The reach on your left hand will also be out there unless you angled it in but then the body...oh brother!!!!
I think I will skip my beer an have water..
Bev
Robboman
07-31-2007, 02:35 PM
http://www.kevenfedirko.com/music/20070414-DangerousGoods.KF/pictures/picture-30.jpg
Here's me strangling my Suhr, my right hand is about belt-buckle height.
When I first learned guitar in my teens I only ever played sitting down on a strapless acoustic. I remember when I got my first electric and strap, I tried to set it way low because I knew that it was supposed to look more cool that way. No way. Functionality beats image every time for me.
Fortunately today theres more guys like Tom Morello (who seems to be pretty cool despite wearing his axe higher on his body than almost anyone.
http://www.cineastentreff.de/teleschau/200640/4/200640_173350_5_024.jpg
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