Hitched Up or Slung Low

[JFrankParnell]

er, no the question is not about your state of mind, but how high up on your body you have your guitar strap set for.

The thumb over the top thread made me think of this. I think the low slung guys do a lot of the thumb over top.

I ride fairly high <ahem> on both bass and guitar

[newey]

I think it's sort of like driving a car, you don't want to have your arms out straight on the wheel 'cause you lose the leverage of your elbows if they're not bent a bit. OTOH, you don't want to be too close to the wheel, because then the arms are bent at a seriously acute angle.

Same thing with a guitar, you want your arms flexed at a bit of an angle but not too much. Bass may be an exception, lots of folks play that "high bass" - as I think we've mentioned before around here.

I like mine right about at the belt, to the midline/ trem cover. This puts my right arm at about a 110° angle.

[D2o]

Hey there, frank

Hitched up ... that reminds me: let me offer my congratulations before the big event.

I like vanilla medium - strings at my belly button

(by the way - as sumgai pointed out with strap buttons, there are two types of belly buttons ... I like mine because it's recessed! )

I think slung low is a little like those biker guys with the monkey bars ...

I think that too high may offer a much greater degree of control, but at some point a dude's gotta have a bit of vanity!

You may enjoy reading this similar post.

Cheers,
D2o

[D2o]

If a picture is worth a thousand words, this describes pretty well what I wouldn't do.

[rabidgerry]

my guitar certainly is above my waste line mostly!! thats HIGH!!!

I cannot play it low, and I cannot use my thumb playing, I started to try recently but my pretty hi action makes fretting difficult.

viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewTaggedPhoto&friendID=39010716&imageUserID=401152349&imageID=26944302

see link above to see if my guitar is high in your opinions

[rabidgerry]

I'm so an-l about scraping my guitar, I move my belt buckle round the other side of my waste when I'm playing standing up!!! YES thats madness but I hate buckle rash!!! HATE IT!!

[D2o]

I don’t think it’s too high, at all.

There are probably multiple factors to consider, but I believe there are only two key factors to determining your most appropriate height (in my humble opinion).

In order of importance:

1) at what height you can achieve optimal control for your playing style

… because control of your guitar is surely related to how well you play and sound

2) at what height you can feel optimal

… because feeling your best may enable you to feel “in the zone” while expressing yourself.

In other words, there is no right or wrong.

If hanging low makes you feel cool or whatever, and feeling that way improves your sound (or at least your happiness), knock yourself out.

If your height is designed to avoid buckle rash, and taking the risk out of buckle rash allows you to concentrate on playing better, THAT is your correct height.

If chin level is your bag and it gives you the control you need to play exactly as you intend to, bravo!

Now, if your boys hang low and you playing really blows … I’m sorry, your on your own.

Cheers,
D2o

[ashcatlt]

I used to grab the longest black strap I could find and stretch it out all the way because it felt cool. I've settled down a little in my old age, but still keep it below the belt.

You can't tell from that shot, but my belt is a dog chain - infinitely adjustable, and the "holes" never wear out. I try to remember about it when playing other people's guitars. Mine are used to the abuse!

[D2o]

Not to take anything away from the picture RG shared, I gotta say

That's a great photo, ash

[JohnH]

That is a great photo indeed. But where is the scary 10' tall fellow who sings into that microphone?

[gumbo]

Gosh....
...and I thought he found that avatar somewhere on the net....

[chuck]

i am right there with you Gerry ... i like my guitars up above my belt.

i try to keep my fretting hand wrist as straight as possible

[jcgss77]

Above the belt.

I suffered an injury where all my tendons on the inside of my left hand were severed at the first finger knuckle out from my hand, and as a result I am unable to bend my fingertips from the next knuckle towards the fingertips. Due to this disability, I need to have the guitar up, but I like it a little lower than the most comfortable position to work those fingers out as much as possible, and hopefully gain some motion in them. This also gives me a lot of speed on the neck, compared to any other position, and reduces arm fatigue. It also allows me to move the neck up or down comfortably if I am playing a riff which requires the utmost of finger dexterity.

[D2o]

Thanks for sharing - much more than just the position.

My hat's off to you, jc.

D2o

[rabidgerry]

Tis weird, sometimes if not most times my fretting hand isn't straight, its more upward, and this is because my "small compared to most guitarist hands" need to bend upward to play the lower strings. So my hands look more like a wrap around shape.

To be honest, something that has dogged me from I started learning guitar is that when I started to learn, I would sit down, and I've always been better sitting with the guitar kinda slung around to my right. So standing up I can't seem to mimic that positon I have sitting down, or the stability for that matter and I'm definately less comfortable standing.

I don't want to have to sit, I'm no Robert Fripp.

I've been working on a strap combo to try and get the guitar to sit as near to the sitting position as possible, it involves two very long straps and I'm close to cracking it. It probably means I'm not as naturally gifted at playing guitar but at least I try to improve things.

I have a special strap I made for playing my Flying V. As you all know flying V's will droop due to the inbalance. My secondary strap holds it from falling. I'd like to patent this idea but I don't have the money or other stuff to make a professional looking prototype. I've named it and everything!!!!

[chuck]

i have found that propping my foot on a monitor helps get the guitar in that sitting position.

i prefer the neck pointing more up than to the side ... i "discovered " that one night watching Ted Nugent on the Tonight Show ( or some other late night show ).
Ted sat there on the couch with his white PRS pointed up and just BLAZED while talking with the host.

i thought it looked super comfortable , so i tried it ... the rest is history ( not very interesting history , but it is history none the less )

[jcgss77]

Thanks for the compliment, D2o. The best players are never masters, but lifelong students.

RabidGerry- aha, an inventor. All you need is an investor, and you have a product. Have you ever thought of trying something like the chinrest on a violin, but positioned on the back of the guitar? This might help keep your guitar in your sweetspot.

Like you, I have much better neck control and picking accuracy sitting down, which is why I only learn new songs sitting down, then I will always practice standing up. Except for acoustic playing. Man, being a little guy, I have a hard time hugging around that thing.

[rabidgerry]

Jul 19, 2010 14:56:38 GMT -5 jcgss77 said:

Thanks for the compliment, D2o. The best players are never masters, but lifelong students.

RabidGerry- aha, an inventor. All you need is an investor, and you have a product. Have you ever thought of trying something like the chinrest on a violin, but positioned on the back of the guitar? This might help keep your guitar in your sweetspot.

Like you, I have much better neck control and picking accuracy sitting down, which is why I only learn new songs sitting down, then I will always practice standing up. Except for acoustic playing. Man, being a little guy, I have a hard time hugging around that thing.

JC I have not, but I'm interested. Flying V is fine with my secondary strap, (all details will be photographed at some point), so I take it you mean for my strat which I am no where near as good playing standing up than I am sitting. How would I attach this thing? and where would you place it?

Here is another of my ideas, may be its what you meant by the violin rest, but I was going to cut out a block of polystryrene (the white stuff made up from tiny little balls and often used as fake snow in shop window displays) and shape it so it held my strat slightly tilted upward (pickups pointing a little more toward my face) like how it is when I play kneeling or sitting. I would place this shaped block on the back of my guitar somewhere. Never followed it through.

The two strap idea basically has one strap go round one way and another the other to form like an X and I'm able to hold the guitar more side ways like how it is when I'm sitting or playing. I've tried it but I'm still perfecting the postioning and I need a longer second strap.

Chuck, I like my neck pointing upright also, but also sideways. I get more upward tilt with my flying V just by the nature of its shape.

[D2o]

You’ve reminded me of an idea a gentleman shared with me recently.

He had a strap button on the back of his guitar and I asked him what it was … thinking it was part of a B-Bender or some such other contraption.

His band performs at wedding parties and other somewhat lengthy events and he said that, now that he’s getting a little older and susceptible to fatigue by the end of a particularly long gig, he installed the button so that he can rest the weight of his guitar on his belt when he gets a little tired.

I don't care about buckle rash, so I think it’s a great idea.

In fact I am about his age and, if it was not for Viagra, I would have to use that idea myself.

D2o

[ashcatlt]

Talk of two straps made me think abou this guy

Not anything like what you're talking about, but...

[rabidgerry]

I'm so particular about my guitars I'd never ad another strap button!!!

[chuck]

i like to add a new strap button at the 12th fret on my neck heavy guitars ... really makes the guitar more balanced

[D2o]

Jul 23, 2010 0:35:33 GMT -5 chuck said:

i like to add a new strap button at the 12th fret on my neck heavy guitars ... really makes the guitar more balanced

Interesting, Chuck.

Would this be attached to the higher side of the neck or the lower? Does it ever become obstructive?

You don't happen to have a picture of this in action that you could share, do you?

D2o

[chuck]

i was talking about mounting it on the fretboard
i wasnt serious , just goofin around .... being my usual self ;D

[D2o]

Oh, thank God! - you joker!

I wasn't sure, because it does have it's applications - odd as they may be.

For example, on a banjo with a lignum vitae neck.



I am pleased that I still have not seen it employed on a guitar.

Cheers,
D2o

[chuck]

i never even thought about the banjo setup ... i was trying to be over the top , guess i failed ;D

[cynical1]

I'm obviously a bit late on this thread, but here's my take on strap position.

As has been stated several times in this thread, most players will practice sitting down. Probably a good 80% to 90% of your playing is done sitting down. Odds are you're going to develop most of your left and right hand positioning and technique with the bass or guitar in that position.

If you set your strap for your sitting position no matter where your butt is your arms and hands will always fall into your natural "learned" identical position.

I don't know how many people I've seen sit and just rip on a riff or chord changes, then stand up, strap on...with the guitar or bass slung to their knees...and just not be able to replicate their sitting performance. You can see them strain to reach and if you look you can see the change in angle on their wrist.

By having two different strap positions you are essentially negating all of you sitting practice time because all the muscle memory you developed sitting down went out the window once you stood up.

Ever notice your hands or wrist hurt after a gig but you can play all day in a chair or on the sofa?

Why set yourself up for failure. Try it. Sit and reset your strap to the sitting position. Play something tricky...anything...now stand up and play the same thing.

Happy Trails

Cynical One