Strap button location

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whyseye

whyseye

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Stupid newbie question probably, but here goes:
I'm most comfortable playing my fretless bass at a fairly upright, almost 40 degree angle, but if left to settle on its own, it settles into to about an 80 degree angle, so matter how I adjust the strap itself, and I find that I'm constantly having to shift it back up.
If I moved the strap button from the very end of the upper bout, to just inside the upper bout, will that cause it to hang at a more comfortable angle? And is there any danger or disadvantage (apart from potential resale value) in moving it? :confused:
 
I would try putting it behind the neck joint. Moving it towards the end of the guitar will make it more neck heavy.

There isn't any real problem with moving it if you do a good job. Use a drill to start the hole so you don't crack the finish.
 
Farview said:
I would try putting it behind the neck joint. Moving it towards the end of the guitar will make it more neck heavy.

There isn't any real problem with moving it if you do a good job. Use a drill to start the hole so you don't crack the finish.
Click to expand...

I agree with Farview about the neck joint location, I did this on a 12 string and really like the way it feels. I'll be attaching the strap on my acoustic/electric bass the same way and many of my acoustic playing friends also attach their straps the same way-and these are on very nice Martins and custom builds.
 
whyseye said:
Stupid newbie question probably, but here goes:
I'm most comfortable playing my fretless bass at a fairly upright, almost 40 degree angle, but if left to settle on its own, it settles into to about an 80 degree angle, so matter how I adjust the strap itself, and I find that I'm constantly having to shift it back up.
If I moved the strap button from the very end of the upper bout, to just inside the upper bout, will that cause it to hang at a more comfortable angle? And is there any danger or disadvantage (apart from potential resale value) in moving it? :confused:
Click to expand...

There is a really good bass player here in town who has his strap button on the back side of his treble side cutaway, and the other one on the face of his bass. He's an upright player most of the time (one of the best around - he's been first chair in several orchestra's over the years, as well as being the musical director for one of the best jazz singers I've ever heard), and that's what it takes for his bass to be where he wants it.

It's kind of hard to experiment about this stuff, but if you don't mind a few holes in your guitar that can't be fixed (and WILL damage any resale value it might have), it's not going to ruin your guitar to try.


Light

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M.K. Gandhi
 
You can tie your strap loosely to the neck and slide it one way and the other to get a good rough idea of where the button would have to be to make it hang the way you want. The truth is, depending on the design of the body, you may not be able to get what you want without somehow increasing the effective length of the upper arm.

Switching to lighter tuners may help if that is a possibility.

If you are fairly stationary when you play you could tie the strap to the headstock like some acoustic players do. Be advised that this can cause neck adjustment problems if you're prone to bouncing it around.
 
I play a Schecter Scorpion, the only BEAD-bass (originally) I've found, but it's notorious for the headstock diving right to the floor if let go... So, I'm interested in this too.

Would moving the strap at the back do any difference?? ..to front. I guess not much..
 
Here's a sample of the placement that I'm thinking about (not mine - just a sample that I saw on CL):

Would that seem to bring the bass more vertical than if it were right on the end of the bout, parallel to the neck?
This bass looks like a real neck-diver - my bass's upper bout isn't far off the 12th fret location, and doesn't dive as badly as my SG-style bass - I just like to play it more vertically...
 

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Thanks also for the neck joint suggestion.....my SG-style Kay has the button there, and it's not too bad....it could always be a plan B....
 
whyseye said:
Here's a sample of the placement that I'm thinking about (not mine - just a sample that I saw on CL):

Would that seem to bring the bass more vertical than if it were right on the end of the bout, parallel to the neck?
Click to expand...

If I understand what you are asking, no, it will make it worse. The farther out on the bout you attach the strap, the less neck heavy the bass will be.
 
I also heard a suggestion for moving the button in the bridge position upward on the bass body, at or above the level of the bridge itself.
What if both buttons were moved in conjunction with eath other?

:confused:
 
whyseye said:
I also heard a suggestion for moving the button in the bridge position upward on the bass body, at or above the level of the bridge itself.
What if both buttons were moved in conjunction with eath other?

:confused:
Click to expand...

The only thing you can do with strap buttons to make your bass less neck heavy is to somehow move where the front end of the strap connects to the bass toward the end of the neck. Nearly all the weight of the bass is held by the front strap button, so nothing you do to the rear button is going to do much. Moving the buttons up or down (i.e., perpendicular to the strings) won't do anything at all. Some basses are just designed with the top bout too short; that's a real problem.

I have a Tacoma Tunderchief (acoustic) bass that is very neck heavy. I added a 1 lb SCUBA weight to my strap at the rear button, and that fixed it.

I have heard that changing to lighter weight tuners can help with neck heavy basses, but I've never tried that.
 
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