How long is your strap?

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

How low do you wear your bass? I always adjust my straps (Mostly leathergraft suede comfy ones) to the longest they’ll go for the classic ‘cover your nuts’ look.

 

An additional benefit of this is that the bass gives you cover if your flies come undone - as happened to Pete Way here:

 

 

[spacecowboy]

I use Small Comfort Straps, adjusted almost as short as they will go!
 

I like to wear my basses like necklaces! 

[Bolo]

For reference, I'm 1.91 m tall, the angle of the pic may or may not be helpful.

Edited May 23, 2023 by Bolo

[Rich]

Back in the 80s, I wore my bass pretty high up because slap. That changed fairly quickly and since then I've worn my basses pretty much where they'd be if I sat down. It's the perfect height for me.

 

Edited May 23, 2023 by Rich

[MacDaddy]

28 minutes ago, Rich said:

Back in the 80s, I wore my bass pretty high up because slap. That changed fairly quickly and since then I've worn my basses pretty much where they'd be if I sat down. It's the perfect height for me.

 

 

Same.

It's what Billy Sheehan advises too, keeping the bass angles constant sitting and standing.

Although some people @BigRedX practice standing up, so have their basses lower.

[nilorius]

I wear it pretty high

Edited May 23, 2023 by nilorius

[Reggaebass]

Like a few above I wear mine high, i practice sitting so when I play it’s the same height 

[Lozz196]

As per my avatar, not gibbon arm length but not a chest warmer either.

[Ed_S]

I'm generally most comfy with the bridge at about conventional jeans-pocket height when the bass is slightly angled-up in playing position. I've had to shorten my straps a bit since losing some weight, as it's taking less seatbelt to achieve the same position these days.

 

The idea of either practicing standing up or setting the strap to maintain the position when seated makes complete sense, but I've never done it. I practice and record sitting down, but rehearse and gig standing up. Having just given the seated-height strap adjustment a quick try, I can't honestly see it ever working for me either ergonomically or aesthetically.

[Old Man Riva]

12 hours ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

How low do you wear your bass? I always adjust my straps (Mostly leathergraft suede comfy ones) to the longest they’ll go for the classic ‘cover your nuts’ look.

 

An additional benefit of this is that the bass gives you cover if your flies come undone - as happened to Pete Way here:

 

 

This is one of my favourite Pete pics…

 

 

[Agent 00Soul]

I like it so the strings are just above the waist with the neck angled up.  For whatever reason, after a few songs I tend to start playing sideways a bit.

[BigRedX]

Depends on the bass to which it is fitted.

 

On the Gus G3s the straps are both 1290mm long from strap button centre to strap button centre.

 

On the Eastwood Hooky it is 1370mm

 

On other basses I have owned in the past the straps would again have been different lengths depending on the design of the bass, the position of the strap buttons and how I played it.

 

Regarding practicing sitting down or standing up, even in the days (early 80s) when I played with the bass high on my chest, I still found that I held the instrument in a different way when I was sitting or standing, and anything complicated that I learnt sitting down would require a bit of adjustment before I could play it as well standing up. Since I discovered this I have always played standing up.

Edited May 23, 2023 by BigRedX

[Franticsmurf]

I have a strap for each bass and they are adjusted to let the bass sit at about belt height - the centre of the body could attach to the belt buckle. It's a little lower than sitting down height.

[LowB_FTW]

Reading this thread, realised it was time for a brew, went downstairs and put the kettle on, measured my strap … 51".

 

Mark

[asingardenof]

Precisely about this long. If I ever lose weight it'll hang a bit lower.

 

[KingBollock]

Like Franticsmurf, I have mine so that my belt buckle would be about central to the bass body (I know this because, when I was thin enough, I caused buckle rash in exactly that position…).

 

I have my bass the same length sitting and standing. When sitting, the bass hangs down between my legs with the neck angled quite high. I never rest my bass on my leg when playing sitting down.

[Waddo Soqable]

Kind of low but neck angled upwards.

I just measured the strap and it's 55 ins buttonhole to buttonhole (I'm about 6ft tall) 

 

 

Edited May 26, 2023 by Waddo Soqable

[SteveXFR]

I have mine right about here.

A combination of a knackered back and shoulders mean this is the only position I can have it and still be able to walk the next day.

 

 

 

[Hobbayne]

I never actually realised how high I had it actually. It seems to rest naturally on my large lower chest though. 😁

[tauzero]

About where it would be if I was sitting. I almost always play sitting anyway, sometimes in classical guitar position (as below) and sometimes with the waist resting on my right leg.

 

[Richard R]

The same height when sitting or standing. That was the advice I got when I first started to play, and it seems to be right for me.  

[Steve Browning]

On  my basses, volume control at willy height. It seems to feel more natural! 🙂

 

When concealed in clothing obviously, my arms aren't that long!!

[NancyJohnson]

At 6'4" and predominantly using Thunderbirds, I favour a Levy's extra long strap; there's certainly times where the strap has been too long and photographic evidence show me in a square-shouldered Herman Munster poise, just to raise the bass to a more comfortable playing position.

 

 

[Gasman]

How long is my strap? Well, I’ve nothing to be proud of...

[snorkie635]

Like some above, strap-length varies with bass being played at the time.