How low do you go?

[ashmorefan]

Hey guys, I was at a gig tonight and the guitarist had some pretty cool gear. But what stood out the most to me was that he was wearing his guitar pretty damn low! I mean, how do you play when it's between ur crotch and ur knees?

I find it really hard and uncomfortable to bend my wrist that far, but i mean, I have to admit, the lower ur guitar is, the cooler it looks

So how low do u guys wear ur guitars? I've heard stuff about the pickups being around the same place as ur belt buckle.

 

[Lifehouse]

I think the lower you get the more punk you will be looking like. I had this feeling ever since I watched the Busted mtv on the bus. 8)

 

[thor666]

i think the truth is, the lower u go, the harder it is to access the lower and higher frets.

although getting it too high makes ur playing awkward too.

 

[live33]

Maybe he's playing with his "third" hand. LOL... ok, not funny. =P

Yeah, I agree that it's very uncomfortable to play that low. Bad for the wrist... Ouch!

 

[44ofjuly]

tune to drop D and be a one finger riff guitarist with the guitar hanging real low :lol:

On a serious note, read somehwere that the type of guitar used actually does influence how low can it go. Les paul type seem easier to go lower than a strat. Probably that explain why zakk wylde can play his LP lower and still shred on it...

anyway, playing low might look cool, but its quite bad for the hand and the back, especially when one has to sludge in order to play the guitar

 

[mrmisse]

yeh.. when i was schooling i remember myself strapping it rather low.. but performance n feel suffered.. now i play alot higher.. waaayyy higher infact.. close to somewhere like tom morello..

 

[guitar_phreak]

Actually, the higher you strap the guitar, the better access and more correct your posture will be. (Of course don't strap it so high and tight that you can't breath)

For technical players, the height of John Petrucci is pretty decent.

But for average joes, a good height would be a "sitting down" height. Simple sit down, and place the guitar on you lap (preferably your left lap for normal guitars). Secure your strap and stand up. The guitar body would be just slightly above crotch level.

This gives excellent access range plus, it doesn't look too weird.

**PS: Dudes with long hands and fingers got more lee-way to go LOW**

 

[44ofjuly]

haha, iam a handicapped guitar player, i like sitting down and play, easier to play the pedals too :lol:

 

[Cavett]

As long its comfortable to reach the ALL the frets, its low enough for me...

 

[trueblue]

well.... i used to play my les paul about humbuckers at my waist...
now its humbuckers at my lower hips, gone lower cos of the way i play

 

[guitar_phreak]

juz as a note,

the height of your guitar should allow ur hand access to all frets (as mentioned before)

but the **correct** way is to let your hand "float". eg. You can actually play the guitar without the support from your fret hand thumb.

But then again, as long as your are comfy, and the sound rocks, do whatever you want!

:twisted:

 

[antrence]

i not sure about guitarist and bass player... i saw some punk players playing bass low.. and i 'tried' it with my 4 string bass. to see how it feels first u have to bend your back and legs then when u want to run your fingers on the finger board u have to sort of lift your guitar up like around 60 degree upright. u also need some strength to support the weight of the guitar. cause most of the time they are strumming chords or fingers straight so i guess u dont really play that much when u strap your guitars low. the sound become more 'ringing' too cause we did not control the body. but it does rock the house if u are playing some heavy stuff..

my own preference is straping my bass up high at my chest level.. maybe i'm playing a 6 strings bass it is so much easiler to run specially in high notes.
on my 4 strings bass i prefer to play it near my stomach area cause this give me alot of control to the sound of my bass including bending the neck, hiting fake harmonics, control the reverb, control muted notes.

and as we know when our pick up take the sound from our strings it vibrates and the guitar body will distributes the sound our body will become good absorbing to the vibrations to produce a more sturdy sound if u can control.

i'm not very sure is there any sense in what i just said cause all develop from my experience. if i'm wrong maybe u can correct me.. thanks!

cheerios!

 

[cherubrock]

The first person i tried to imitate in my metal years was James Hetfield of Metallica. He RAWKS with his stance and pose with his LOW strapped explorer!!

After that i realise its damn hard to play a guitar like that unless you are just playing power chords. And if you do not have the correct posture, you will look like some sloppy hunch sweeping the floor. But hey...its for the showmanship, that's what's cool on stage.

 

[The-Warlord]

Its not commonly known, but standing/sitting wrong while playing guitar is extremelty unhealthy. Your wrists should be straight (left hand) when you play, and your back as straight as possible. :!: :!: :!:

 

[guitar_phreak]

wanna look how to strap high and look cool?

Look at John Myung of Dream Theater

 

[Lifehouse]

Its not commonly known, but standing/sitting wrong while playing guitar is extremelty unhealthy. Your wrists should be straight (left hand) when you play, and your back as straight as possible. :!: :!: :!:

Yup, i recently read an article where the magazine was interviewing Andy Summers from Police. He indicated this point as well. Long term, the wrist is going to suffer alot if not in a proper position.

 

[pooo]

I have my guitar around my waist? Slightly higher. My dimarzio clip lock strap doesn't allow me to go higher or i'd have done so. But i've since gotten used to it.

 

[ashmorefan]

Its not commonly known, but standing/sitting wrong while playing guitar is extremelty unhealthy. Your wrists should be straight (left hand) when you play, and your back as straight as possible. :!: :!: :!:

So how do you know if you're playing it the unhealthy way? Is it uncomfortable? I try to have it so that when I play, it's comfortable. I'm assuming that if I'm comfortable, and not hurting myself, I won't be doing any long term damage.

 

[hofner]

hmm..looks like Slash is gonna suffer in the future too....influnced by the sex pistols , even to his day , his les pual is crotch low....looks cool when he lifts it up and play...and trust me it isn;t fun to hold up a les paul and play.

 

[hofner]

i not sure about guitarist and bass player... i saw some punk players playing bass low.. and i 'tried' it with my 4 string bass. to see how it feels first u have to bend your back and legs then when u want to run your fingers on the finger board u have to sort of lift your guitar up like around 60 degree upright. u also need some strength to support the weight of the guitar. cause most of the time they are strumming chords or fingers straight so i guess u dont really play that much when u strap your guitars low. the sound become more 'ringing' too cause we did not control the body. but it does rock the house if u are playing some heavy stuff..

my own preference is straping my bass up high at my chest level.. maybe i'm playing a 6 strings bass it is so much easiler to run specially in high notes.
on my 4 strings bass i prefer to play it near my stomach area cause this give me alot of control to the sound of my bass including bending the neck, hiting fake harmonics, control the reverb, control muted notes.

and as we know when our pick up take the sound from our strings it vibrates and the guitar body will distributes the sound our body will become good absorbing to the vibrations to produce a more sturdy sound if u can control.

i'm not very sure is there any sense in what i just said cause all develop from my experience. if i'm wrong maybe u can correct me.. thanks!

cheerios!

duff mckeagen plays low and feels comfy with it too....he is using a fender jazz bass.