'The Comfort Factor'

[Tim Bishop]

Originally Posted by Albert Smith

The two of you are really making it hard for me, after reading that Tim's about to pick up a new Eden cab, I'm really tempted to trade my Ampeg rig up to a Eden rig.

Al, just do it! You will be thanking both Dennis and me. I promise.

Just make sure and get the right set-up. I'm sure Dennis or myself will be available to point you to that right set-up if needed. You won't look back.

[Roberto Zecchinelli]

Hallo Everyone, Hallo Ken!
About comfort factor I did a small modification to my bass you may consider to introduce to Smith Basses, I think it's a very good thing:
When I first strapped on my bass I felt something was different as playing sit.
I realized that the strap lock is upside the center of the bass. that makes the position of the bass less comfortable because the bass can't be parallel to the body but watches a bit up. this is bad for left wrist.
so My luthier and I moved the straplock lower, exactly simmetrically respect to the old straplock. now the bass feels much better , I can play easier because of a better left hand position and doesn't hurts my ribs anymore.
I'll fill the old hole with another straplock piece.
I think this would be a very usefull upgrade on Smith Basses with almost no effort.
Hope this helps, I can post some picture if someone is interested.
Thank you, Roberto

[Tim Bishop]

Originally Posted by Roberto Zecchinelli

Hallo Everyone, Hallo Ken!
About comfort factor I did a small modification to my bass you may consider to introduce to Smith Basses, I think it's a very good thing:
When I first strapped on my bass I felt something was different as playing sit.
I realized that the strap lock is upside the center of the bass. that makes the position of the bass less comfortable because the bass can't be parallel to the body but watches a bit up. this is bad for left wrist.
so My luthier and I moved the straplock lower, exactly simmetrically respect to the old straplock. now the bass feels much better , I can play easier because of a better left hand position and doesn't hurts my ribs anymore.
I'll fill the old hole with another straplock piece.
I think this would be a very usefull upgrade on Smith Basses with almost no effort.
Hope this helps, I can post some picture if someone is interested.
Thank you, Roberto

Roberto, I'm sorry, I guess I'm totally confused. Could you not adjust the strap accordingly?

[Roberto Zecchinelli]

It's a matter of angle, not a matter of Hight.
I'm not that idiot!
I maybe didn't explain well.
what I need for a correct left wrist position is fingerbord surface parallel to my body,
like when you play sit. if the fingerbord is facing up when you strap it on it will be harder to play and can take to wrist healt problems
because you'll have to bend your left wrist much more to reach the lower strings
It really makes a lot of difference to me, that's why I'd like to know Ken's opinion about that
I hope I sayd that clear now. (i'm sorry for my bad english)

[Bob Faulkner]

I'm thinking a picture would be a good idea. I'm not really able to generate a mental picture of what you're describing. The strap on my bass has nothing at all to do with the bass's position when I'm sitting.

[Tim Bishop]

Originally Posted by Roberto Zecchinelli

It's a matter of angle, not a matter of Hight.
I'm not that idiot!
I maybe didn't explain well.
what I need for a correct left wrist position is fingerbord surface parallel to my body,
like when you play sit. if the fingerbord is facing up when you strap it on it will be harder to play and can take to wrist healt problems
because you'll have to bend your left wrist much more to reach the lower strings
It really makes a lot of difference to me, that's why I'd like to know Ken's opinion about that
I hope I sayd that clear now. (i'm sorry for my bad english)

Roberto,

After further pondering, I think I now understand what you are saying and strap "height" is not what I was suggesting. If you have enough slack in the strap while sitting, you should be able to angle the bass to meet your need and get the angle you are needing (while sitting) for your wrist comfort-level. Otherwise, why wear a strap while sitting?

[Gareth Hughes]

Maybe I'm picking this up wrong but I think that Roberto is describing the angle that the neck is positioned as a result of having a large stomach (politest way I can think of saying that), ie - your belly is tilting the bass body upwards.

In other words - when seated you should only be able to see the sidedots on the neck, but standing the dots on the front of the neck are now visible. And because the neck has moved forward and up like this, the wrist has to have a sharper bend and further stretch to reach the lowest strings.

Geez, this is hard to describe, and English is the only language I speak!!

[Roberto Zecchinelli]

Originally Posted by Gareth Hughes

Maybe I'm picking this up wrong but I think that Roberto is describing the angle that the neck is positioned as a result of having a large stomach (politest way I can think of saying that), ie - your belly is tilting the bass body upwards.

In other words - when seated you should only be able to see the sidedots on the neck, but standing the dots on the front of the neck are now visible. And because the neck has moved forward and up like this, the wrist has to have a sharper bend and further stretch to reach the lowest strings.

Geez, this is hard to describe, and English is the only language I speak!!

Thank you Gareth, that's the idea, (except for the large stomach, I'm slim, instead.
A little example test. Stomach or not if you wear your bass and stand up the bottom edge of your bass will not touch your body..
this won't happen with basses with the straplock in the center of the body like the Yamaha trb6 or I played for long time or almost every bass on the market.
(this is probably why I noticed that)
ok I did some picture to explain my point:

Look at the angle between the bass and the line of the wall behind:

or the door here (notice Clifford Brown and the Double Bass bridge in the background..)

I don't have a goniometer here but this is almost 15 degrees

now see the reduced angle after the modification

Now my bass feels really good on my body..

Then this is a pic of my wrist when playing on the E string with the normal Smith strap position

you can also see very well that the bass is not straight vertical here, as you can notice when you wear your own Smith

Then here the more healty reduced wrist angle with the new strap position.


I don't want to look assumptive with that but I've been very careful to posture problems this years after a bad wrist problem and I think this can really help someone.
than my beautiful smith feels so much better and easyer to play now..
Please don't think this is a criticism. I think the Smith is by far the best bass ever built and I just love it.
It was hard to decide to drill a new hole in my beloved bass, but the result looks very good and I'll fill the original hole with another identical Dunlop straplock..