fix for too heavy basses!!( and maybe guitars)

[klangster]

I just picked up a Gruvgear Duo strap for my gecko bass which is really too heavy for gigging purposes. At first I was not sure if I liked it but after some adjusting I love it. It spreads the weight of the bass over both shoulders and basically makes a very heavy bass feel like a light instrument. It will not be for every one I think it may not be long enough for tall people who like to hang their instruments super low but I am 6'4" and at the longest position it hangs my bass in the perfect spot. One more benefit I found is it allows me to tilt the bass upward a bit more with out having to push it, this helps get the perfect playing position which helps especially with the long scale of the Gecko. I highly recommend this to anyone who has an instrument that they tend not to want to stand up with due to weight. They say their is an attachment for single cut guitars and basses, i have not seen or tried this but it may help with those extra heavy Les Paul type guitars we all hate to love so much.

 

[Day-mun]

Picture's worth a 1000 words; it helped me to see it, so I thought I'd grab some images of the device in question:

 

[Strat Avenger]

That's interesting.

 

[rgand]

It looks like you put a third strap button on it at the neck base. I would imagine it's stable.

 

[mark1178]

When I had a back injury in my early 20's I made one of these with a guitar strap and a couple straps from am old backpack. Made a huge difference.

 

[Day-mun]

It looks like you put a third strap button on it at the neck base. I would imagine it's stable.

I don't think so; check out the last image again... I think the right shoulder strap just loops around that seat-belt-lookin'-strap going across from one strap button to the other. No other buttons need to be installed for it to work from what I'm seeing.

 

[klangster]

Thanks for posting the image. There seems to be three options for the extra strap. On a bass with a with an upper horn you can just loop the extra strap around the horn, or get that tensioned strap that runs from one to the other of the standard buttons, or you can install a flush mount strap lock button somewhere on the back of the bass around the neck screws. I have been just hanging mine on the upper horn and it works great but I think I am going to get the strap locks and put them on both of my heavy basses for quick changing. If you go to the gruvgear page that advertises these http://www.gruvgear.com/duostrap-signature and scroll down you can see review videos where people are using the different methods. I think that the button option brings the right shoulder strap back a bit more and it seems even more comfortable. I will report back once I have installed the button on my bass. But already I am totally sold on the idea it makes a world of difference. Incidentally the one I have is the Neo version which is about half the price of the leather version

 

[rgand]

It looks like you put a third strap button on it at the neck base. I would imagine it's stable.

I don't think so; check out the last image again... I think the right shoulder strap just loops around that seat-belt-lookin'-strap going across from one strap button to the other. No other buttons need to be installed for it to work from what I'm seeing.

Thanks. I see that strap, but I was looking at the first (front) photo of the guy playing. I guess it can be done either way, as Klangster mentioned.

 

[ihavenothingprofoundtosay]

Huh.... I need to get me one of those. My purpleheart headless beast is not only heavy (11.5 lbs), but has some balance issues with a small body & super dense & heavy neck.

. . . then again, $150 is kinda nuts; I should figure out how to MAKE one.

 

[Day-mun]

Thanks. I see that strap, but I was looking at the first (front) photo of the guy playing. I guess it can be done either way, as Klangster mentioned.

No problem. -When I first looked at the pic of it in use, my first thought was " Well, crap. -I don't wanna hafta put on another strap button on the back just to try this thing, for cryin' out loud."  then I saw that third picture of the back. "Oh. Okay."  :doh:

@ ihnpts: I like the do-it-yerselfer thought of making one, too!  :icon_thumright:

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

I've seen guys just use a 2nd strap.  Both use the standard strap buttons in the standard locations, but a strap goes over each shoulder.

 

[klangster]

Huh....
. . . then again, $150 is kinda nuts; I should figure out how to MAKE one.

That is truly a hefty price tag for a strap( though it does look like nice leather), but the neo version that I have runs I think around $70. Still a pricey strap but it really has for me put 2 of my basses that I just do not want to stand up with back in the gig que.

 

[Unrepresented]

Curious if this will address neck diving instruments.

 

[stubhead]

That makes an awful lot of sense, even for any instrument, really. I got my spinal discs all screwed up over the years, a lot of it was from working 60, 70 hours a week in kitchens and hard floors, but a lot of it was also that 11-pound P-bass I played for twenty years. My left shoulder in 1" lower than my right, and it's way too late to try and fix. I also kinda sorta didn't sleep for a decade or so there among other not-recommended behaviors, but it's a shame that people only get all ergonomic after they've screw up their back - the ideal time for one of these is before you need it. I've seen a number of pictures of old blues guitarists using a single strap only over their right shoulder, and you know darn well why.  :toothy12: Arm & finger & back health is a very real concern, or it should be - I noticed that the really old guitarists still with demon chops like John McLaughlin and Jeff Beck never, ever do the giant 3-notes-per-string Paul Gilbert spiderfinger stretches.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Curious if this will address neck diving instruments.
[/quote

Lighter hardware on the headstock end of things, relocating a strap button, or a body design with an upper horn alleviate neck dive.  A thicker strap or more straps will give the illusion of eliminating neck dive because the movement of the strap over your shoulder has been more distributed.

 

[stubhead]

the illusion of eliminating neck dive

Ummm.... I would kinda define neck dive as the neck diving down, and the elimination of it would be like... the neck, not diving down? I mean, I think most people would be happy with the mere illusion of a fix, if the illusion could trick you into thinking the neck was staying up.  :icon_scratch: Of course I'm one of those reactionaries who believe that keeping your hand on the neck can pretty much do the trick, too - I know, I know, some people probably have better things to do with their hands. Being like, on-stage n'everything. 

http://tela.sugarmegs.org/_asxtela/JohnMcLaughlinAlDimeolaPacoDelucia1996-11-02MasonicAuditoriumSanFranciscoCA.asx
<<<---Whoa. There are some who think the 1980 stuff was best, being all fresh, wet 'n' wooly. But I like the '83 and '96 albums better, fiendish arrangements. And I saw them in '83, one of them lifetime memory fritz-jobs. But I just unearthed this '96 concert... holy schnucking fits! Mebbe, just mebbe, the BEST? It's a wonder they didn't run out of notes by the end!

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Touché.  Let me clarify.  Geometry and balance aren't fixed by what or how wide your strap is.  I had a cheap nylon strap that liked to slide around on neck heavy instrument.  Switched to a raw leather strap, the neck quit diving, but the neck of my shirts would get stretched. 

 

[sixstringsamurai]

Not a totally new concept.
I fail to recall the company name but there was a split guitar strap being produce for awhile in the late 90's-00's.
I wish I still had it now...