holding up my guitar

Subject: RE: holding up my guitar
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 04 Feb 08 - 09:37 PM

Mike, many thanks for the link to the slider straps. I don't think I need it for a small guitar, but it may be helpful with tenor and bass recorders. Boy, do they weigh a lot!

I asked an attorney if I could patent my bag-as-shelf idea, but he said you can't patent an idea which is idiotically simple.

Yesteray was Sunday, and I used the guitar to lead everyone is a song call "Son of God, Eternal Savior," which is to the tune "In Babilone". That is a charming Dutch dance tune, and everybody knew it. We had a nice time.

Many people know the tune as "There's a Wideness in God's Mercy."

Subject: RE: holding up my guitar
From: Mooh
Date: 04 Feb 08 - 10:18 AM

For an inspection mirror I prefer one larger than the typical dental mirror, and an auto parts store will have one with a swivel and telescoping handle for just a few bucks. I use mine all the time.

As for attaching a strap button, any acoustic guitar tech worth his salt can install one, even if it requires a backing block. This is a common fit, one I have done many many times. If you were nearby, I'd do it just to be Mudcat (good verb, eh!).

I like your fannypack style perch idea, and it'll be lighter than the stand you sometimes see performers (Santana is one) use to quickly go back and forth between instruments. I'm sure I would use the stand if I was in your situation. It has padded clamps to hold the instrument and is adjustable for height and neck angle.

Good luck!

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: holding up my guitar
From: open mike
Date: 04 Feb 08 - 03:30 AM

i had a similar problem with my nyckelharpa which had a strap which went across my neck and over both shoulders. I got a slider strap is a figure 8 instshaped strap which distributes the weight. often used by conga or djimbe players as well as wind instruments an others...see this:
www.slider-straps.com/

i also came across this when searching for that link http://www.darestrap.com

i am glad you found something that worked for you.
quick! patent it!

Subject: RE: holding up my guitar
From: Uncle Phil
Date: 04 Feb 08 - 02:07 AM

You should, of course, follow the advice of the owner who has actually seen your instrument.

If you'll pardon a little thread drift I'm still curious about the guitar. We may be stumbling over terminology. The tail block is part of the basic structure of a guitar and similar instruments; it's not a special piece installed just to support a strap button. Is the owner telling you that there is no tail block or that the tail block can't be used to hold a strap button (too little, too soft to hold a screw, too hard to accept a screw without cracking, etc)?

BTW it's pretty easy to look at the stuff inside a guitar. All you need is a flashlight and an inspection mirror - a little mirror on stick like the ones a dentist uses.
- Phil

Subject: RE: holding up my guitar
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 03 Feb 08 - 07:17 PM

Nope. I asked, and the owner of the music store said the guitar did not have the backing blocks for buttons. They refused to do it.

I have to take their word for it, since I can't see all the way inside the guitar.

----
Thanks, McGrath. You are a sweetie.

Subject: RE: holding up my guitar
From: Uncle Phil
Date: 03 Feb 08 - 03:33 PM

The belly bag is an interesting idea. My only quibble is that it's something else to drag around and to malfunction at an inopportune moment. Same quibble applies to stands or other appliances.

Adding a button (or buttons) for a shoulder strap seems like a more obvious solution, assuming the guitar isn't a museum piece. Classical guitars, like other guitars, have a tail block that will support a strap button. A nice wide shoulder strap would be comfortable than hanging the guitar around your neck, is pretty foolproof, and can travel in your case.
- Phil

Subject: RE: holding up my guitar
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 03 Feb 08 - 03:02 PM

Maybe if you work on the deign details, leeneia, you'd have a breakthrough in guitar accessories, and a real money spinner here.

Subject: RE: holding up my guitar
From: Melissa
Date: 03 Feb 08 - 02:17 PM

There are also foot-stand gadgets..mine folds flat and is adjustable angle/height. Much more ladylike than hoisting a leg. I generally just put one foot on tiptoe when I think I need to play standing. It doesn't take much lift to create a 'shelf' at the top of a leg.

BellyBag sounds like a good tool, especially with the zipper pulls rendered non-scratchy!

Subject: RE: holding up my guitar
From: GUEST,Nerd
Date: 03 Feb 08 - 02:09 PM

You could also stand with one foot up on a chair or step or something and rest it on your knee--classical and flamenco players do this when standing up. The strap will still be handy for stabilizing it, especially until you're used to the new stance.

Subject: RE: holding up my guitar
From: mandotim
Date: 03 Feb 08 - 09:37 AM

Buy a Rainsong carbon fibre guitar? They weigh about half a standard wooden acoustic, as they need no braces, neck/tail blocks or trussrods. I suffered for years with shoulder and back pain when playing standing up; not any more. They aren't cheap, but in my experience the expense was worth it. Sound pretty good too, and play easily.
Tim

Subject: RE: holding up my guitar
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 02 Feb 08 - 07:57 PM

classicals don't accept the buttons for a shoulder strap Well they do - they just don't come with them fitted, and you might feel it a bit disrespectful to the instrument putting one in (no need for two).

Willie Nelson uses one of those classical type straps that fit in the sound hole.

Subject: RE: holding up my guitar
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 10:34 PM

My favorite guitar is a Kamouraska Etude. It has a beautiful tone, but it's big, with large bouts. I usually play it seated, and I use it to accompany other instruments. However, it's hard to get a good singing tone while seated and playing guitar.

The guitar for church is a small classical, and classicals don't accept the buttons for a shoulder strap. It accepts a strap which goes around my neck and hooks into the sound hole. I've made a little pillow to pad the strap where it goes over the back of my neck.

One beauty of my system is that when it's my turn, I simply stand up, hook the hook into the soundhole and am ready to play. We meet in a small chapel in winter, and a special stand would be in the way.

Today I added a refinement - I tied 1/4 elastic through the holes in the zipper pulls and made square knots. These soft, bumpy knots ensure that the metal zipper pulls will not scratch the guitar.

Subject: RE: holding up my guitar
From: Songster Bob
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 08:49 PM

Not that your method doesn't work, but they sell stands that hold a guitar in any position you need it. It's used by performers who play other guitars, but need a different one for part of a song (typically, it's when they need an acoustic part to an otherwise electric number).

You could get one of those, if you could afford it (about $45, is my guess), and have it set up so you could walk up to it, play it, and have NO weight to deal with at all. Of course, you couldn't move it while playing & singing, which might be as much a problem as the weight.

There are also guitar straps that use both shoulders like a backwards backpack harness thingy. I would look those up online, if I had the problem you have.

I also note that you said the problem was with your neck, so a strap that rests on the shoulders would be better.


Bob

Subject: RE: holding up my guitar
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 08:28 PM

Your standard acoustic guitar is really mostly air,

You've clearly never played an Eko. I passed mine on to my son, and I sit down whenever I play it.

I think I'd find that belly bag arrangement a bit tricky, but if it works for you, it works for you. A lot of guitar straps are a bit on the thin side, and if that's the case with yours, it might be worth experimenting with a broader one that spread out the weight more.

Subject: RE: holding up my guitar
From: PoppaGator
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 05:46 PM

Your neck should never have been involved in supporting the weight of a guitar. You should have been using the strap to place the weight of the instrument across your shoulders ~ mostly on the left shoulder (assuming you play right-handed), but with at least some of the weight distributed across your upper back.

I've been playing for over 40 years, so we're probably in about the same age group. I'm 5'11", 200 pounds, and male, which means we're NOT the same size/strength as each other, so I realize my experience is only partially relevant.

I'll sit down to "practice" (i.e., play at home), but invariably stand up to perform, certainly to sing, and so have always relied on the very common, normal, guitar strap to hold my instrument up.

My strap runs from the tail/bottom of the box to the headstock, which some people apparently consider less than stylish ~ they reportedly prefer to attach the upper end of the strap to the bottom end of the neck where it meets the body, not to the headstock. I wonder if such an arrangement might put greater weight/strain on the player's neck that the wider distribution of weight afforded by the less fashionable tail-to-headstock configuration.

Well, you have apparently found a solution that works for you. My observations might be of greater interest to others reading this thread than to you, leenia ;^)

PS: How heavy is that gitfiddle of yours, anyway? Are you playing a Teleacaster or some such solidbody electric? They're pretty heavy. Your standard acoustic guitar is really mostly air, not that heavy at all. Installing an under-saddle pickup only adds an ounce or two to the burden...

Subject: RE: holding up my guitar
From: Wesley S
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 01:37 PM

Could you play sitting down? Would that work in your situation? What size guitar do you play anyway?

Subject: holding up my guitar
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 01 Feb 08 - 01:23 PM

I've played guitar for many years. However, recently I started a new activity. I joined a new church, and they want me to lead a song at offertory. I like to accompany the song with guitar, as that gives a referent to keep people in tune and in time.

But somehow my guitar got very big and very heavy over the last 35 years. While I sing best standing up, my neck can no longer take the weight. What to do?

I tried a holder (designed for cameras)that would put the weight on my shoulders, but it didn't work out. I bought a half-size classical to reduce size and weight.

I was fooling with the new guitar when my eye fell upon my belly-bag. That's what I call that zippered travel pouch that you strap around your waist and clip shut. 'Aha!', I thought, 'a shelf.' I stuffed the belly-bag with socks so that it stays nice and rigid. I strap it around my body (about hip-bone height and off to the right) and let the guitar rest upon it. I still use a neck strap to stabilize the guitar and hold it in case it slips. However, with a little adjustment of the neck strap, the belly-bag is taking almost all the weight.

After I had the spacing worked out, I took needle and white thread and sewed a line across the waist strap of the bag to show where to adjust it. Some change will be needed for winter vs summer clothing, but it's good to know where to begin.

If your instrument is bothering your neck, you might like to try this.
Now to practice for this coming Sunday...