Any tips on keeping a Brown Bass close to my body

[Harleybass]

Hey Gang,just got a beautiful Brown Bass,this is the first Alembic I've had with the strap lock located in the back as opposed to the horn.the bass leans away from me and I would love to keep it closer to my body.any tricks or tips is greatly appreciated

[mica]

Straplocks make it like that,. Try fitting without the lock on the strap end and see if that helps. You might want to change to a traditional strap pin, or maybe recessed straplocks, or like Stan does personally - just a big washer and a wood screw right in the bass and the strap is not easily removable, but it hugs as close as possible.

[Harleybass]

Thanks Mica,never used the recessed strap locks.I may now have to try them.maybe Stan could show me himself what he did.Thanks for taking the time to get back to me

[jazzyvee]

Here is a link to the point Mica makes about screwing the strap to the body.
http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=24945.0

[adriaan]

Here's a short video of Stephen Jay (Weird Al Yankovic's bass player) who has two Schaller strap locks on the long end of his strap - one that attaches to the bass, and another that attaches to a Schaller stud that he put on his belt. It certainly helps with neckdive, it may also help with the bass leaning away.
Props to jazzyvee for posting the video on the Old Series I neck-dive - possible solution? topic.

[Harleybass]

Thank you so much for sending that.I have seen it and my problem isnt really neck dive.my issue the body of the bass moves away from my body ,and I have to look over the neck to see the strings properly.I have removed the strap locks but the same thing happens.your main goal is to play comfortably ,what I really need is to move the strap holder from the back to the horn.that would solve my problem.but I am very reluctant to do value the instrument

[rv_bass]

Here’s a photo of one from the web where they moved the bottom to the top horn, but it depends on what you are comfortable doing. 

[lbpesq]

I am very reluctant to do value the instrument

I wouldn’t worry about “devaluing” your bass by installing a strap button in the upper horn.   Alembics are not like Strats and Les Pauls in that regard where if you change a string tree you knock $5000 off the collector value!  So long as the mod is done well, it really won’t have an effect on price if you want to re-sell.  Alembics are so rare and so few exist that small mods are not an issue.  Most people are buying Alembics to play, not as an investment.   They are the best players.   Also, used Alembics hold their value, but other brands make far better investments.

Bill, tgo

[hammer]

You don’t specify the style you play but my solution on short scale basses has always been to use my right forearm to snug the bass against my body and wear the bass a bit higher. More recently as I have aged I have used it as an excuse to utilize a stool so I’m playing in a sitting position. This may not work for all styles of play but for the traditional, non-slapping approach to our instrument it’s always worked for me.

[hankster]

I have an SJ and find, like Hammer suggests, that wearing it higher solves that problem.

[StephenR]

I also tend to wear my small bodied Alembic higher and use my right forearm to lock it against my body. I find that using a wide strap helps a lot, too. If it were my bass I would be reluctant to move the strap button unless I first had an opportunity to play one with the same body style where the owner had moved the button.

Congratulations on your new bass and enjoy!

[Harleybass]

Thank you for the advice.I tried attaching the strap directly but it's not right for me.I am going to drill (gasp)a strap button to the horn like the previous post and how I have it now on my Distillate.Please wish me luck

[lbpesq]

Every time I see the title of this thread, I can't help thinking:

Q:    Any tips on keeping a Brown Bass close to my body ?

A:    Take it to dinner and a movie first!

.......rim shot ......

Bill, tgo

[Harleybass]

Done!

[pauldo]

Looks great!