My 1980 lefty Series 1

[navydiver2464]

Good morning all, I’m in the final stages of a full electronics refit and LED augmentation at the Alembic factory facility.
Eagerly awaiting its arrival. One issue still remains is the strap and weight distribution.
Prior to sending it in I found that no normal strap could prevent the headstock end pulling down and creating a problematic pull down that made playability more problematic.
Does anyone here have any advice to help solve this issue.
I thank you in advance.
Paul Hunt

[rv_bass]

Congrats on your forthcoming upgrades, very exciting! 

Depending on what model you have, the link below shows some strap button extenders that others have considered.

https://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=10602.0

[edwardofhuncote]

Welcome Paul, and Congratulations. My 1980 Series I is currently undergoing some upgrades at the Mothership too.


What body pattern is your bass? Mine is a medium-scale Standard Point and balances pretty well, but is a little bit heavy. Not prohibitively so, but heavy enough to get your attention. The short-scale Small Standards tend to be lighter but don't balance as well. There are a few ways to address this mechanically, one being the telescopic strap pins at the end of Rob's linked thread post. (I never did find that Distillate, but I know it's here...)


Usually, suede straps and shifting posture with the bass situated more to your right left being the easiest.

[navydiver2464]

This is my bass, poor photographer but excuse me for that

[gtrguy]

That looks like a short scale. I find I can compensate one by just getting used to it. They are so small and light that holding them on a strap after a while comes natural.

[edwardofhuncote]

Someone here posted a video specifically about a Stanley Clarke bass, (same general body/scale balance-wise) and had come up with a way to hook the strap to a belt loop. Or something. Lemme think about it. It's here.

*Well... I'll be dipped in... you know. I can't find it. If it was a serial number, I'd have zoned-in on it in minutes. 

Anyway, the jist of it was, in addition to his regular shoulder strap, he had a secondary smaller, short one that fastened to the butt-end strap button, and hooked around his belt, or belt loops. It kept the bass from tilting. And helped hold his pants up was the punchline.  

I know it's here somewhere.

[keith_h]

I can't tell from the picture if your bass is a short scale or has a longer neck. There have been some small body basses constructed with medium and long scale necks. If you have one of these I can't help but there are a member or two here that might be able to.

My small body basses are right handed short scales. I use wide straps with suede or unfinished leather backs. Between the extra width, rough surface and using my right arm as a counterbalance I find the bass will sit where I want it too. I also just got use to the bass neck hanging lower than my Fender basses.

[StephenR]

I can't tell from the picture if your bass is a short scale or has a longer neck. There have been some small body basses constructed with medium and long scale necks. If you have one of these I can't help but there are a member or two here that might be able to.

My small body basses are right handed short scales. I use wide straps with suede or unfinished leather backs. Between the extra width, rough surface and using my right arm as a counterbalance I find the bass will sit where I want it too. I also just got use to the bass neck hanging lower than my Fender basses.

I have a 1978 medium-scale small body Series five-string, to accommodate the fifth string the bass was built with a fan headstock. It definitely took some getting used to. I pretty much do the same thing that Keith does, 4" wide Moody Leather strap with a suede back and lock the bass to my body with my arm. Because of where the bridge sits I have to pick or pluck over the end of the neck. It is difficult to lock the bass in place and play near the bridge. Finding the proper length to set the strap so the bass felt comfortable required some experimentation but it is doable. Below is a link to a video of me playing this bass with CRYPTICAL a few years back. It is long but if you watch only the first minute and a half you can see my arm locking the bass to my body, right hand position and also see that I kind of have to support the bass and shift the neck up on my shoulder a bit at one point.

Look forward to seeing more shots of your restored bass once you get it back!

[jazzyvee]

Someone here posted a video specifically about a Stanley Clarke bass, (same general body/scale balance-wise) and had come up with a way to hook the strap to a belt loop. Or something. Lemme think about it. It's here.

*Well... I'll be dipped in... you know. I can't find it. If it was a serial number, I'd have zoned-in on it in minutes.

Anyway, the jist of it was, in addition to his regular shoulder strap, he had a secondary smaller, short one that fastened to the butt-end strap button, and hooked around his belt, or belt loops. It kept the bass from tilting. And helped hold his pants up was the punchline.

I know it's here somewhere.

The tip for fixing the bass to your belt was something i posted on here. It's a youtube clip from Stephen Jay who is Wierd Al's bass player.