Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Possible reasons those guys slung so high?

1. It was cold on stage that night.

2. Due to postwar restrictions, the Brits had to make do with straps that were, on average, 4" shorter than their American counterparts.

3. They were trying to even out the wear on their sleeves and the upper bouts of their instruments.

4. The air in their ribcages enhanced the resonance of the hollowbodies, roughly tripling the sympathetic reservoir and adding to the bottom end, not to mention the projection.

5. They were playing a Flood Victims Benefit.

6. Buckle rash compromises trade-in value.

7. They were experimenting with helium-filled instruments to yield more treble and a thinner lead sound. Beats hell out of using .0035 zither string sets.

8. They knew that when reaching around the bottoms of the guitars (particularly big hollow boxes and Rick 360s), their short arms forced them to pick very, very close to the bridge, thus enhancing the jangle factor.

Randy (on the other hand) was just paying tribute to Those Who Went Before.

Heh heh, good ones Paul.

It just dawned on me why guitarists (including me) played guitars a little higher up the chest in the 60's.

This question by the way has been on my mind for days. It was'nt until I looked at an old song list that the penny dropped.

A lot of fast rock songs were Chuck Berryish back then and it is much easier to play the rhythm parts with the guitar held higher. So despite all of your unique ideas (LOL) Paul this is probably the real reason.

Nope. Helium.

Sitting slumped over your guitar on your bed, practicing for years, then suddenly standing up to play a gig, the guitar's too low! I practiced for years with my ear on the guitar. - hence my nickname, Quasimoto.