[hornguy]

Moving the strap ring.

Hi there-

I have an early IW bass to which I have been doing some work in order to improve its performance (and mine).

It came with one ring in the typical central location, but it felt unbalanced and difficult to hold and play. Further, I could not a comfortable neck strap or harness, and I tried many alternatives.

So...I went to my repair guy and we moved the ring up about 4" and added a second ring near the bottom (like the Keilworth photo), and I use a guitar like strap. The result? Shockingly better balance and way easier to play and hold. I will need to tweak the top ring location to get it perfect, but it is WAY better now.

Moving and adding the rings is not a huge deal, but could be problem if you want your horn to be immaculate.

After I tweak it, I will be glad to share the specific distances, etc.

Good luck.

 

[hornguy]

Position of Horn

Hi there-

Good question, I forgot to mention:

Prior to the modification, the horn was somewhat horizontal (much more than in a bari or tenor), so I would compensate with neck and mouthpiece adjustments. However my hand positions were not so great. With the modification, the tilt is virtually the same as with a traditional sax and way more comfortable, especially for hand position.

FWIW the Youtube videos I have seen often show the bass at more of a horizontal angle, which seems more common.