NeckUp support with archtop - first impressions
Keith Freeman
trying it with my archtop (Jazzica). It certainly feels a lot more stable
and secure than the lap strap I've been using, and I can move the guitar
(and my legs) around without it falling off.
So far, though, despite having tried the various adjustments, I still
haven't found a way of getting the guitar's lower bout low enough
(without moving the whole guitar, hence the neck, too far to the right).
After the first day I had a big pain in my right shoulder from having my
right arm cranked up (or possibly due to pressure on a nerve in my upper
arm where it rests of the rim of the guitar). On the second day I tried
to pay more attention to relaxing my right arm and the pain was less. For
anyone who plays close to the bridge this would not be a problem, but
I've always played right over the neck p/up to get that mellow sound.
As far the left-hand position is concerned, I would say it's slightly
less ideal than with the lap strap but certainly good enough. If there
were no problem with the right-hand position, given the choice between a
lap strap (which forces me to sit in one position and keep the guitar in
one position) and the NeckUp I would definitely go for the latter.
It may just be a question of having the guitar neck pointing further away
from my body. Will do a bit more experimenting and observing and get back
to you in due course.
The NeckUp works fine with my Ibanez narrow-neck + cutaway nylon string
guitar.
Note that it requires a body thickness of at least 2 1/2" for the suction
cup, so it won't work with a thinline.
-Keith
Music samples, tips, Portable Changes at
http://home.wanadoo.nl/keith.freeman/
E-mail: keith DOT freeman AT wanadoo DOT nl