Okay, I’m the first to admit it—many of the greatest rock guitarists used long straps that positioned their instruments somewhere just above their knees and played with their arms extended straight downwards in ape-like fashion. Think Slash, Keith Richards, Chuck Berry. And that’s why many of the current generation of rockers follow that example. It’s iconic and it looks cool. But, it creates a lot of technical problems.
The lower your guitar neck is, the more you have to bend your left wrist forward (if you’re right-handed). And the low guitar position described above creates an unnecessarily strained left hand position that makes playing more difficult.
What’s the optimal strap length? I recommend sitting down with your guitar in playing position. Then, while holding the neck, reach over the front, grab the bottom of the guitar and stand up. The position your guitar is in at that point should be an excellent height for playing your instrument, and you can adjust your strap length accordingly.
[photo: Julius!]