Anybody know what's up with Stanley's strap?

[Veej007]

Pictures of Stanley Jordan show him with some weird rigging connecting the headstock of his guitar to his strap. Now, I have a similar device attached to my tap guitar, but mine is a lot shorter than his in order to pull the fretboard up to a very Stick-like position.

Does anybody know how Stanley's device works, or why he seems to like having his headstock so much lower than Stick/Warr/Mobius players? Is that piece adjustable on the fly? If so, how does he do it?

[rjgoos]

Could you post a link or two to a typical picture? I'm having a hard time envisioning the situation.

R Jay Goos

P.S. I very much admire Stanley Jordan's mastery. Thanks for posting.....it reminded me that I hadn't listened to Stanley for a while, so I've popped in a Stanley Jordan CD...listening to "Impressions". Wow.

[BCroad]

His video explains how and why he sets up his guitar like he does. It seems to keep the guitar totally still while he moves around the instrument, not move the instrument around his playing. He stresses saving your physical playing ability at all costs. If you're a Stanley fan I would suggest getting the video.

Bryan

[rjgoos]

Is the picture, on the upper left hand corner of this page, an example of what is being discussed here?

www.stanleyjordan.com/TourDates/19981018.html

Looks like he developed his own sort of "Meg Strap", Traktor! I am guessing the extra tension on the head of the neck helps keep the guitar more upright and motionless. Just a guess..


R. Jay Goos

[Veej007]

yeah, that's what i'm talking about.

looks like an ergonomic nightmare, though -- check out the way his right wrist always has to bend down in order for him to reach the fretboard? with a shorter connection, the instrument is likewise prevented from moving, but the right hand can attack the fretboard from a much more comfortable angle. i mean, in some of those photos, his guitar is almost in the same position that normal non-tapping players use!

then again, it's quite obvious that he really knows what he's doing. since i'm trying to adapt my guitar for tapping, i'd be interested to learn what benefits stan's method has.

[MatthewL329]

i do pretty much the same thing with my strap, only without the part that goes to the right of my head. I think it's because my guitar doesn't weigh nearly as much as stan's, so I don't need the extra support. I've only been tapping about 6 months or so, but I haven't noticed wrist problems or anything. I guess I turn my right wrist like stan does in those pictures, but if you relax, and don't push it all the way out, it's not strenuous... or maybe it is? maybe someone with a little actual knowledge of the workings of the human wrist would like to chime in here and inform us of the health implications of this style of playing.

or Adam Fulara. He uses a lot of crank in his wrists too, and he's been playing a while... what say you, Adam?

m