I got an ErgoBass last week and have been using it in the practice room for a few days now and I thought I'd post some thoughts, in case anyone else was curious. I have been thinking about one of these since I got my new bass, a flatback, back in 2019. At the time, I was mostly a "standing with an angled pin" player, but I noticed that when I sat with the bass, there was quite a large gap between my left leg and the back of the bass (more so than with my previous bass which was a roundback with deeper ribs). As I spent more of my time sitting, I tried a variety of solutions for securing the bass with my left leg including different stools, guitar footrests, yoga blocks, etc, but all the time I remembered that the ErgoBass was a thing that existed.
The most helpful solution I found was to sit with an ordinary yoga block on its side (i.e., the second highest orientation) under my left leg, and a thinner yoga block under my right leg. This had the advantage of keeping my hips pretty close to parallel to the ground, and was fairly stable. It also helped keep me connected to the ground so I could "bow with my feet". The downside was that the left block was unstable and positioning the blocks took a bit of fiddling, and I had to carry a lot of stuff to the gig aside from my bass and chair. Also, I couldn't easily use a Bluetooth page turner, because my right foot was not flat on the floor.
Last April I played in an orchestra where another player had an ErgoBass, and her position seemed fairly comfortable. I've been seeing them more and more, and finally I decided to give it a shot.
Using the ErgoBass, I now have my stool height where it had been before, but my feet are now flat on the floor, with no yoga blocks at all. I think this makes me more connected to the floor and my hips are now completely parallel to the floor. I have just enough room to nudge the treble side a bit closer if need be, and it's easy to "stand up" a bit to reach upper positions for extended passages. My overall posture is pretty similar to the 2 yoga block solution and I haven't feel the need to adjust any other aspect of my approach or technique.
Overall this feels like a win. I haven't had a gig since I got the ErgoBass, and I won't for a while now (summer), so I can't evaluate how it is to pack it around. I think being able to use a page turner if I want is a win, and I like having my feet flat on the floor with my hips flat, too. I also like that I can wear shorts in hot weather without sweating all over the varnish and sticking to it.
I'm still getting the hang of sticking the thing on the bass, but my section mate last April was quick about it, so I imagine I'll figure it out. Also, I haven't shown my teacher yet, so I'm curious if he'll think it's good or if he'll think I'm just being weird. I don't perceive a huge difference in volume or tone overall, but my bass tends to sound bigger and louder from about 10 feet away than it does for the player.
One last thought - I feel like I can actually feel more vibration through my left leg than I could before. I think that's good and I hope it doesn't mean I'm dampening something. I'll keep posting thoughts as I spend more time with it.
The most helpful solution I found was to sit with an ordinary yoga block on its side (i.e., the second highest orientation) under my left leg, and a thinner yoga block under my right leg. This had the advantage of keeping my hips pretty close to parallel to the ground, and was fairly stable. It also helped keep me connected to the ground so I could "bow with my feet". The downside was that the left block was unstable and positioning the blocks took a bit of fiddling, and I had to carry a lot of stuff to the gig aside from my bass and chair. Also, I couldn't easily use a Bluetooth page turner, because my right foot was not flat on the floor.
Last April I played in an orchestra where another player had an ErgoBass, and her position seemed fairly comfortable. I've been seeing them more and more, and finally I decided to give it a shot.
Using the ErgoBass, I now have my stool height where it had been before, but my feet are now flat on the floor, with no yoga blocks at all. I think this makes me more connected to the floor and my hips are now completely parallel to the floor. I have just enough room to nudge the treble side a bit closer if need be, and it's easy to "stand up" a bit to reach upper positions for extended passages. My overall posture is pretty similar to the 2 yoga block solution and I haven't feel the need to adjust any other aspect of my approach or technique.
Overall this feels like a win. I haven't had a gig since I got the ErgoBass, and I won't for a while now (summer), so I can't evaluate how it is to pack it around. I think being able to use a page turner if I want is a win, and I like having my feet flat on the floor with my hips flat, too. I also like that I can wear shorts in hot weather without sweating all over the varnish and sticking to it.
I'm still getting the hang of sticking the thing on the bass, but my section mate last April was quick about it, so I imagine I'll figure it out. Also, I haven't shown my teacher yet, so I'm curious if he'll think it's good or if he'll think I'm just being weird. I don't perceive a huge difference in volume or tone overall, but my bass tends to sound bigger and louder from about 10 feet away than it does for the player.
One last thought - I feel like I can actually feel more vibration through my left leg than I could before. I think that's good and I hope it doesn't mean I'm dampening something. I'll keep posting thoughts as I spend more time with it.
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