johnny ramone vs. the mariachi

in other words, long strap or short one ?
guitar almost at your knees (looks cool, but hard to control) or at your chest (easier to play, but a little funny ?)

http://www.filmcement.org/rummage/images/Johnny.jpg

http://z.about.com/d/gosw/1/0/8/mariachi.jpg

A guitar strap saved my friend's life.
True story.
Bluegrassers like short straps, almost mariachi short. My friend had been playing the same D-18 with the same short brown leather strap for years. Four years ago, he feels the edge of the guitar rubbing on something on his chest. More annoying than anything, the kind of stuff guys usually ignore.

He goes to the doctor who says "Hey, it's probably a little cyst, but if it's bothering you when you play, we ought to remove it."

They biopsied it, and, believe it or not, it was breast cancer. Yes, guys do get breast cancer, even guys with hairy chests and male pattern baldness. Breast cancer in guys is a nasty because even though the prognosis is the same as for women, men (and their doctors) ignore the lump for years until it's huge and the cancer has spread to somewhere else.

So my buddy found the best breast surgeon in the southeast, and has been clean and healthy ever since. (When they talked about the surgical options, including one that would avoid radiation but involve removing his nipple, he said "Well, I ain't ever used it for much up til now."

I say a small thank you to that guitar strap everytime I visit.

This has been a public service announcement.

I used to be a low-guitar slinger, and then I realized that Danny Gatton played it up high, Redd's pretty high, so maybe I better move it up. Later on, I read an interview with Jeff Beck who said something to the effect of," we all wore our guitars down low, but we weren't as good as our idols. I saw that Les Paul wore his higher, so I moved mine higher too."

A high guitar is best for technical facility and long term health.
A high guitar is anti-fashion which in my book makes it cool.

high, high, high!

and when you sit--classical position. trust me, you'll be AMAZED at how better you play and how much more comfortable you feel.

A high guitar is anti-fashion which in my book makes it cool.

I like the style!

high, for the sake of my hands

For me, in the middle of the extremes. I'm most comfortable with the picking hand right about the belt buckle with electric guitars, and about three inches higher than that with acoustic guitars. I've tried The Rock God/Jimmy Page slung-to-the-ankles style and the up-under-the-armpits Allan Holdsworth style, and can get on with neither. I've always gigged with mandolin pretty high (because most mandolinists do), but I recently experimented with straps and placement. Wound up most comfortable about three inches above the belt buckle, same as with acoustic guitars. I have a shortened strap for practicing B-bender guitar at home while sitting, but I don't particularly care for it. For the bender bits, I either drop the guitar down between my legs while sitting, or I'll stand up, both practices being with a standard length strap.

There have been a few comments regarding physicality. To me, the angle of the arm that contains the picking hand is a biggie. Also, folks with herniated discs, nerve damage, or any variety of chronic spinal, neck, shoulder, arm, or hand conditions are going to make very personal decisions as based on what's comfortable for them.

I thought this thread was gonna' be about Johnny get his "head cut" onstage by an unknown Mexican guitarist... :razz:

Seriously, some of those Mariachi guys can really play. The Ramones, despite all their glory and wonderful counter-culture-ness, uhmm... errr... Can't. Not really.

I'm with Tim, go for what's most comfortable to you.

If you're truly playing guitar for the music, and not as a visual prop to some other form of entertainment, no one is going to care how you wear your instrument, so long as it sounds good. And if it is simply a visual prop, then no one is going to care what it sounds like.