Cross right leg over left while sitting..

[Logdy]

My d18 is placed on my right leg and it makes barre chords so much easier along with everything else. The neck angle is so much more comfortable for my left wrist. I need to get a strap as my right leg goes to sleep after an hour and see if I can un-cross.

[Matt G]

I like to sit that way too, and my right leg also goes to sleep. But if yours takes an hour before it happens, I think you're doing pretty well. Mine's asleep in like 20 minutes.

[louisjames]

I use a foot rest on either the right or left foot depending on what (guitar / style) I'm playing and where I want the guitar to orient when I'm sitting. Like you I found that crossing either leg became uncomfortable after a while so getting a foot rest was the obvious answer. I didn't give them much thought at first since it's usually associated with classical but my legs and arms / wrists are much happier using it and along with good posture has had a positive impact on my tone and overall playing. Maybe a foot rest would work for you as well. Or try using some books or a box at first to see if this is an option before spending any $. Just my 2c's. YMMV.

[TBman]

I just wear a strap and don't rely on my legs to hold the guitar. Any numbness is a result of being 63

[Matt G]

I use the guitar case for a foot rest after my leg goes numb from crossing it. Then when that feels uncomfortable, I cross the leg again.

[jseth]

I used to sit that way all the time when I was younger... figured out that it's a great way to mess up your hips and lower back... don't do that any more!

There's an apparatus called a "Neck Up" that works really well to support a guitar in a very good position; not the easiest to "dial in" to your own specs, but when you do, it is quite functional.

These days, I favor playing with both feet on the ground from a standard height straight-backed chair... my main "stage" guitar (my Angus F-40) is big enough that it fits perfectly and at a great height for playing this way... my Goodall Grand Concert (more like a OOO or OM size) doesn't sit at as perfect a neck height, so I have to fiddle with it a bit.

It behooves any player to discover a good playing posture, and hopefully BEFORE you have any serious back issues. Alas, I did not...

[raysachs]

I rarely sit on regular furniture to play (which is where I’d have to cross a leg to get the guitar into a good position). I mostly use a guitar stool (like you’d find in almost any music store) with a rail that I prop my right foot on. That’s the most comfortable way for me to play for any amount of time. Or if I don’t have one handy, I sit on something low, like a coffee table or footstool or a low bed, which brings my leg up to meet my reach really nicely. I hate having to cross my leg over or otherwise have to unnaturally prop the guitar up higher than it naturally sits on my leg...

But with a stool almost any guitar is really comfortable for as long as my fingers can hold out. The one exception was a PRS electric, a REALLY nice one, by far the most expensive guitar I’ve ever owned and I got it used. It had amazing upper fret access but I could never reach them without all manner of twisting my back out of shape. And my right picking hand was naturally falling on top of the neck pickup and making all kinds of noise. Turns out the leg cut on almost all PRS electrics is waaay over toward the neck relative to other guitars, which throws everything out of whack. I play seated about 99% of the time anymore and I couldn’t get comfortable playing that guitar - I’d get fatigued and/or my back would start hurting and I’d put it down after about 10-15 minutes and reach for a different guitar. It was an amazing guitar but I sold it after about 4-5 months because I just couldn’t play it enough or enjoy playing it. It was kind of a dream guitar that turned into a nightmare. Turned out I wasn’t the only person to have that problem with various PRS’s. I understand Les Pauls are cut similarly. I played a Lester for a while as a kid and never had any problems, but I played standing about 90% of the time back then and I was so skinny and flexible I probably never would have noticed it sitting either. Never an issue with any acoustic I’ve played.

[JerryM]

Get a neck up and it will solve your problem, feet flat on floor, guitar angled so the neck is easy reach, cost about 50 dollars, large size for dreadnought. Last forever never wear out.

[Silly Moustache]

Whilst I'd lecture that a dreadnought was not designed to be played whilst sitting, I often do exactly that, at home as can be seen in my YouTube videos.
it really depends on your posture and the height of the seat you're using.

A few mths ago I bought an old dining chair for pennies in a junk shop which just happens to be exactly the right height to enable my right upper leg to be parallel to the floor when playing, so I can keep both feet on the floor.

It seems to me that modern dining chairs are taller than they used to be (perhaps everyone but me is getting taller?) and so if the chair is, indeed taller, I find myself putting my left leg across and resting on my right knee.

When i was learning jazz guitar I was told (by this guitarist, the great Piers Clark) to sit lie he does. Sadly my chubby little legs don't fold like that!



When I lost over 40 lbs very quickly last year (cancer treatment prevented me eating), I discovered posture issues - this might help :

[Rev Roy]

If whatever you’re doing is causing body parts to go numb, well...you need to quit doing it. At least that’s what your body is trying to tell you. Listen to it...and try something else.

[guitar george]

Use a low stool or chair. The lower you sit, the higher your legs and guitar will be in relation to the rest of your body. When your right leg feels a bit numb, you can put your foot on the floor for a short period to get the circulation going again and not miss a beat. The guitar will still be high enough, on your right leg, to play quite comfortably.

[bufflehead]

Originally Posted by raysachs

I mostly use a guitar stool (like you’d find in almost any music store) with a rail that I prop my right foot on. That’s the most comfortable way for me to play for any amount of time..

I think a stool works best if it matches your strings.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Logdy

…I need to get a strap as my right leg goes to sleep after an hour and see if I can un-cross.

Hi Logdy

A NeckUP is a small strap which suction cups to the bottom bout and allows one to play with that neck elevated from the right knee position with feet flat on the floor. It allows one to balance the guitar in different positions on the thigh, and the weight of the strumming arm keeps it in place.

Superior to wearing a strap while sitting for me.

Good for long gigs…

I've used them since 2005. Invented by an acoustic guitarist…and it folds up and fits under my headstock in the case. All my guitars are nitro finish and the suction cup doesn't mar the finish on any of them.




Hope this adds to the discussion and choices…

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by jseth

…not the easiest to "dial in" to your own specs, but when you do, it is quite functional.

Hi js

Actually if you just put a suction cup on both ends (it comes with a large and small one), one can reposition the NeckUP quickly till you find the right spot and angle on any size/shape acoustic. Then figure out which hole works best.

I've helped a lot of people position NeckUP straps over the past 13 years of using them.

I think many players assume if the guitar has an end strap-pin, they should plug the NeckUP thinnest strap onto the end-pin right away. Then it's try this length, now switch to the second hole, now the third hole, now disassemble & move the strap and re-try the first hole etc.

I discovered the simpler process accidentally when I went to a luthier's shop to help play in some guitars which were fresh off the bench, and brought both cups since none of them had endpins.

Fitting it onto the first guitar with both cups, I went "duh…this would work well with any guitar for positioning these things!" I should make a YouTube video about it…

[muscmp]

be ergonomic. crossed leg isn't. body mechanics and posture are paramount.

play music!