Why Neck Length Isn't Everything: A Professional Guide to Choosing Your Shoulder Rest

1. The Myth of the "Long Neck"

While neck length matters, it is often overridden by how you hold your instrument. We have seen players with long necks who require a Low model because of their high collarbone placement, and petite players who need a High model due to their open playing stance.

Before you reach for a ruler, look at your playing posture.

A note before you start: the Low model adjusts from 30 to 70 mm and the High from 40 to 100 mm. The two overlap across a wide range, so this is rarely a choice you can get badly wrong — the points below simply help you land in the middle of the right range rather than at its edge.

2. Horizontal Geometry: Where is your fingerboard pointing?

How you rotate your instrument significantly changes the space between your shoulder and the back plate.

Choose LOW: If your fingerboard points more forward (perpendicular to your shoulder line). In this position, the instrument naturally sits closer to your chest.

Choose HIGH: If your fingerboard points more to the side (parallel to your shoulder line). This creates a larger triangular gap that needs to be filled for stability.

3. Vertical Pitch: Floor vs. Ceiling

The angle of your scroll is the next piece of the puzzle.

Choose LOW: If you tend to point the scroll of your instrument toward the floor.

Choose HIGH: If you prefer to play with the scroll pointing toward the ceiling (common in professional orchestral settings).

4. Placement on the Instrument

Where do you "clip" your rest?

If you prefer your support closer to the neck (near the blocks), the gap is narrower. Choose LOW.

If you prefer the support further toward the center of the lower bout, the gap is wider. Choose HIGH.

5. Shoulder Build: A Supporting Clue

In our experience, players with slender, narrow shoulders often do better with the HIGH model. A narrow, less-muscled shoulder simply leaves more space between the instrument and the body than a broader one does.

Treat this as a supporting clue rather than a deciding factor. It is useful when the points above leave you undecided, or when two of them pull in opposite directions — but it should not override what you observe in your own playing posture, and it should never override the test below.

6. The EFEL "Fist Test"

If you are still unsure, this is the one measurement that settles it. Everything above infers the gap from indirect signs; this measures it.

1. Assume your natural, relaxed playing position, holding the instrument without a shoulder rest.
2. Close your fist and try to fit it between your chest and the back plate of the instrument.
3. Does it fit comfortably? You need the HIGH model.
4. Is the space too small for your fist? The LOW model will fit you best.

Calibrate the test to your own hand

This test is often quoted as "about 10 cm," but that figure describes an average adult male hand. Measure your own fist across the knuckles before you trust the result. A hand of 7–8 cm and a hand of 10–11 cm give the same yes-or-no answer while describing gaps that differ by 3 cm — which is the whole difference between the Low and the High range.

So read it this way, using your measured fist width:

• Fist fits with room to spare → your gap is clearly larger than your fist. HIGH.
• Fist fits snugly, touching both sides → your gap is roughly your fist width. Under 7 cm, either model works and Low sits more comfortably in the middle of its range; over 7 cm, choose HIGH.
• Fist does not fit → LOW.

Not sure? Send us a photo

If you would rather not judge it yourself, photograph the test and we will read it for you.

• Have someone else take the photo, standing directly in front of you with the camera at your chest height. A selfie or a shot from above distorts the angle and makes the gap unreadable.
• Hold the instrument in your natural playing position, without a rest, with your fist in place.
• Include your measured fist width in your message. Your fist is the ruler we use to read the photo — without the number, the picture tells us very little.
• If you already own a shoulder rest, send a second photo wearing it, and tell us in a sentence what bothers you about it: too low, too high, slipping, or pressing on the collarbone. What fails with your current setup usually tells us more than any measurement.

From a photo we can tell you which model fits and where to bend the legs. What a photo cannot solve is long-standing pain or a posture problem — those need a teacher or a physiotherapist who can watch you play in person. A shoulder rest can remove an obstacle, but it cannot undo years of tension on its own.

Send it to efel@efelmusic.com and Luboš will look at it personally.

The EFEL Advantage: Drawn Spring Steel and Soft Steel Legs

Every EFEL support is built on a frame of drawn spring steel, with legs of soft steel.

The frame holds the rest firmly on the instrument. The soft steel legs are the part you shape: unlike rigid plastic or wooden rests that force your body to adapt to them, the legs bend by hand to match the exact contour of your shoulder, and they hold the shape you give them. This ensures that you aren't just buying a "standard" size — you are buying a professional support that can be micro-adjusted until it feels like a natural extension of your body.

Ready to find your perfect fit? Browse our professional collection here.