Are there any great bass players with small hands?

[SystolicDub]

Something I've noticed is that many really great bass players have large if not, freakishly large hands. Bootsy, Buckethead (while primarily a guitarist he plays bass really well), Claypool just to name a few.

[jkkkjkhk]

Flea, he's f**king tiny. He not too bad either.

[16notes]

Victor Wooten and Steve Bailey

[drewfunk]

Matt Freeman mentioned having small hands in interviews.

[lefty thumper]

Bill Wyman

[BuffaloBass]

Guys ( I know gals dont think this way! ), the size of your fingers doesnt really matter all that much if your form is correct.

Even if your fingers are not as long as a neck is wide, you could still play, as long as you kept the knuckles parallel to the fingerboard, i.e., fingers perdendicular.

PLEASE dont put artificial or spurious limitations on yourself.

Someone said my 'rabbi' Vic had small hands - if he does, he sure dont know it!

Peace.

[BuffaloBass]

Oh and Bill Wyman was known as the dude that got all the trim. So hands mean NOTHING, but what they mean to your MIND!

[tangentmusic]

Sheryl Crow... Oh wait... You said GREAT bass players... Never mind

[bass12]

Rhonda Smith has pretty small hands if I remember correctly.

[Fretless5verfan]

You can be great without big hands, but having nice sized hands helps. It's not really so much a "limitation" as it is an advantage. I don't think you can argue that you have to work a little harder with smaller hands...especially if you play an ERB. There are some stretches that are just physically impossible or insanely difficult with small hands. Those same stretches can be done with moderate difficulty or ease by a guy with hands like Jaco or Pino or Vai.

[ExaltBass]

Tal Wilkenfeld
Adam Nitti

[dougjwray]

Carl Radle (Eric Clapton, Delaney & Bonnie, Joe Cocker, George Harrison, etc.) had small hands and used a Jazz neck on his Precision Bass for that reason. (I read it in a 1976 Guitar Player interview.)

[leegreenman]

Carol Kaye has small hands. She mentioned it in one of her DVDs.

[SMILEYSIXX]

Originally Posted by 16notes

Victor Wooten and Steve Bailey

Met Vic after a show one time, my hands practically swallowed his when I shook his hand

[Gasman]

Tina Weymouth? I've not met her, but she seems rather petite and can play like its nobodys business

[comet9]

emma anzai.tiny chick monster player.listen to "ROCK KIDS"

[SJan3]

I could see smaller hands as an advantage! Here's an experiment. Go get a toothpick and a pencil. 1st put the toothpick in your fretboard hand and imagine how much effort is required to achieve stability and control. Now, try it with the pencil. Better??
Of course! For some people, more mass relative to their hand equals more control over hand and finger position and some people with larger hands or longer fingers many have a problem controlling the "toothpick" in their hand. No, BIGGER is NOT always best!

[lowfreqgeek]

Hand size means nothing - unless you're the guy from the Burger King commercials. Then you have my sympathies.

[Phil Smith]

I once met a Tyrannosaurus that could play the heck out of a bass and her hands and arms in relation to the rest of her body were very small.

[fourstringburn]

Steve Harris...He is great to many but not to some.