Five string spacing 18mm, 19mm, 17mm whats your preference?

[Doug Parent]

Originally Posted by a2zbassman

Nope, definitely not a view shared by all. You just described the perfect nut and bridge spacing for me. Same as a Brubaker setup. Although I can get by with 18mm, such as on my Dingwall 5, and Roscoe 6 string.

You just reminded me of something. MTD American 535's have the same spec....pretty sure. 1.75 & 19mm, but Mike's necks have a little more meat than F Bass. Amazing how neck thickness changes the perception.

[gleneg61]

I've got little girly hands with short fingers so I prefer 16.5-17mm spacing at the bridge with a 1.75" (45mm) nut & gotta be 34" scale as I found 35" too long for my 5'6" frame. Of course slapping needs to be more precise but I'm prepared to deal with that for quicker finger style string jumps & easier muting/ghost notes. One of my 5s is an 18mm spread & although it's easier for slap & I can handle it finger style, I prefer the Warwick/Ibanez spacing for less fatigue, so that 1mm IS very noticeable, at least to me. My '97 Warwick Thumb b/o 5's neck is the older & current slim profile while my '05 Thumb has the infamous meaty baseball bat neck yet I enjoy playing both as well as my lithe Ibanez SR505 & Steinberger 5WL, which is more like my '05 Thumb's neck. Being a lefty we get sweet f---all choice of stock basses & even less chance to try any out so I guess us lefties have a more 'flexible', read fatalistic, outlook on 5s & will take what we can get & deal with it accordingly. I actually replaced the bridge on my Tune Bass Maniac 5 with a Schaller roller style bridge & adjusted the spacing in 1mm from the original 18mm so happy with that as well but oddly enough I'm equally comfy with my 19mm MM Sterling 4 & stock Jazz. Horses for courses I guess!

[devilman666]

I do agree with others saying that sting spacing and nut with are def both equal factory in the overall feel of being too tight or too wide for both hands. I found 18mm and 1.75 at the nut is my zen.

[bgavin]

Originally Posted by Doug Parent

I have a Warmoth Wenge neck that is a fatty, front to back. 1.81 nut but the chubby clubby fatty neck makes for the illusion that the nut width is a narrower 1.75

My Warmoth Deluxe5 has not arrived yet, so I have no measurements between the SR5 and the Warmoth.
On the other hand, my left hand ignores the right hand, and the right hand is the one finicky about spacing.

The left hand is going to be occupied with fretless, so I don't think it will be as concerned about front-to-back differences.
This is the rationalization, anyway.

Warmoth built a very comfortable feeling neck for my Strat-12 project.
It is not thick nor clubby at all.
My left hand is gagging over the Strat scale, as I was a Gibson player since 1963.

[Dr. Cheese]

I was checking out Squier Jazzes today, and now i know for sure that I prefer 18mm spacing. Fender 18mm necks feel perfect to me, and my Peavey TL-5 neck and spacing feels perfect too.

[thiocyclist]

I wish there was a comprehensive list of the string spacing and nut width specs for several of these basses, it's hard to know what you're dealing with when there's little info out there.

[SteveC]

I believe Roscoe is 18.3 mm. That's my favorite.

[Jean Baudin]

15mm for me. Though, my fretboard is probably twice the width of most 19-20mm basses.

[Doug Parent]

Originally Posted by thiocyclist

I wish there was a comprehensive list of the string spacing and nut width specs for several of these basses, it's hard to know what you're dealing with when there's little info out there.

Excellent idea.

[KingRazor]

I don't slap, so the narrower the better. The most comfortable 5er I ever played had 16.5mm spacing.

[petrus61]

18mm is my comfort range. Took me a few basses to figure that out. I can adapt pretty seamlessly between 4 and 5 string as long as I stay away from compound radiused fingerboards and stick to the 18mm spacing.

[MyMusic]

My Carvin XB75 is 18mm and its fine. Also I can change over to my MIM P bass without any problem. I don't know what the p bass spacing is.

[Doug Parent]

Question for anyone who's still getting this thread, a survey type question:

Would it be helpful to have a list of instrument manufacturers that was broken down by string spacing and nut width?

Any ideas about how best to go about doing it?

A thread titled accordingly? Separate thread for 17.5mm and under, 18mm, 19mm, and over 19?

[Dr. Cheese]

Originally Posted by Doug Parent

Question for anyone who's still getting this thread, a survey type question:

Would it be helpful to have a list of instrument manufacturers that was broken down by string spacing and nut width?

Any ideas about how best to go about doing it?

A thread titled accordingly? Separate thread for 17.5mm and under, 18mm, 19mm, and over 19?

I also think neck thickness makes a difference to. I would much prefer a bass like Music Man or Spector with a thick neck and narrow spacing than a bass with narrow spacing and very thin like a Ibanez Soundgear. My favorite is a wide and thin neck and fairly wide spacing like a Fender Jazz V or a Peavey TL-5.

[Jools4001]

My 5 string fretless is 18mm which I find really comfortable.

I recently replaced the bridge with a Schaller 2000 which has widely adjustable spacing. I set the string width up by setting up the B and the G string so that they were a comfortable distance away from the edge of the fingerboard, then I set the A string up so that it was in the middle of them, then the E and D strings in the middle of the remaining spaces. I eyeballed the whole thing. When I got the rule out for a bit of fine tuning, every string was already set dead on 18mm.

Funny though, I've come to the conclusion I'm not too fussed. My 4 strings are all 19mm and I have a 19mm fiver. They all feel fine.

I did once try a Warwick Streamer at 16.5mm and vowed that I'd never go with string spacing as low as that on any bass, but then I've had a 6 string for a couple of months now that feels really, really good to me. I only bought it after verifying that the string spacing (which was quoted as total width at the bridge) worked out to 17.5....however, I measured it for the first time as a result of this thread and it's 15...yes, 15!!! I was staggered, it really doesn't feel cramped so I guess I'm not as fussy as I thought.

[vates]

To me 18mm string spacing at bridge with 1 7/8" nut width feels the best.

[BuffaloBob4343]

Originally Posted by mmbongo

19mm is 'normal', anything less is narrow and is made for girly hands

So 19mm for me!

I concur, although my Dingwall 5's are 18mm. Any less, and I just can't deal with it.

[DwaynieAD]

Originally Posted by MoeGJBeener

whatever a stingray 5 is...

whatever the sterling SUB 5 is =)