Neck Profiles - Thick Vs. Thin - What's your preference?

[dudelove]

i like them both, but on 5iver i perfer thicker, and four im on thiner

[Epitaph04]

I don't really care long as its comfy. I guess you could I say I like em both....I like being able different instruments with different feels. I tend to care more about actual string spacing than neck profiles.

[jay tay]

Thin (fret board to back) and wide (with of fret board) for me!

[mr p taylor]

i'm a beginner, but on a guitar i always preferred a fatter neck (despite having small hands). more room for the strings...

it just feels more secure and easy to play for me.

[Duckwater]

I like em wide and thick

[El-Bob]

Fat necks for me. I used to think thin necks were the way to go, especially because they are usually marketed as being "fast". What garbage that is though. I mean, if you like thin necks, that's great. It's preference and that's perfectly ok. But a thinner neck absolutely does not allow for faster playing.

I am more or less convinced that a fatter neck actually helps to keep your hand more open and relaxed because of the angle that it puts your thumb at, and so when you get used to it (it does take a while) you will actually find yourself playing more comfortably.

[No Malarky]

Thin.

[Rip Topaz]

Originally Posted by El-Bob

Fat necks for me. I used to think thin necks were the way to go, especially because they are usually marketed as being "fast". What garbage that is though. I mean, if you like thin necks, that's great. It's preference and that's perfectly ok. But a thinner neck absolutely does not allow for faster playing.

I am more or less convinced that a fatter neck actually helps to keep your hand more open and relaxed because of the angle that it puts your thumb at, and so when you get used to it (it does take a while) you will actually find yourself playing more comfortably.

BIG +1.

I play big fat necks and have NO issues with playing fast. I played Ibanez basses for a long time before making the move to P-basses and their fat-necked goodness. Neck thickness doesn't really effect speed other than on a psychological level.

[devilman666]

After years playing warwick fives I switched to Ibanez sr 5s in the hope of faster playing and after about 6 years of that I have gone to the ATK 805e and found the perfect middle ground. I find a neck that is too thin causes back of the hand cramping and a neck to wide causes fingers to cramp . really matters on the player but for me the ATK is perfect fast as hel but i still have a solid "c" hand position that causes no pain even at breakneck speeds that we play .

[hampulator]

Like Engine 207 said above...A Thicker chunky neck fills my big hand better.Love my Warwick $$ Corvette neck the best, and then my fender P necks,My Musicman Stingray actually feels thinner now after the Warwicks. Played my Ric 4003 yesterday,man it's gotta go! That neck is just way too thin,never did really like it,but always wanted to own one. The one neck that is slim yet playable(To me) is my Musicman Sterling,thin yet profiled just right front to back etc...
I think playing style is the end factor,if you hang your thumb up and over a thinner neck is probably more "you". Big hands and thumb always right in the mid behind the neck,a chunky neck is better(For me).
~Peace~

[Tupac]

Originally Posted by hampulator

Like Engine 207 said above...A Thicker chunky neck fills my big hand better.Love my Warwick $$ Corvette neck the best, and then my fender P necks,My Musicman Stingray actually feels thinner now after the Warwicks. Played my Ric 4003 yesterday,man it's gotta go! That neck is just way too thin,never did really like it,but always wanted to own one. The one neck that is slim yet playable(To me) is my Musicman Sterling,thin yet profiled just right front to back etc...
I think playing style is the end factor,if you hang your thumb up and over a thinner neck is probably more "you". Big hands and thumb always right in the mid behind the neck,a chunky neck is better(For me).
~Peace~

I disagree, chunky necks were made for putting the thumb over. If you put the thumb in the back on a chunky bass, you'll probably cramp up or feel some pain.

[thiocyclist]

It's really shades of gray, not yes or no. I have seen all kinds of neck thicknesses. Truthfully, 95% of them (the middle 95%) feel okay to me and some of various thicknesses will come together with other factors to make a neck that plays awesome for me. I have played a few basses of certain brands that had very thick or thin necks, though (the outer 2.5% on either side of this bell curve)... those actually hurt my hands and once even embarrassed me live when my hand cramped in the middle of a jazz tune playing a buddy's Warwick.

[bassgod0dmw]

I don't discriminate but I do prefer thinner. I have a few really fat necks too that I really like.

[zortation]

I prefer a stable neck, so chunky.

[9mmMike]

Thin and wide is my preference for my precision bass necks.

[45acp]

Thin and narrow. I have a bad wrist and cant turn my palm flat, so i play thumb over the top hendrix style. On a fat neck i can barely get a 3 fret reach.

This is the main reason ive gone ibanez exclusively. They are the most comfortable to me.

[mongo2]

Originally Posted by maguire

I would like to find a way to take an impression of a neck profile without damaging a bass.

Contour Gauge:

[mjac28]

I'm always back and forth every time I play one of my basses with a thick neck neck I love it and when I play a thin Jazz neck I think it's the best thing going.

[JIO]

For me, preference is usually pretty subjective from bass to bass. (including both fat and thin or anywhere in between) It's more like playing a particular bass for more than a little while and then deciding by feel usually lets me know if it's going to work or not. Other than my workhorse '51 RI/P and mongrel J w/an allparts fretted ebony-board, neck 'feel' faves would be any Kubicki Factor, my Parker Hornet 5, a sweet old (Matsumoku) Conrad short-scale Hollowbody, and my luthier speced 24 fret hybrid of a '60 J (at the nut) and a Parker Hornet (4) at the butt. (classic/modern - best of both worlds!)

[phillybass101]

Thin, flat, and wide is my preference. I can work with thin, flat and medium width.