1/2 or 3/4

[Kuk]

Hey,
soon i am starting lessons in the conservaty of Ostend(Belgium).
Should i buy a 1/2 or 3/4 bass?
My lengt is 5.4 ft(1.65m) and have little hands.
Grtz Kurt

 

[jnathanj33]

Hello,

My very novice advice is to try both and see which one is more comfortable to you. Please wait to get Mr. Neher's professional advice though.

Kind Regards

 

[PNeher]

I would suggest 3/4 if you plan to be a pro. Of course the Conservatory teacher will have the final opinion, based on your overall physique (I hope! )

Best of luck!
PN

 

[User36336379]

3/4. Bigger the bass, better the tone you will get for your money. It's the same reason a million dollar bass will never sound as good as a $5,000 cello, the proportions. In an orchestra the violin and cello have a brighter, better sounding tone. In order for the viola to have proper proportions it would have to have an endpin and he played like a small cello. One of the reasons an orchestra sounds good is because the violin and cello are bright, while the bass and viola are not. Look up the octobass, that's the size a bass would need to be to sound good, of corse the sound is so low on that instrument it's impossible to make a sound good to our ears. Long story short, play a 3/4. Or 1/2 if you really want to that much... When I first played my school but me on a tiny 1/4 or smaller or something and now I can play 3/4-7/8 but based on my genetics I probably will never be able to play a full. Listen closely to the instruments and if your ears are trained you will hear the difference of the two.

 

[Reiska]

In my opinion and experience the ease of playing comes from the vibrating string lenght, not the instrument body size. 1/2 -size bass has generally something like 96 cm string lenght while 3/4 has 104 - 107 cm. There are also 5/8 basses and full bodied instruments with shorter string lenghts ( even under 100 cm ).

 

[User36336379]

In my opinion and experience the ease of playing comes from the vibrating string lenght, not the instrument body size. 1/2 -size bass has generally something like 96 cm string lenght while 3/4 has 104 - 107 cm. There are also 5/8 basses and full bodied instruments with shorter string lenghts ( even under 100 cm ).

I didn't mean which was physically easier to play, I was talking about the sounds that you will get out of the two instruments.

 

[Reiska]

Sure dude and what I mean exactly is that some people want easy playability with that huge sound and prefer short string lenght with normal size body. This is quite common among bassists who tune in fifths.

 

[User36336379]

Sure dude and what I mean exactly is that some people want easy playability with that huge sound and prefer short string lenght with normal size body. This is quite common among bassists who tune in fifths.

Exactly.