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5 String Spacing Poll

What is your preferred string spacing for 5 Strings?

  • 16.5mm

    Votes: 50 13.7%

  • 17mm

    Votes: 60 16.5%

  • 18mm

    Votes: 111 30.5%

  • 19mm

    Votes: 118 32.4%

  • 20mm

    Votes: 5 1.4%

  • Other

    Votes: 20 5.5%
  • Total voters
    364
#41
I have fairly long fingers and assumed 18mm would be the sweet spot but I find I really like the 19mm spacing on my Yamaha necks. It feels very comfortable, matched with a 1 3/4" nut; space for the plucking hand, easy maneuvering for the fretting hand, win-win.

However, I've mostly been playing 18mm live for the past few years (for reasons other than string spacing) and I also enjoy the 17.5mm on a Stingray 5. (The SR5 has a similar "modern shallow C" neck profile to the Yamahas which I'm sure helps.) Below that I usually start feeling cramped, especially with the bit of slapping I do.

I chose 18mm because it's sort of in the middle of my comfort range.
 
#46
I don’t have one. I have one with 15 and one with 19 and they both feel fine to me. As long as they are spaced evenly from center to center, I’m just not all that particular.
 
#53
The only five I really could not play that I bought was an Ibanez I bought during the Eighties that super tight. The very first Yamaha BB5000’s were super tight too, but I never bought one. As for basses I have owned, I have managed well with everything from 16.5mm to 19mm. 19mm is my favorite, but basses like Warwick, Spector, and Music Man that have fat neck radiuses and narrower spacing are usually pretty easy to manage. I really dislike narrow spacing plus a thin neck like Soundgears.
 
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#54
I don’t think there is a correct answer to this question. Every player will have a different preference and every quality player will be able to make whatever work.

If I were building a bass I would focus on making the most comfortable feeling neck *for me* then I would have an idea how much spacing I am allowed. I think 17-18 is the magic number but strangely I prefer 19.

People complain about too wide and too narrow. If you’re building for others I would pick a Goldilocks spacing so I wouldn’t have to hear about it either way!

Have fun with your project and good luck!
 
#57
Curtinsmith said:
I am deciding on what string spacing to do for my 5 string bass builds. I have narrowed it down to either 16.5mm or 18mm, but am curious to know what other bassists prefer.
Click to expand...

I am familiar with your website and the range of basses you make and I am going to throw in a curved ball (ok, we're a cricketing nation but anyway...).

I would think the shorter scale basses would be more sought-after by people with smaller hands or a degree of incapacity, eg arthritis or carpal tunnel etc. These are the people who I imagine would most appreciate a narrower string spacing. The 30" scale Nordstrand Acinonyx (although a 4 string only) has a 17mm string spacing and people here on TB have raved about how "comfortable and fun" they are to play. I personally find I can cover multiple strings far more easily with narrower spacings but my Ibanez Soundgear 5 string at 16.5mm is the minimum I could play efficiently (good muso, challenged fine motor skills :)).

My thinking - given you have the mono-block pickups custom made,
30" scale; 17/17.5mm
32" scale; choice of 17/17.5mm or 18/19 - 18.5mm (perhaps split the difference?)
34"-35" scale; 18/19 - 18.5mm.

That would still give you the option of getting a batch of pickups made and sitting in your workshop awaiting orders but gives you an option for small hands or a level of incapacity in the shorter scale and narrower spaced basses. My $0.02 anyway.

PS I would love to hear a better recording of the Southland too if you could get some soundbites up on your website.
 
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#58
Outbush said:
I would think the shorter scale basses would be more sought-after by people with smaller hands or a degree of incapacity, eg arthritis or carpal tunnel etc. These are the people who I imagine would most appreciate a narrower string spacing.
Click to expand...
Why would you assume that? I have no hand or wrist issues and I by far prefer 16.5 on all my 5s and 6s.
 
#59
Dr. Cheese said:
The only five I really could not play that I bought was an Ibanez I bought during the Eighties that super tight. The very first Yamaha BB5000’s were super tight too, but I never bought one. As for basses I have owned, I have managed well with everything from 16.5mm to 19mm. 19mm is my favorite, but basses like Warwick, Spector, and Music Man that have fat neck radiuses and narrower spacing are usually pretty easy to manage. I really dislike narrow spacing plus a thin neck like Soundgears.
Click to expand...
That’s funny because I’ve tried MM’s 5 strings and no matter how much I’ve tried them, I never could get used to them. I think their string spacing stays roughly the same from the nut to the bridge?

Also funny that my no.1 favorite 5 string was the Carvin SB5000, which you own, right?
 
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