I play fives — 17.5-18mm is my sweet spot. I can deal with 18.3 or 18.5, but I write off anything over that. Mileage varies for many.
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Anyone else immediately disregard basses with a wide string spacing?
- Thread starter stuffedbread
- Start date
Wait. There is string spacing WIDER than 19mm??
I had no idea. Seriously. It's always, 19mm (or less) for 4, and 17/16ish mm for 5 or 6... those are the numbers so often talked about, and which I've always encountered.
I like narrow spacing more and more as I get older and use more and more strings LoL, but on a 4 I'm always at home with 19.
I had no idea. Seriously. It's always, 19mm (or less) for 4, and 17/16ish mm for 5 or 6... those are the numbers so often talked about, and which I've always encountered.
I like narrow spacing more and more as I get older and use more and more strings LoL, but on a 4 I'm always at home with 19.
17mm on my five string. Anything over 17.1mm and I call ahead to the next string to give it heads up that I'll be by shortly. 16.9mm and the thing is unplayable, pretty much hit every string with a single finger pluck. It took me a while to become so flexible in what I can deal with. I can't count how many famous bass players have their jobs because I couldn't be accommodated on string spacing issues. Its unreal.
I'm fine as long as it functions properly. I own narrow spacing of my Ibanez and it goes up to 19mm of my FBass.
I'm about the same on scale too. I own 34" to 36", equally comfortable with each. I have never purchased a bass and asked about its radius or width or nut.
I'm about the same on scale too. I own 34" to 36", equally comfortable with each. I have never purchased a bass and asked about its radius or width or nut.
Totally! I sold a Spector 6 and a Status 6 because i couldn't...or didn't want to get used to 19 mm. I love 16.5 or 17 and i am an aggressive slapper... we need to start a databass for string spacing and brands. My ultimate bass is a Smith but i don't want the 18 mm...
I really don't like basses with wide necks. That's because I've been playing a Jazz bass with the 60's slim C-shape neck and a 7.25" radius since 1966, when I bought my '65 Jazz Bass. It was stolen in 1976 and I found another MIA Jazz Bass with that same neck profile in 1985. And I've been playing that for 35-years now. So wide, fat necks are pretty much anathema to me.
HOWEVER. I do have to admit that I played my grandson's Squier Affinity Precision Bass (P/J pickups) and even though it had a wide neck as all Precision Basses seem to, it was much slimmer (not as deep) than any P-bass I've tried. Although it wouldn't be my first choice, I could comfortably play it. So maybe its the combination of wide and thick that drives me nuts?
I find 1.75 width a little hard for playing more complex ‘chop oriented’ bass lines.
I prefer 1.50. Although, I don’t have any problems with 1 & 5/8.
I prefer 1.50. Although, I don’t have any problems with 1 & 5/8.
A lot of the Squier P- basses have a 1 & 5/8 width at nut. But they do have a slim c neck.
The old ‘57 style P’s have the 1.75 width, with the deep U profile, the ‘baseball bat’.
Never played a Jackson, but check. Can't take the extra wide spacing at the nut or bridge!
I have wondered though how narrow string spacing might work on a wide neck.
Warwick makes a 5 with a 1-1/2" nut width. Been wanting to try one.
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I can work with 18 mm and up, but am most comfortable at 19 on fours and fives. I can't count high enough to play sixes so don't go there.
Koog
Koog
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
I had the 3rd and final BB5000 (AMk2), which was more TRB-like and built in their then-new Taiwan production facility. This was after Yamaha made some sort of in-house decision (no doubt after listening to a lot of whining along the lines of 'I can't slap on narrow necks . . .') to start fitting diving-board width fingerboards on their fives and sixes. I'm usually not real fussy about string spacing, and this worked OK as the neck's backside was pretty flat: Had it been rounder instead of flatter, yes, I'd have probably passed on it. I can deal with one or the other, but not both !
I like narrow, thin necks like the Warmoth thin taper Jazz or the SR series Ibanez's, so I suppose I like narrow spacing.
I do the opposite. I take special interest in basses with old P spacing. Many modern basses use spacing/neck closer to a traditional Jazz Bass, which I don't like.
