Anyone with small hands play Dingwalls or 35" scale bass?

[Headlands]

Hi all,

I just got a new Carvin SB5000 and was disappointed in the floppiness of the B string in both feel and sound. The rest of the bass is truly fantastic, but I can't deal with the B string. I went to a local shop and played a bunch of other high end 5-strings and found the same problem to exist (they didn't have any 35" scale basses, unfortunately).

So, my options are to either find a 5 string bass with a longer scale or check out a Dingwall. The problem is that I have very small hands and I'm worried that the Dingwall 37" radius for the B string will just be too immense for me. They do make a shorter scale neck (the Super J) but it's Super Expensive.

Anyone here with very small hands play a Dingwall? As another option, would a regular 35" scale bass be a big improvement over the 34" as far as the low B is concerned?

Would yet another option be to buy a 4 string Dingwall and just down-tune the E string to C or B if necessary (obviously get a slightly thicker string than normal)?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Avezzano]

never tried a Dingwall, (I would really like to buy one!) but tell you: I am 165 cm tall and regularly play my two 55-02 Skyline fretted and fretless. Think if it happened to you to play the upright!!! I have small hands but no problems at all in playing 35"

Completely another issue about the floppiness of the B: fresh strings, custom composed string set (I have a Ernie Ball chrome very big Low B and a standard GHS set on my Peavey Axcelerator that fixed this issue completely), PROPER winding and (bass & strings) set-up just make miracles.

Try everything, before blaming the bass: a 4 strings is easy to set-up; just put the strings on and go. This is NOT true for a 5 strings bass. You might even end up disappointed by some 35" scale and, more, I tell you that even if in general the 35" is a big improvement for a low B, my favorite bass of all the basses I have is a very old, beaten 34" Burner V that has a phenomenal low B!!!!

 

[Headlands]

Thanks, Virgilio -- that's some great advice. I will try different strings and experiment with the set up. The Carvin has has brand new strings on, but I'll try another brand/style for the B and see if it makes a difference.

 

[Bloc Riff Nut]

You could try a heavier gauge B-string. That may tighten it up a little.

 

[fullrangebass]

IME and IMHO the "floppiness" issue is not related to the 34" scale per se, but more related on the set up and the string gauge. I own 34" scale basses that their B str does not suffer and I've played 35" scales that the Bstr left a lot to be desired.

IMHO and IME, Dingwall basses offer the best Bstr on the market (and not only that). I am neither tall, nor I have long fingers, but I have no problems playing my Dingwalls from day one. An important related issue here is the nut width and neck profile of the Dingwall basses; both are spot on in the comfort zone of most players (unless one likes to play bassball bats with a 19mm string spacing at the nut )

As far as buying a 4str Dingwall (34"- 36.25") and tuning it to BEAD, it is possible, but not in a detuning manner. The way to do it is to get in touch with Circle K strings and get a set of strings to perform to that tuning. STILL, I'd insist on trying a 5str Dingwall and experience what all Dingwall players have experienced in terms of ergonomics tone and playability

YMMV etc etc

 

[Bloc Riff Nut]

I have one 5-string, a Yamaha TRB5. 35 Inch Scale. No prob's with limp B-String.

 

[Blues Cat]

I was shifting in the 1st position on my Dingwall when I 1st got it trying to go 1-1st, 2-2nd, shift 3-3rd and shift 4-4th fret.

Then I read about stand up technique 1-1st, 2-2nd 4-3rd fret. This really helped my shifting in the 1st position and made my Dingwall experience much easier.

I have a 35.25" XB75PF and do the same technique in the 1st position.

 

[allexcosta]

There are many 34"s out there with good B strings and even some 33"s...

If you're set on playing 35"s or Dingwall's try to borrow one for at least a few days, or just buy one used that you can sell later if you don't adapt. Extra-long scales are not for everyone and height or size of hands is just part of the equation. Good technique can surpass scale length.

 

[nukes_da_bass]

Tiny hands. I do have a '35 scale bass, but I play my '42 scale bass more (Kay upright).

 

[tomas_almeida]

I have small hands and play a Dingwall. I can all the stretches you can imagine just fine (well, the realistic ones...). It's more a matter of practice and technique than anything else.

 

[BuffaloBass]

And keeping your fretting hand perpendicular. You can play anything. But that not the problem with your B string. Its the string itself.

I have both 34" and 35" basses, and the 35" B string is marketing BS I can tell you. It does make the 1-5 positions harder to stretch around, and there is a slight difference in tension. But purely marginal. I'm sure Dingwalls are nice, but again, there IS no holy grail here.

DR hex core strings have higher tension. I've settled on nickle Lo-Riders for my needs.

 

[ubado]

IMO ... hold off on the Dingwall/35" idea until you change out the strings. IME, I've had floppy B strings on both ... 34" moreso.

DR has some nice "B's" as well as Sadowsky. Take the time to research the "Strings" section ... and go from there. I'm pretty sure you'll find some cheaper alternatives than purchasing a new bass. That's unless you're not using the floppy B to convince yourself that you need a Dingwall.

Good Luck! Keep us posted.

 

[Headlands]

Man, great responses. I really appreciate it. I will try a new b string today and see what happens.

The other issue with the b is that it never seems to be fully in tune with rest if the bass, mostly when played open or at the first few frets. I'm assuming that part is this is due to simple physics of having a note that low, but I was cursed with perfect relative pitch and it's driving me nuts.

On my computer oscilloscope it looks pretty close to perfect, which is the perplexing part. Please forgive my ignorance here - I've never owned a 5 string before.

 

[metalstorm]

I disagree with the idea that a string will make a significant impact. As far as playing a Dingwall with small hands, I do and it isn't difficult at all because the neck is very slim and narrow.