Does nut width, string spacing and/or scale length influence your bass purchases?

[MikeD]

Thanks, Mr. Chowny rep. Unfortunately Winter NAMM is an awfully long walk from SE Wisconsin. But if I may suggest a few of area dealers, you might want to check out Cascio Interstate Music, of New Berlin WI., White House of Music, in Waukesha WI., and Music Center, Inc., Kenosha WI. All three have been around a long time. And I've bought guitars from them all.

 

[chaak]

yes this does and it has a major effect, although most of the time these information are not highlighted by the manufacturer.

I am currently looking for a jazz bass with a 1.75 inch nut width.

 

[4SG]

All three considerations matter, although lately nut width hasn't been as much of an issue for me. I have yet to find a short scale bass that feels comfortable. But none of these three compare to the overall weight of the instrument. I can no longer gig for an extended period with my beloved '77 Precision as it weighs 100 lbs.

 

[blue4]

Scale length is a big factor for me. 30 or 32.

 

[GreyEagle]

I'm not sure what it is that makes my Jag Deluxe bass perfect for my hands, but I suspect that it's the 7.25" radius neck that sets it apart from my other basses, so I'm spoiled! My alternate is an older Schecter C-4 that I thought of selling, but realized that that bass is very playable for me.

 

[Mustang Surly]

I definitely prefer short-scales basses with necks with narrow nuts and narrow string spacing. The Guild Starfire feels ideal, to me. Narrow is great, but I can't abide thin: makes my hands cramp, especially of the FB radius is flatter than 12".

Ironically, when I played guitar more, I preferred baseball bat necks, the Gibson "'59-rounded" profile being about the minimum acceptable size for me. Had an old, 1950s Silvertone 1427 with 1-3/4"+ nut, wide string spacing and a huge profile that was great for finger-picking: one of the fattest necks I've ever seen on a guitar. Also had an MIA (Kalamazoo factory-mid 1960s) Epiphone Riviera 12-string that the original owner had had professionally converted to a 6-string. Big, wide, fat neck on that one as well: a real handful. Loved it.

 

[DavesnothereCA]

I have huge hands....
....Even my J has a P neck.

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If Fender had offered one like that back in the day, I prob'ly would have given it a chance.

At the time, all we could custom order was a narrow (J) neck on a P.
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[DavesnothereCA]

I like narrow string spacing, wide nut width, and 33.25" scale.

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So you like a Ric 4001/4003.

4001 is my main bass too.
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[DavesnothereCA]

....With 5ers, I'm surprisingly sensitive to string spacing at the bridge. I bought then sold a really nice MM Sterling because I couldn't get comfortable with how close together the strings were....

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I bought and resold an Ibanez 5er for similar reasons, at both bridge and nut.
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[micguy]

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If Fender had offered one like that back in the day, I prob'ly would have given it a chance.

At the time, all we could custom order was a narrow (J) neck on a P.
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With all the people putting J necks on P bodies, you'd think there would be a huge surplus pile somewhere of J bodies and P necks - I should be able to make basses for myself for free!
I'll buy a beer for anyone that can tell me where that pile is.

 

[TheGreatSealof]

I chose the last option because you did not provide a question that includes all options for selecting a bass. What I am saying is, I consider all options you have presented when I am previewing basses that I might purchase. My selection could be a combination of your options, not so narrowly focused.

 

[DavesnothereCA]

....I prefer 34" scale if for no other reason than it offers the widest variety of choices in strings, and the cheapest....

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Interesting perspective, and sad but true that it might contribute to a choice of instrument.

That said, for my own use, I have gotten to prefer and insist upon a string category which is not even stocked by all vendors in 34" scale.

That's the half round (aka ground round wound), and only a few brands have ever even OFFERED such a string, and those which do have not necessarily offered it in all possible lengths nor gauges, let alone whether a store carries any at all.

On my FrankenRic, with the BadAss 2 aftermarket bridge to which I switched at some point along all of my electronic and pickup mods, posted in detail elsewhere on TB (N00B question : Can we search or browse a user's post history here ?), I can use standard 34" strings, whereas when it had the original Ric bridge, IIRC some brands of 34" strings would fit and others would not.

I used to play standard RotoSound RS66s on my prior P bass, and tried them briefly on my Ric when I first bought it new, but when I saw how quickly they scored the frets, I went back to Ric's own flats for a while, and eventually found what I have used ever since, mentioned above.

On the SweetWater site the other day, I was looking at their basses for weight (another ergonomic factor which some folks here regard as crucial and others do not), and noticed that they carry almost no 32" basses, though quite a few at or near 30", and of course most at 34".

This might deserve a new thread, but can anyone suggest who all makes a 32" scale bass these days ?

With my Ric, I'm already at 33.25", but am just wondering.
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[DavesnothereCA]

....For me, its like a Goldielocks kind of thing! 1.5" is too narrow, 1.75" is a bit wide (especially if also flat) but my personal favorite is 1"11/16ths, which is a Warmoth P Bass nut width and some early G&L necks....

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Rickenbacker 4003s are also listed as 1"11/16ths at the nut (1.6875).

My 4001, I will have to measure to be certain, but it's got to be somewhere between that and the 1"5/8 (1.625) of most 'P' basses, as my transition to it was effortless from my prior 1972 'P' at the time.
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[DavesnothereCA]

Also the shape and size of the head stock can be a deal-breaker for me. Is that weird?

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Not really.

When Leo introduced us to his then-new Music Man basses, he moved the 'G' string to the other side, and IIRC, it abolished the 'dead' spot which most Fenders were known to have along that string.

I think that he even advertised this change as doing so - correct me if I'm wrong.

So headstock size and shape speaks to the resonant frequency of the neck and of the overall instrument, and the body size/shape/weight likely contributes to that equation too.

My Ric 4001 has such a dead spot along the 'D', where there is much less sustain than elsewhere.

I once briefly had a Gibson EB-3, but had not paid attention to whether or not it exhibited such a spot.
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[DavesnothereCA]

I like narrow string spacing, wide nut width, and 33.25" scale.

On what basses do they offer that?

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One word : Rickenbacker.
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[DavesnothereCA]

Thanks! The short version: I severed the tendon on the top of the index finger. After surgery to re-attach, 2 months of my finger in a splint, then 2 months of physical therapy, I got 90% mobility back. When I told the physical therapist that I play guitar, we set that as my overall goal and she explained that continued playing would be excellent therapy moving forward. And she was right! Other than the aforementioned fatigue and soreness, my playing proficiency on the bass was not really lost - I had to make minor adjustments - but it's not lost. Acoustic guitar on the other hand, which I occasionally play just for fun, is more difficult because of the tight string spacing and because of chords vs. the linear notes on a bass.

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I'm glad to learn that it was not worse, and 90% mobility is a decent number.
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[MikeD]

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This might deserve a new thread, but can anyone suggest who all makes a 32" scale bass these days ?

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The only 32" electric bass, that I'm aware of, is the Eastwood Sidejack 32. ([Invalid or Expired Link Removed]) Though I have to believe there are others out there.

Eastwood makes pretty good stuff. I have one of their guitars, the discontinued "P-90". It's basically a copy of a Gibson Les Paul Jr. Double Cut, with (duh) P-90 pickups, in TV yellow.

Ibanez makes a few 32" acoustic/electric basses. (AEB5, AEB10, AEB20, AEGB14)

 

[DavesnothereCA]

Over the weekend I picked up an Epiphone EB-0 at a yard sale in very nice shape for $50. The nut width is only 1-13/32" with a slim taper, not chunky, shallow profile and string spacing at the bridge that's 2-1/8"

It's becoming a favorite very quickly.

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1-13/32" at the nut ?

Are you sure it's that narrow ?

Please double check this for us, as I've never seen anything narrower than a Jazz at that end, and those are 1.5".

I once briefly had a medium or short scale Gibson EB-3 (they also came in long scale at the time), and it was similar to a 'P' at the nut, around 1 5/8" ( 1.625").

My expectation is that the Epiphones would try to maintain similar physical specs to the Gibsons.

Of course I could be wrong about that.

EDIT 01 - to fix typo in EB-3 nut width.
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[DavesnothereCA]

The only 32" electric bass, that I'm aware of, is the Eastwood Sidejack 32. ([Invalid or Expired Link Removed]) Though I have to believe there are others out there....

...Ibanez makes a few 32" acoustic/electric basses. (AEB5, AEB10, AEB20, AEGB14)

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Thanks.

I so far looked at the Eastwood, and I like that the nut width is 1.625" like a 'P', and that Eastwood is a Canadian company, (though I must wonder whether their factory is elsewhere, and that may not matter, but I still wonder).

However not so sure that I like the position of the pickups, nor the modest bridge pieces travel for intonation setting - I would rather that the pups were closer to where a Jazz has them.

Also in pic #4, I see a lamination point in the neck which worries me. - It does eliminate the headstock weakness which classic Gibsons inherently have, but might introduce another one instead.

But as you suggested, there also are several from Ibanez, and I have always found their guitars to get plenty of respect in general, like Yamaha also has.

Followup 1 :

Those Ibanez models are beauties, but unfortunately aren't solid body, so not a candidate for me ATM.

On SweetWater, I saw some Ibanez solids in 30" scale, the other day.

Who knows, I might try one of those anyway.

Put heavier strings on a 30" scale bass (.050 thru .110 or so) and the tension should be reasonable (I have .045 thru .100 on my Ric).

Followup 2 :

An external search gave this interesting older TB thread :

What are some 32 inch scale basses?

and from that thread, THIS one :

The Official Medium Scale Bass Club
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[MikeD]

Keep in mind, the Ibanez models that I mentioned are all acoustic basses. As is the Fender BG-31 AGB. Ergo, obviously not solid bodies.

They do have a 30" version of the Talman solid body. And a couple of the hollow/semi-hollow basses are 30" scale.