Headstock fivers: two by three or three by two?

[whero]

I recently got a Squier Jazz Bass V so it's 4+1. As I've also been playing a Fender 4 string for a few years, I sometimes twist the last top tuner expecting it to be the G, but of course it's the D. Then I remember there's another cloverleaf on the bottom. Slowly getting used to it...

 

[acid bass]

My Warwicks and Ric are 3+2. Then the Stingray is 4+1. I'm often tuning the D instead of the A on the Ray.

 

[Klangfarbe]

Doesn't really matter to me if its two by three or three by two, as long as it's reversed.

 

[2F/2F]

G&L L-5000: 4+1
G&L L-5500: 4+1

 

[nnnnnn]

I like the look of 2+3, but my first bass was 4+1 and my current bass is also 4+1, that's just how things happened to work out.

The main thing, as has been mentioned already, is that 5 inline is no good.

 

[Ricky Rioli]

I don't own a 5 inline because that is objectively awful.

Except when it isn't

 

[micguy]

I have basses made with Warmoth necks, which you can get with 2+3 or 3+2. I made the first one 3 on top, but the rest with 2 on top. 2 on top moves the tuner for the B string a bit further out, which reduces the chance of winding the fat part of the string around it. That gives it the advantage, especially with a 34 inch scale - strings are being would with more winding length to accommodate 35 inch scales, which aggravates that issue on a 34.

I had a 5 in line Carvin in the 80’s, and was constantly running into things - that thing was awful on a tight stage.

 

[Zooberwerx]

My Fernandi are 3+2 as is my mid-tier Soundgear. My upper-end Soundgear is 2+3. Apparently, Ibanez can't make up its mind, either.

Riis

 

[ModuMan]

Except when it isn't

Was waiting for someone to post a pointy headstock, was not disappointed.

 

[BigBigGuy44]

My 5 is 4+1 and I do at times reach for the D thinking it’s the E. Oops. What throws me off even more is a reverse wound J. Natural instincts always has me turning that one the wrong way.

 

[BassyFred]

Buy a 6-string bass.

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

This unsolvable dilemma is the entire reason 6-string basses were created.

 

[chris_b]

I start on the G and work down one side and up the other. Never had a problem with that system, so far.

 

[wysiwyg248]

My two cents: Sell them both and buy an MTD -you may need to sell a kidney in the process-. Problem solved.

 

[skyline_01]

Would I? No. But I don't own a 5 inline because that is objectively awful.

Agreed - 5 inline, for whatever reason, always put me off. I had a MIM Fender Jazz Deluxe V for a while and liked most everything about it except for the tuner config.

 

[two fingers]

I own a 4+1 and a 3+2.

Yes, I grab the wrong tuner from time to time.

 

[el murdoque]

I had the exact same problem. 3+2 and 2+3 (Carvin LB75 and Dreizehnbass Invader5).
Tuning the A string has constantly been a problem.

Solution: I switched over to 6 strings

 

[DwaynieAD]

2 by 3 just sounds weird to me.

 

[96tbird]

I don’t know how to help the OP, but other players should know they may have to wait around for him to find his A and get in tune. Might be a dealbreaker at audition.

 

[brianrost]

Over the years I've owned 5+0, 4+1 and 3+2, never 2+3. I did own a 3+2 and 4+1 at the same time and that did indeed drive me nuts when I switched basses.

Today I own a 4+1 Fender and a headless NS Design with 5 in line rotary tuners at the bridge. I suppose that the tuners being at different ends of each bass lowers the brain fart quotient.