Double Bass Is a 5/8 right for me?

[El Thumpo]

Gottliver is not the OP, that is Chuckbass and his issue is being resolved or at least we are awaiting his update.

Never implied that Gottliver was the OP, only that he was trying to get us back to the matter at hand.

Anyway I'm out. PEACE.

Peace back at you. Very kind of you, really, to go out in a blaze of dwarves.

So...5/8ths, anyone? Can we even come up with a working definition of what that means? Is strictly mensure, or overall size?

 

[Bert Slide]

Never implied that Gottliver was the OP, only that he was trying to get us back to the matter at hand.



Peace back at you. Very kind of you, really, to go out in a blaze of dwarves.

So...5/8ths, anyone? Can we even come up with a working definition of what that means? Is strictly mensure, or overall size?

I love the Dwarves! So cool that you are a fan too!

Oh and to answer your question and not to keep drifting off topic:

It should be quite obvious to anyone who's read the stickies that there is no definitve size for DB's although a 5/8 will probably be smaller in overall size and/or mensure than most basses labeled as 3/4. It is very important to have your teacher aid you in determining the correct size and mensure for your body size and playing style and also appropriate for the music you will be playing.

OK I'm really out this time I just couldn't resist.

 

[El Thumpo]

It should be quite obvious to anyone who's read the stickies that there is no definitve size for DB's although a 5/8 will probably be smaller in overall size and/or mensure than most basses labeled as 3/4.

No, there's no "definitive size", in the same sense as, say, eggs or olives are classified (fun fact: a Super Colossal olive weighs at least 1/32nd of a pound). But precisely because that's the case, I'm wondering if we might arrive at some useful criteria by consensus instead.

And the goal isn't quantifying the instrument's overall size; it's quantifying the relationship between hand size and fingerboard distances. Getting back to the OP and his eight-hour drive--he wants to know what might be comfortable to play.

[Yes, we've established that tiny music teachers can impress by peeling off licks on even large basses. That doesn't mean they select them as their personal instrument.]

One diffusing factor seems to be marketing. For instance, there's a bass a dealer is advertising in my area as a "3/4 minus" with a mensure of 40.5", yet Lemur sells a 5/8th bass with a 41.25" mensure. I'm sure their physical volumes are different, but my left hand doesn't care about that--it cares about how much it has to stretch from an Ab to a B.

Fractional sizes, vague as they are, don't really seem to be germane. Couldn't we come up with an entirely separate matrix, one that correlates fingerspan ratio to string length?

 

[homersbassfarm]

Sorry Chuck, I will try to reply more on topic.

I have heard several bass players who go from electric to upright, say that approaching it as two different instruments helped. In other words trying to match up playing lengths was not really possible. Probably the best thing would be to play a few 5/8 and small 3/4 and approach it as a new discipline. I would imagine that going from electric to upright is not that easy. It seems that it will be hard enough with the different feel, but separating the electric playing from the upright playing might help. It will be important to find a 5/8 or small 3/4 that feels good, but also it will need to produce the sound that you want. Be patient, this could take some time.

 

[tappingtrance]

Wow....

 

[mgcasella]

In response to the OP:

I went to KC Strings last week and they had a 5/8 "hybrid" upright bass for me to try. They explained that it's a "hybrid" because it has a full-sized 3/4 body but a scale shorter than the common 41.5 inches.

After using a 3/4 with a scale of 43.75 inches (we got a more accurate measurement at KC Strings) I could definitely feel a difference. However, I wasn't completely sure if the scale would make the difference I was hoping for because the bass was set up with for classical music (metal strings, etc).

In a few days, KC Strings got my Innovation Psychoslaps on there along with the proper action, and I went to try it out - it was AWESOME! My bass is SO much easier to play now and is MUCH MUCH MUCH more comfortable to play!

So, to the OP, I HIGHLY recommend you drive the distance and try out the 5/8 - you won't be disappointed!