Small hands

Oh, boy... Here we go again. There is another thread from today on this topic around here somewhere. You will find a lot of good advice in there, despite the conflicting views.

 

This is about the 4th thread like this in a week. Relax. I see 9 year olds on YouTube killing it with full sized basses. But everyone is different. Go to some music stores and start trying some basses. You might prefer a short scale, which likely would leave you with 4 stringers, but until you start playing some, you won't know.

 

Get over it - no such thing.......

 

I’m a big guy with small hands. I play bass with no issues mainly a five string. There are some basses that will feel better for you then others so go find one. There is no excuse with small hands and playing so get it out of your head. BTW Ibanez makes some pretty good fives with thinner necks but the string spacing can be and issues for some.

 

You'll be fine. Go practice!

 

Let those of us who are into that sort of thing now commence to feel worthless about ourselves and our wretched abilities that any semi-gifted child now can surpass.

 

From the base of my palm to the tip of my middle finger is about 7" as well. I am self conscious about it as well. I didn't really notice or think about it until I was in my 30s, and then it started bugging me. 5 string basses and thick profile necks on basses like a Fender P cause me a lot of grief, especially close to the nut. 6 string basses are just plain out for me.
Flatter profile necks like a Ibanez or Pedulla work for me. But I can honestly say that I've never played a bass where the neck felt "perfect." I always feel like I'm fighting with finger placement, and even though I've been playing for 25 years, there are times where I don't feel as "in control" of my bass as some players look when I watch them.
I don't know what to tell you.

 

Here is a poll on finger length, so that you can see that people of all different hand sizes are successful at playing the bass.

Average Finger Length (index finger)?

 

I'm tall with very large hands. Add to that I'm a thumb hanger, never learning the proper fretting technique. Larger hands allowed me to get by pretty easy with the wrong left hand position. Gradually I've adjusted to the correct “thumb behind the neck” on many passages but never gave up the thumb overhang completely.

The moral is, size got nothing to do with it but technique does. If it did, these youngin's wouldn't be playing me under the table.

 

Just shorten your strap. Nobody can reach around the neck.