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Small hands... :(

#21
Jim Breece said:
I just measured my hand. 3 1/2" wide at the knuckles not counting thumb, and 8" from bottom of my palm to end of middle finger. Am I measuring the same way you are? If so, I bet it's more a matter of practice and conditioning than it is size. I had a problem with 34" scale (with any scale really) when I started but it soon got better. I play a fairly wide neck 5 string with a 36" B string with no problem and my hand isn't way bigger than yours. If the stretch on your present bass makes your hand sore or tender I'd look at maKing a change pretty quickly, but otherwise it may be normal adaptation that you're going through.
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What you say is true... However, personally I might kill for an extra inch reach! That being said, it's all about practice. You do what you gotta do with what you got.
 
#22
A quick measurement of my hand showed 3 3/4 W x 7 1/2 L. When I was 20, I played 1 fret per finger, but it caused soreness and stiffness even back then. Now that I am *ahem* older, I make every effort to minimize the stress on my hands. I play nearly everything with 1-2-4 fingering and shift as needed. I use fairly light gauge strings, and keep my basses set up for low action. I watch my technique to avoid contortions of shoulders, arms, wrists and fingers.

While it would be nice to be physically gifted with perfect bass hands, you should be able to play 34" scale just fine. Have a knowledgeable teacher help you with technique.
 
#23
I switched to 5-string so I could avoid the first-position stretch. It made playing a lot easier, but i've since started forcing myself to do the stretch anyway as a means of being capable of playing anywhere on the neck.

There's a certain logic to the 'practise until you can do it' argument, but don't do anything that might harm a tendon or anything like that. I'm speaking from the wrong side of a *lot* of physiotherapy bills (Or 'physical therapy' for the American friends).
 
#24
roadkill2309 said:
There's a certain logic to the 'practise until you can do it' argument, but don't do anything that might harm a tendon or anything like that. I'm speaking from the wrong side of a *lot* of physiotherapy bills (Or 'physical therapy' for the American friends).
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That's the jist of it for me- just because you can train your body to stretch a certain way doesn't mean it's in your best interest in the long run. Finding the difference between adaption pains and body limitation pains is important.
 
#28
I have a wider but otherwise similar hand size. +1 on the practice and stick with it comments.

I had a teacher who said do what's comfortable, like sleepytime's comment about 1-2-4. I couldn't believe I was allowed to do that. It seemed like cheating or counter-classical style, or whatever. But heck, you alter your technique and style a bit and enhance the enjoyment of playing a lot. I do that until like the 7th fret, depending on the bass, and it's a lot better. But I play mostly bluegrass, blues, roots, rock and jam stuff, and usually not too fast.

I find 35" scale can be a long stretch, but depends how much time you spend by the nut. I have a 30" Rob Allen Mouse that is unbelievably comfortable to play.

Also, keep in mind that some 5ers have tapered necks, so the neck gets wider as you go down the neck. I have a 34" Rob Allen mb2-5 like that and sometimes find I like to stay near the nut even though you get the almost-2-octave positions lower down.

Good luck and happy new year, DM
 
#30
sleepytime said:
I'm not much into 5'ers, but does anybody make one short scale?
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There are very few outside of the custom builders, of which the Birdsong Hy5 is one of the most reasonably priced. There was a recent thread about this.
 
#33
Shade13 said:
what is the 1-2-4 style?
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Using your first, second, and fourth fingers when fretting in the first five frets to avoid extra stretching in the lower registers, also called the Simandl method I believe. As opposed to the one-finger-per-fret method.
 
#36
My hands are the same size as yours (give or take a quarter inch)
It's all about practice. I play a 34" scale just fine.
Make sure your left hand technique is solid, good technique allows for consistency across the fingerboard.
One finger one fret comes with steady practice.
Big hands do help, but good technique helps more.
You might also want to lower your string gauge.
 

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