String Spacing and Width for a Small-Handed Player

Hello there. Sorry for only bothering you all when it's convenient for me, but this is always the best place to come for solid advice when it comes to my bass work. Thank you all so much for that! On to my inquiry:

I've got quite small hands. I've often compared them to the size of the average lady's and mine are, on average, the same size, if not slightly bigger or even slightly smaller. However, I've developed a fair reach all around the fretboard due to my background in guitar that carried over nicely to when I started playing bass.

Currently, I play a Cort Artisan B4--a 4-string I specifically chose for its small string spacing, light weight and fast action--and an MTD Beast 5--a bass with gargantuan width compared with what I'm used to (19mm string spacing, 35" scale).

Now, I will say I love playing the MTD despite its initial difficulty. Once I warm up to it, I'm flying around pretty well, but it still feels clunky from time to time and, admittedly, kinda hurts after a while of so much stretching. More than anything else, though, I love the sound of the MTD. It's not quite that signature MTD sound (Czech-made, only $500 used), but it's the closest I could get for now and has a fantastic growl.

I say all this because I have the opportunity, as an employee of a local shop, to get a Cort Curbow 52 at cost on a special deal. I've played this bass before and quite enjoyed it. Even though it didn't compare to the growl of the MTD, it was much easier to perform on it than the MTD. Specifically, it actually has a pretty significantly smaller spacing than most 5-strings (17mm, I think) and a 34" scale.

To jump on this deal, however, I would have to sell my MTD, as I do not have the cash and the deal is over with at the beginning of next month.

Thus, I'm wondering two things:
1. Should I go ahead and sell the MTD, compromising that sound I enjoy for the performance?
2. Should I just tough it out and continue to adapt to the wider string spacing? (Furthermore, is it "healthy" for me to continue adapting to a wide spacing when my teeny hands don't seem capable of really excelling on such a scale?)

 

Thanks for the replies so far, everyone! Much appreciated.

@mjmeche Ah, thanks for the affirmation. Yeah, I haven't found any 5-strings at 34" while quickly browsing, but I'm really not looking to get another one aside from the Cort Curbow while I can with this super deal.

@Tommygunn I've never had the opportunity to try a Danelectro, but when it arises, I'll definitely check em out! As I reiterated, though, the only bass I'm really considering at this point is that Curbow due to the deal I can get on it and how much I liked it the last time I had one to mess around with.

@Sav'nBass Another vote for comfortability, cool! That's what I was thinking. There's always stuff I can tweak with strings and such. I've come to find that more of my personal sound comes from my approach, strings, and amp anyway, but I'll definitely miss that MTD growl if I end up going through it. Oh well, more reason to save up for the even better growl for me, the Warwick And definitely true that I can't swap my hands, but I can always swap basses!

 

Oh, probably should've specified. Thought I hit everything, too!

Fretting hand more than anything. Along with the spacing, the neck is really wide (another thing I kinda left out, but thought would be implied with the bridge spacing I guess). It's pretty difficult to get around on the fretboard as much as I'm used to with so much width.

My other hand doesn't get nearly as tired, though there's still a difficulty there as well, specifically with string-skipping and such. But, the problem is predominately with the fretting hand.

 

Hmm. Maybe it's just more of a preference thing in the end. I keep chalking my own difficulties up to a physical limitation, and while it could definitely be that, it could also just be my approach, and my approach typically is the easier to dig in, the better.

Any other thoughts on this matter, anyone?

 

Thanks for the responses while I was gone at work!

@NewGuy Huh, really? I always figured Warwicks were 35" as well. I've always wanted a Warwick, but I'd want to save up for the $4000 Corvette $$ NT. Right now, my options are sell the MTD and go for the deal, or don't do anything.

@wooheehaa I really do have short fingers, haha. Though yeah, I get used to the bass every now and then, but it really is a struggle.

@Lo-E Well, I wouldn't really call the Cort a compromise. Aside from winning Best of Show in the bass category at last year's NAMM, the bass itself from what I remember was superb. If I sounded like I was knocking its sound earlier, then I apologize; I only meant to say it doesn't sound like an MTD. It has its own character and feel that I really enjoyed while I had one at my shop to mess around with. Now, with a special deal ending soon, I figured it would be high time to jump on top of it, albeit for the cost of one of my other basses that I find myself not being completely satisfied with anyway. That's also why waiting is out of the question for this specific case. I really want to either jump on this time-limited deal now or just wait (and for a while at that).

That's pretty much how I'm looking at this right now. Is it worth toughing it out until I semi-permanently become comfortable with my MTD or just go for something that's comfortable now and will stay comfortable? For that reason, I'm really thinking of jumping on this before my time is up.

Thanks again for all the feedback. At this point, I think I'm just about set on selling the MTD and nabbing the fantastic Curbow 52 while I can. If there's anything anyone else can add, though, it would be greatly appreciated.