Switching basses and getting used to different basses

[Rabidhamster]

That’s very interesting. My precision is wide and flat too. I don’t power through any kind of pain it’s usually soreness around bed time and nothing too crazy. I like that it is different as GrapeBass mentioned. Some discomfort may be a part of adjusting I guess.

Is it the same type of soreness you would get when you first started playing the bass you’re comfortable with now?
Playing til you’re tired and muscle sore is one thing, you have to move more on a wider neck, but even mild tendon soreness isn’t something to get used to if you can avoid it.

 

[chazsundance]

I'm in the exact same boat. I've had a Jazz bass for almost 13 yrs. I love the sound and look of a P-bass and I've had a couple but my hand cramps up easily and its usually during gigs. I play some faster parts and sometimes gets intricate so my hand fatigues on the P-bass a lot faster. I recently ordered a custom shop P-Bass and the neck was way bigger then some of the American Ps I've owned, sadly I had to return it. I see that there are a couple Precision basses with Jazz necks so that might be the route.

 

[juancaminos]

You’ll be fine.

I bring a different bass to every rehearsal just to rotate them.

This is what I do...

 

[jdh3000]

I've not really had to get used to other basses. I played a thick necked P when I was younger. Later on I started playing Ibanezes, but wound up with another precision. It felt different of course, not quite as thick of a neck as my old one, but if I played it daily I'd notice a difference. I switch back n forth to my Ibanez and Squier.

I have a Cort headless that I really never play, just came on a trade... but it feels weird and would take me a while to get used to.

 

[dzcandemir]

Is it the same type of soreness you would get when you first started playing the bass you’re comfortable with now?
Playing til you’re tired and muscle sore is one thing, you have to move more on a wider neck, but even mild tendon soreness isn’t something to get used to if you can avoid it.

I feel it mostly between my wrist and knuckles. It may be due to having to reach longer distances. I guess it may be similar to discomfort as a beginner.

 

[lermgalieu]

I'm with those who say keep rotating! I have a couple of short scale basses, two Ps, a U-bass, and upright and a Stingray. I play all those scale lengths/neck shapes (except the U-bass) regularly. After a while, you don't really think that much about it.

 

[foolforthecity]

I run through a gamut of basses for live basses. For today’s show I’ll be sportin’ a new SBMM Ray 34 in light blue with maple neck. Next gig will be yet another

 

[overit]

Play something long and consistently enough and it’ll become familiar. Then make sure you switch up between your newly familiar instrument and your old ones.

Everyone’s different though and some will have more, less or zero time to adjust. If you were sensitive to moving from a J neck to a P, I’d highly recommend starting the 5 transition only if both of those feel completely normal switching back and forth. Then, put those away for a few months and only play the 5 until that feels familiar, then introduce the 4s back in. Again YMMV, but that worked for me.

 

[MikePlaysBass]

I have several basses including fretted, fretless, an Electric Upright and a Ukulele Bass, so big differences there, but once you develop muscle memory for them switching between them is no big deal. If I don’t play one for a while, it might take a few more minutes to get comfortable with it, but not that anyone would notice.
What’s more important for me for the electric basses is have them all with the strap length set so they all hang exactly the same. I have separate straps for each since the same strap may hang a bit higher or lower on some.

 

[_One//Man//Mutiny_]

I would definitely suggest getting your hands on a couple of different 5 necks as some are huge compared to 4 strings, some are cramped. I had it in my mind I wanted the narrow spacing of a EBMM 5 and I tried out a bunch and wasn’t really thrilled with any of them. I ended up picking up a big old coffee table single cut Ibanez BTB Terra Firma and that’s the stuff, it’s wide but shallow and with the 35 inch scale along with how it’s built the B string is awesome. It’s pretty much all the things I wrote off in my mind as not for me and it turned out to be perfect, even down to the Bartolinis. I’ve owned a few 5 strings in the past that had bad Bs and ended up changing them to E-C tuning. As far as swapping from bass to bass. I’ve been playing the Ibanez a lot, then going to a fanned fret then playing my short scales. I think all of that becomes easier after time. Those little extra strains from opening your hand farther or closing your hand more becomes second nature after a while. I do know that the few and far between time I got to use a small screwdriver after a few minutes my hands start to cramp up so I know where you’re coming from!

 

[soundsupport1]

I switch between a 34" passive 4 string and a 35" active 5 string fretless.
For me the biggest challenge is the slight increase in reach for a minor 3rd at the 5th fret on the fretless (so, say, playing an A on the E string and a C on the A string). I also tend to fall over a bit on the string spacing. I've occasionally plucked thin air between the A and E string!
But it takes about 3 bars for everything to come together just fine.
It's just a matter of getting used to it, honestly. I had the 4 string for a decade, then bought the 5 and played it exclusively for about a month, then I would put my music on shuffle and play for about an hour, but SWAP BASS EVERY SONG, just to get the feel of it. I've had the two basses together about a year now. They are now both instantly comfortable.

Peace,
SoundSupport

 

[MrLenny1]

Just do it. I use to find a P neck wide but
after playing 5 string basses for a long time
a P bass neck feels small.

 

[Ihaveshingles]

I definitely find that the string spacing from a regular 4 (19mm) to a 5/6 string with 16.5 mm spacing ( Warwick, Ibanez) is the biggest challenge as it messes with my muscle memory....

 

[Gustopher]

I have decided recently after acquiring a 5 string that I am not going to swap back and forth anymore until I totally settle in to this particular bass. I used to always have a few basses around but they were similar enough to not notice a difference, but with the 5 I need to dedicate my attention to getting comfortable with this bass and only this one for a while.

 

[Zoffy]

At home I have several standard Fender basses (P, J, P/J). At my band's practice studio I have a 24-fret Spector, which I usually gig with. I also have a 5 string Yamaha. If I don't play the 5-string for a while, it takes a minute or two to adjust. The strap button on the Spector sits at the 14th fret as opposed to the 12th on the Fenders, so if I don't play the Spector regularly my landmarks are a little off and I have to look at the fingerboard more than I like to. No big issues, though - I just have to pay attention to what instrument I'm playing.

 

[Diminishedfilth]

Back when I owned a variety of different basses. I never had trouble switching. Life happened though, and my only bass for a couple of years was my fretless Warwick Corvette. During that period, never play anything else, never made any trips to local shops, too depressing. After I got everything else back on course, I picked up a really nice American Precision, and I was totally lost playing a fretted bass. Scared the fudge out of me at first, but after a few days the muscle memory redeveloped and I was right back to murdering 1980’s slap bass lines.

 

[LowActionHero]

I have a 5 with narrower string spacing, its the only one that throws me off a little , but I'm getting more used to it the more I practice with it and switch back and forth.

 

[40Hz]

I switch regularly between 4 and 5 strings and different scale lengths. I haven’t experienced any actual challenges moving back and forth. It’s true every bass needs a little (very little IMO) time for you to get acclimated to it. And maybe a little more time completely suss out depending on the bass. But you’d go through that whether you played one bass or ten. So to me at least it’s no big deal. Or shouldn’t be.

I’ve found almost every “hurdle” you’ll encounter or hear about that relates to playing bass is only as large and problematic as you allow your mind to make it.

To me NBD = NBD.
As in: “new bass day” = “no big deal.”

 

[C Stone]

It'll work out, I play fretted, fretless, two octave, five string, and short scale, I treat em as individuals the only thing I remember being kinda tripped out on was narrower string spacing adjustment (less than a week).

 

[B String]

I'm wondering how many of the responders on this thread never have look at their hands when they play. For the players who switch basses often I would like to ask if you feel comfortable playing all over the neck without a glance. Much of the time when I'm working, I'm reading. I rarely look at my hands at all, especially on the upright bass. My main bass is a 5 string Jazz bass with 17.5 spacing. I also have a new Nordstrand short scale "Cat" bass that is 17mm, and some other regular 19mm basses. I can easily switch between any of them but it definitely takes a while to feel like I can just play them with out looking at all without some "uh oh" moments of miss fretting. So... Do most of you look at your hands when you play?