Is it possible to thin out a Double Basses neck for ease of playability? Is this a common approach to increasing the playability of basses with very large/thick necks?
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Double Bass Thinning out a Neck?
- Thread starter anonymous12251111
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I agree, the thickness helps with leverage to clamp your hand down on the string. The parabolic shape of the cross section of the neck can make a difference in how uniform the "feel" is laterally across the 4 (or 5) strings. Of course, there are basses I've played that had really huge necks but it doesn't take much time for your hand to adapt. I've known a couple of players that have had their necks reshaped, but not to make them thinner. If it's a well shaped curve, then I second the suggestion that you look at the nut slots and string height instead.
Chris
Chris
and your hands. There's a good reason that a lot of people don't stay on those Englehart's and other basses with thin necks real long. they seem easier to play if your griping the neck like a hammer. which is how a lot of beginners start but the larger more U shaped necks help to promote good hand position and arching of the fingers. no say for instance you bass had a 4x4 for a neck maybe you would want to re shape it.
I thought the neck on my upright was absoloutly huge when I first got it, but I was used to BG. I was thinking of thinning my neck out, but I have gotten so used to it, now the BG feels foreign to me.
Matthew Tucker
Commercial User
- Aug 21, 2002
- 2,686
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- Owner: Bresque Basses, Sydney Basses and Cellos
The thicker/deeper the neck the more difficult it is for smaller hands to play with the thumb on the neck directly behind the second finger. A shallow neck allows the thumb to become a lot closer to the rest of your left hand, therefore reducing fatigue. I don't have a problem with string length as my fingers can stretch, I have a problem with fatigue of the left hand thumb when it is directly behind the second finger on a thick neck. The thinner the neck the more relaxed and less rigid a small hand has to be.
There are many posts on this. The overwhelming evidence is that the thinner neck causes more fatigue. Try this simple test.Grip a book in your left hand that is close to the thickness of your bass neck . Now do the same with a thinner book. Which one is easier ? Probably the thicker one, though it seems it should be the other way around. This is the test that Arnold Schnitzer sugjested on this topic once. If You don't Know who he is look for the ads on New Standard Basses. He is sombody to listen to( hope I quoted You ok Arnold). Don't let anyone convince You to shave the neck down much. You can take it off , but You can't put it back. You risk damage to your body and resale value of Your bass. I sugjest You re examine You physical approach to the bass and the setup and strings 1st. Good luck
Me again, sorry. My teacher in college had small hands and an average size bass neck. I know a young lady who just graduated from college and is about 5 feet tall & has tiny hands. She got through high school and college on a shen bass with an average size neck, certainly not a thin neck. I heard her play for Edgar Meyer at a master class & he said she sounded great, which she does. She now has a bass with a smaller body, but not a thin neck.
Calvin,
Is your left hand thumb "hyperextended" when you play? By this I mean is the nuckle of your thumb locked, so that your thumb is almost pointing backwards?
I thought the same thing on my old bass that had a thicker neck, that it was difficult to play because of the size. After lots of work on making my thumb slightly bent at the nuckle while playing, which in turn makes it more relaxed, has really helped. Look at your thumb RIGHT NOW. If your thumb is in a relaxed position, it should be slighty bent at the nuckle pointing inwards to the rest of your hand, but not too much. Work on having it look like this when you are playing. It took a couple weeks, but now I am used to keeping my thumb like this and no longer have fatigue in my thumb or palm area.
I play a Kay now, which has a thinner neck. It is actually a little more difficult for me to keep good position with the thin neck - but I still keep it just fine. Once you get used to it, there is no going back.
I hope this post is relevant to your issue!
Alan
Is your left hand thumb "hyperextended" when you play? By this I mean is the nuckle of your thumb locked, so that your thumb is almost pointing backwards?
I thought the same thing on my old bass that had a thicker neck, that it was difficult to play because of the size. After lots of work on making my thumb slightly bent at the nuckle while playing, which in turn makes it more relaxed, has really helped. Look at your thumb RIGHT NOW. If your thumb is in a relaxed position, it should be slighty bent at the nuckle pointing inwards to the rest of your hand, but not too much. Work on having it look like this when you are playing. It took a couple weeks, but now I am used to keeping my thumb like this and no longer have fatigue in my thumb or palm area.
I play a Kay now, which has a thinner neck. It is actually a little more difficult for me to keep good position with the thin neck - but I still keep it just fine. Once you get used to it, there is no going back.
I hope this post is relevant to your issue!
Alan
Learn to relax and lighten up your touch a bit. this is what I had to do with both hands, and I am now getting to the point of being able to get good tone for a longer period without fatigue. There is an exercise where you put your thumb on the side of the neck, and only use your fingers, without the counterbalance of the thumb, to press the string to build finger strength. Others can probably direct you to what I am talking about. Try this and see what happens.
calvin, it is possible, and i would recommend it if you are experienced enough to know what you do and what you need. i read many of your posts, and think you are able to decide to do this.
i´ve done this with one new bass to achieve the thickness i was used to on my main bass. i had no problems at all.
i play on several basses with differnt thick necks (including a kay) and have absolutly no problem.
I too have had necks shaved down. A couple came out fine, on 2 others the guy doing it got carried away & made it too thin for me. This ruined both basses for me, but the guys I sold them to like them. My main advice is to reduce the thickness less than You think You want. You may decide to take off more wood later, but You can't put it back. You may regret it if You shave it down too much. IMHO
Very true. I just got a new bass, and my old one had a very thing neck and fingerboard (almost like a cello's) And it was very comfortable for my small hands. But when I talked to a luthier about it, they said although it was ideal for my hands, it would increase the string tension greatly, and damage the bass greatly. So I say, stick with the larger neck- you're bass won't die!
Matthew Tucker
Commercial User
- Aug 21, 2002
- 2,686
- 387
- Disclosures
- Owner: Bresque Basses, Sydney Basses and Cellos
Well, the strings are held in the pegbox and at the tailpiece. So, the points of tension are at the tailpiece wire and tuners in the pegbox. Of course there are other tension points, but in my opinion, these two are the extremes. So what LemurBassist's luthier is trying to say is that the tension from the pegbox is also apparent in the neck. Just imagine the bass lying on its back and you're viewing it from the side so you see the bass parallel to the ground. The tension of the strings at the extreme two points will cause the bass to bend in a u-shape. Same as if you take a strip of thin cardboard and have a rubberband around it lengthwise. So, sorry for taking so long, the thickness of the neck plays an important part in the stability of the bass. If the neck is thin, it won't increase string tension but the tension on the neck will be greater. Being weaker than a thick neck, it might snap.
Well, that what I think.
Thanks
Well, that what I think.
Thanks
for ease of playability, I like a neck that requires as little hand change as possible when going into thumb position from lower positions. too large a neck hampers speed, yet too small a neck is dangerous and affects the sound.
I've got a newish romanian fully carved bass that came with a tree trunk for a neck. After playing a bass that my luthier had replaced the neck on, i went ahead and had the neck thinned. Now the bass is a couple of pounds lighter and much more of a delight to play. I have large hands (I'm 6'3") and i feel like my bass went from a too big neck to a normal size neck, and that has helped me overcome wrist pain issues. Hope that helps.
Going to stick my neck out here - to say that the Shen 88 neck is too fat. I think they put together a beautiful instrument but maybe marketed it for a ‘Western’ market of presumably larger hands.
After a couple of days practicing on it followed by a strenuous gig, there’s some fatigue at the back of my left wrist - not an issue with my German bass with it’s more conventional neck circumference.
This band leader is lining up more work for me, much of it outdoors where I’d use the Shen.
Would a careful, limited shave of the neck weaken its stability and ultimately ruin the bass? I’d rather endure the temporary hand discomfort than wreck the bass irredeemably.
