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What makes a "comfortable" bass guitar?

#21
Definitely overthinking it. Get out of TB, play basses, the one that you dig and you vibe with is the right one. Eventually it may not feel that way someday and then you can trade it for another one or just expand on your arsenal. Make it about the music, not the gear. I've been playing for 15+ years and have four basses (I think) and I can't tell you what the weight or neck radius of them were other than they felt good, sounded great for what I needed them at the moment and most important, I had a blast playing them on and off stage :).
 
#22
BassHappy said:
Easy - a combination of two essential things:

The perfect scale length to provide a comfortable reach - which is in harmony with your physical stature and avoids any unnecessary stress and strain.

A relatively light bass that hangs and rests with perfect balance and defaults to the ideal playing position whether sitting or standing - and encourages your shoulders, neck, back and spine to stay in relative alignment when you play.

BassHappy
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This is pretty much spot on.

But lets not forget - an excellent strap can go a long way into making an uncomfortable bass, more comfortable.
 
#24
I have played dozens of basses lately.....Warwicks( neck tru Germans), Ibanez ( high end stuff), Gibson, G&L, Lakeland, ......I sold my GL Jazz when I got my Essence and its the most complete bass I have played. Gorgeous, light and perfectly balanced. Perfect neck and scale for me. If I could get a 5 string and fretless someday I would die happy.
 
#25
Mosfed said:
This is pretty much spot on.

But lets not forget - an excellent strap can go a long way into making an uncomfortable bass, more comfortable.
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That is an excellent point and absolutely true, and can be VERY helpful.

However, you have to be careful and use a mirror to evaluate your posture on an ongoing basis. The next time you go out, pay close and careful attention to the posture of the bass player. Is the spine 100% straight? Is the torso or shoulders slightly tilted one way or another? Is the body weight and the weight of the instrument equally distributed on both feet? You can teach yourself to recognize this.

Even with a compensating strap if you examine the precise playing posture of certain players - you can see that they are leaning even very slightly one way or another at their torsos or shoulders. Over many many years, this can and WILL take it's toll and can easily contribute to a fertile breeding ground for a variety of repetitive stress injuries, including numbness, carpel tunnel and tendonitis to name a few.

It's always better to fall in love with a bass that is so perfectly balanced it hangs in perfect playing position with ANY strap and is also balanced well when sitting down.

When it comes to repetitive stress injuries, it is best to stack the deck in your favor as much as humanly possible. If you are a serious player who loves playing - check out your posture on an ongoing basis. Adjust yourself or your instrument as necessary - and you should be rocking hard for many, many years.

BassHappy
 
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#27
I really love my Höfner Ignition for the lightness and the neck was comfortable than my 1500€ jazz and the Höfner had better fretwork. Though it doesn't really have a thumb-rest in an ergonomic place so I just use the Jazz.
 
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#28
For me, I've found that I've never really gotten along with flat fingerboards - I think this is what really put me off of Sadowskys and Warwicks. Conversely, I've felt the most comfortable on my old 7.25" radius Fenders, with big deep neck profiles - this despite not having particularly large hands! They just seem to fit right.
 
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#33
I hear ya, and thats the danger about trying to run a numbers game on something as subjective as the "feel" of a bass. I'm hoping to try out the couple of basses on my current wishlist. Then I'll just commit to one. Its my first bass, and I want to jump into playing. I can correct my mistakes with my second bass. Right now I'm playing basslines on a cheap guitar I bought from (of all people) Monoprice, so anything's an improvement.
 
#35
SteveHeissner said:
I suppose it's subjective. If you're 6 foot 8 inches tall, weigh 340 lbs and only have 5% body fat you'll likely think a 10 lb bass is light as a feather. And if you have the giant hands to go with the rest of your size, any neck will feel thin.
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If you find such a person I would like to be their (sports) agent.
 
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