What's a good bass for small hands?

[bob atherton]

I have small hands but love the tone of 34" scale basses. I use or have used over the years Rickenbacker 4001's, Fender J's and Musicman Sterling. All of the above have been 4 string basses. They all have narrow necks, but are all long scale.

I have to slide arround the fingerboard a bit from time to time but this has become part of 'my' sound.

With your budget the Fender J fits your pocket and hands well.

 

[Twenty2AcaciaAv]

I have small hands but love the tone of 34" scale basses. I use or have used over the years Rickenbacker 4001's, Fender J's and Musicman Sterling. All of the above have been 4 string basses. They all have narrow necks, but are all long scale.

I have to slide arround the fingerboard a bit from time to time but this has become part of 'my' sound.

With your budget the Fender J fits your pocket and hands well.

Yeah, I'm not looking for a small scale neck. I love that my Stilleto Custom is a 34" scale. I also love that it has a narrow neck, which is what I'm looking for.

 

[Jazzdogg]

Technique technique technique. With good technique, even kids can play a 3/4 upright.

+10

 

[randyripoff]

Go to the store and pick up a bass. Play it for a few minutes. If it feels good, that's your bass. Short Scale, Medium Scale, Long Scale, it doesn't matter unless it feels good in your hands.

 

[fhm555]

I can play a wide thick neck, but it's like work and I do this for fun, even when I'm getting paid to do it. If all that was available was a P neck, I'd play a P neck. Fortunately for folks like me with old beat up hands with most of the stretch gone out of them, there is a plethora of neck styles to choose from so why not take advantage of it.

Not saying a slim neck can replace practice, but for me a slim neck is the difference between approaching it as a required chore or looking forward to it with eager anticipation.

Strictly a personal observation, but when I'm having fun I want to do whatever it is that's causing the fun reaction. For me, bass playing is simply more fun with a slim neck than it is with a chunky one, YMMV.

That said, if you like slim necks and run up on a US Jazz Plus, snag it up...you won't regret it.

 

[younggun]

Not discouraging you from finding a bass that you like the feel of, but I also have small hands and use 35" scale basses. Your hands and fingers will adapt with correct practice.

 

[invalidprotocol]

And if your hands are REALLY small...

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[77stingray]

+1 on the ibanez SR405. And +1 on technique. I have small hands also. My teacher taught me to slide the whole hand and do not rely in stretch only, although your stretch range should increase with practice. If you like jazz bases sx makes a short scale. Those are fun to upgrade.

 

[fffreddy]

The P Jr in my sig is pretty good. Technique is important, but ultimately...play what makes you feel good.

 

[77stingray]

Http://www.birdsongguitars.com

Birdsong! 31" scale pro quality basses. Both 4 and 5 strings.

 

[slaphappychappy]

i would say gibson sg or old hagstrom, or a 3/4 size bass.

 

[pringlw]

I agree that there is nothing wrong with wanting a thin neck if you have small hands.

Thinnest I've played is a Musicman Sterling. The USA version is probably beyond your price point unless you go second hand. However if you do go second hand, you could get one.

Or you could go with the Sterling version of the Sterling by Musicman line (how confusing is that!). I think that's the SB4 Sterling by Musicman. But again, I personally would go for a US made second hand Musicman Sterling.

The only thing is, it's a really really aggressive sounding bass so that would have to be what you want.

 

[Li'l D]

How about Lakland basses ? Great necks and feel

 

[smcgov]

steinberger/upper model ibanez like an sr950/ibanez rb650/rickenbacker

 

[AdamR]

I have pretty small hands but I like a fat P bass neck. Ibanez SoundGears have real thing necks.

 

[loopee]

Lots of practice. Your hand/fingers will stretch upon repetition.

.....And then you'll get arthritis and other ligament and muscle problems after a while....I already have arthritis now so I'm playing short scales but one thing I've also realized is that small hands, coupled with shorter arm reach is murder on my hands when trying to play a long scale....so it's not only small hands that are the issue in some cases.....

 

[Floyd Eye]

Squier Mustang.

 

[bassbully]

I understand the whole practice/tech thing to get small hands to work on larger neck. I have real small hands for a big guy and play P basses even chunky 70's P basses. Since I switched to a 97' Vista Squier Musicmaster the short scale and narrow frets do make playing allot more comfy and easy on the reaches for sure.
I now am starting to think the whole SS thing is the way to go with small hands or any one who has any hand issues for sure.

 

[klejst]

I too would suggest a short scale model like the Fender Mustang bass or something with a slimmer neck such as a Jazz bass.

 

[soxhats]

I don't have large hands. Yet the only necks I generally don't feel comfortable with are a P Bass that's 1 3/4 at the nut and 9.25" radius, as well as StingRays (though I'm ok with the new Classic StingRay, which has a slightly different neck). I've discovered that radius has a lot to do with my comfort. For example, I used to own a Mike Lull P that was 1 3/4 at the nut -- which I normally run from -- but the bass had a 12" radius and my hand liked that flatness. Guess what I'm saying is, there's almost no rhyme or reason to this and, as others have said, you just have to play various basses and see how your hand feels. (For me, weight has become an issue equal to hand comfort. I can't deal with a bass much over 9 pounds anymore. Shoulder no likey.)