Why the love (by some) for thin necks?

[superheavyfunk]

> They are frequently more prone to shifting as environments change

Never had that experience, myself.

> They contribute less to tone compared to their thick-necked relatives

How can you possibly quantify this, other than to say “well uh, they’re thinner and tone relies on thickness,” which is obviously untrue.

> Thin-neck basses give the impression that their action is higher when compared to thick-necked basses having the same string relief

Lol what?

> Having owned thin and thick-necked basses I don’t find thin-necked basses easier to play (I have average-sized hands)

To each their own. I own both thick and thin neck basses (back-to-front, as I’m assuming you mean) and I absolutely do find the thinner ones easier to play. Your like or dislike of something doesn’t validate or elevate your opinion to the realm of fact.

 

[Plectrum72]

Why the love for gloves when mittens clearly keep your hands warmer?

 

[Deleted member 365158]

As with everything bass related, it comes down to personal preference.
I have a variety of basses with different necks in thickness and/or width.
I prefer a thinner neck, it just feels more comfortable but that doesn’t stop me from playing the ones with thicker/wider necks.

 

[Dincrest]

And for those who play 5, 6, or other extended range basses, a thinner neck allows more comfortable fretboard navigation. Imagine a wide-spaced 6-string with a chunky baseball bat neck. Yeah, only someone with the mitts of King Kong could manage that one. So a slimmer neck is needed for those of us with human-sized hands who need the extended range.

I prefer a slender necked 5-string with 16.5mm string spacing myself. ESP/LTD's thin-U profile is what my hands like best, such as on my 2018 LTD D-5.

 

[P-Belly Evans]

Matches the girth of my other main tool............

In reality I can get on with any neck profile with a little patience...

 

[swink]

Why the love for gloves when mittens clearly keep your hands warmer?

A piano concerto performed with mittens is more challenging to listen to.

 

[HardNHeavy]

i find both easy to play..i have no problem juggling thin nuts or wide ones...

wait....

 

[-Asdfgh-]

> They contribute less to tone compared to their thick-necked relatives

IMHO, an insufficiently stiff neck might take AWAY from tone, but not ADD as it's subtractive.

> Thin-neck basses give the impression that their action is higher when compared to thick-necked basses having the same string relief

This doesn't make any sense to me at all.

> Having owned thin and thick-necked basses I don’t find thin-necked basses easier to play (I have average-sized hands)

Different strokes for different folks. I've taken a spoke shave to a neck before.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Why? Absolutely no idea. None at all. But a J width neck feels right in my hand to play and P width doesn't. Don't know why it feels that way, but it does.

I had shallow Ps and deep Js, and shallow wins for me. Shallow J wins more.

 

[kmon]

> They are frequently more prone to shifting as environments change
> They contribute less to tone compared to their thick-necked relatives
> Thin-neck basses give the impression that their action is higher when compared to thick-necked basses having the same string relief
> Having owned thin and thick-necked basses I don’t find thin-necked basses easier to play (I have average-sized hands)

I have 7 basses. Among these are a Geddy and 2 vintage peaveys with very thin necks. Pencil-like.

I don’t change environments a lot so I can’t really speak to point 1.

I think the tone and action points are dubious at best if you’re stating those as some kind of universal downsides to thin necks. Maybe that’s been your personal experience, I know it hasn’t been mine. I’ve never seen either point widely discussed anywhere. Maybe we use different hand positions or something. My thins have really low action, and it feels really low.

I don’t find the thin necks to be any easier or harder to play particularly than my thicker ones. I will say that sometimes they feel a little faster I guess. I have avg sized hands and neck size has never been a variable that’s a huge deal for me as far as playability.

 

[Fat Nermil]

A piano concerto performed with mittens is more challenging to listen to.

That’s why most pianists perform them with pianos

 

[coy garcia]

Like all things there is a tradeoff. I have both and enjoy both.

 

[salmon256]

Small hands. Yeah I know you can still play on anything but thinner necks are so nice for me and my playstyle.

 

[Nebadon2000]

I love a 1.75" nut with a super thin front to back profile. Enough to hang onto but slim enough to play complex stuff.

Agree, I have Fender Ultra P with slim 'D' neck 1.625 nut[wish it were 1.7 or 1.75] and it is not only very comfortable to play but overall playability is great.

'D' Putting your thumb closer to fretboard makes it much easier to stretch fingers and move about board.

 

[TBird1958]

I have small hands, one of the many reasons I like Thunderbirds so much is that the neck is quite small at the nut and a thin profile throughout, perfect fit for me.

 

[JimmyM]

> They are frequently more prone to shifting as environments change
> They contribute less to tone compared to their thick-necked relatives
> Thin-neck basses give the impression that their action is higher when compared to thick-necked basses having the same string relief
> Having owned thin and thick-necked basses I don’t find thin-necked basses easier to play (I have average-sized hands)

Ok, well that’s you. That’s not everyone. The only valid reason you have is the last one. None of the other stuff is true, not in my experiences.

 

[mikewalker]

small hands like thin necks
point seven inches: ideal!
keeping things comfy...

 

[micguy]

I have ginormous hands. I thought I loved P width necks when I played 4 string instruments - I definitely preferred them to J width necks - I could play faster on thicker, wider necks, because things weren't all crammed together.

Having transitioned to 5 string basses, I now realize I was wrong. P necks are too skinny for my hands. 1 7/8 wide 5 string necks with decent depth are better.

Neck size preference comes from a couple of things:

1) Your physical size (yes, it does matter) will influence some of your preferences.

2) What you get used to - you can adapt to a lot of things that feel "abnormal" at first - after a while, the thing you used to be accustomed to will feel abnormal.

I remember staring at one of my 5 string basses, part way through adapting to them, and thinking "I have a middle string?!?" Now, it'd be weird to not have a middle string.

 

[sawzalot]

Because you know when you pick up a bass and go, “ooh, I love this neck”? Sometimes those are thin. That’s why.

 

[satantango]

Neck thickness actually doesn't matter to me that much, it takes a huge backseat to neck shape, fretboard width, and radius. if it's comfortable it's comfortable and with larger hands almost any thickness CAN be comfortable, if the other factors are good.

but also lol to neck thickness impacting tone