Why the love (by some) for thin necks?

[mrjim123]

OP, I don't agree with your first 2 points - not my experience at all. I have shaved 2 necks down, and they're entirely stable.

 

[RichterScale]

I like a neck that flops around like a wet noodle and has terrible tone. That's why I prefer skinny necks.
The down side is there's less neck dive with a skinnier neck and I love me some neck dive.
It's too bad they can't make a floppy neck with bad tone that's both skinny and too heavy.

 

[Ellery]

When I started on bass I knew nobody else who played bass. This was before I had access to online social media. So I got the impression from ads, guitarists, people at guitar center, etc. that thin necks=speed and agility, always, and were essential for playing metal. It was not until many years later I started playing a fat necked bass and I loved it, now I realize that is my preference.

 

[jamro217]

For the same reason we all prefer different shoe sizes.

 

[satantango]

"fast" is such a ridiculous metric. thick necks are "fast" to me because I have large hands and it positions my fingers in a more comfortable position.

 

[MtManiac]

Here’s the thing: everyone has different hands.

 

[WestyBassBob]

I have short fingers.

 

[moon-bass]

> 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)

Like others have said, your first three points are patently and objectively untrue. The last is personal preference.

For the record, all of my basses spent 8 days in 110 degree heat and close to 100% humidity after hurricane Ida. One would imagine that some, or all of the basses would need at least a set up tweak after returning to normal. The one that needed the most setup was an early 2000's P bass. The ones that needed no tweaks were my Sadowsky Will Lee, 64 Jazz, and Ibanez SR800.

I'm not sure where ppl get some of their "facts" lol, other than this is Talkbass and some folks think that their anecdotal evidence trumps everyone else's anecdotal experience.

 

[DRBP]

> 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)

not disagreeing entirely at all (i’m a fairly agreeable fellow!), BUT i have a CIJ geddy lee jazz which has one of the thinnest necks fender has ever built and it has required exactly ONE truss rod adjustment in 14 years.(about 5 years ago) and yes i gigged it last weekend and it played and sounded great. i may just have a good one, but i think if the neck is built right even relatively thin necks can be quite stable. i have a mike lull jazz with a much thicker neck, that i also like a lot believe it or not, and it sounds great and has also required one truss rod adjustment in about 8 years so also very stable. my thin yamaha RBX650 neck usually requires a minor tweak every year, but since i do all my own setup work it isn;t too big a deal. especially since, unlike the geddy lee, the neck doesn’t need to be removed. i think it really just comes down to personal preference. i don’t think even hand size is that much a part of it, just the feel that each player prefers. i know a couple of players with relatively small hands that prefer the thick and wide necks and play them REALLY well, so whatever works for each player i guess!

 

[TN WOODMAN]

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. A neck made of good quality maple and rosewood shouldn't be super prone to moving if the wood itself is old enough.

This describes my Korean Squier Bullet E7 Series bass perfectly. You like this neck spec don’t hesitate to grab one . One of my all time favorite necks.

 

[2112]

> 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)

Because I have fingers like tuna cans.

 

[Michael Eisenman]

Because I love the extra chunky "baseball bat" necks and the universe must have balance.

I don’t understand the popularity of the phrase “baseball-bat neck”. The part of the bat that you hold is really pretty narrow—at least every bat that I’ve held. I can’t imagine stretching four strings across such a thing, especially with such a small radius.

 

[Snakeman1066]

Why the Love for Ketchup on Hot Dogs?

Hot Dogs with Ketchup are more prone to sliding off their buns as environments change

ketchup contributes less flavor than mustard

Ketchup contributes flavor to a hot dog giving the impression that the actual sausage is more flavorful than it is.

having had Hot Dogs with and without ketchup I can definitively say for all
Mankind that ketchup on hot dogs is an absolute waste and if you don’t prefer hot dogs exactly as I do you are insane and wrong

Obviously you have no idea about which you speak anybody who is anybody knows BBQ sauce is best for Hot dogs...Ketchup and mustard are so yesterday...

 

[Egg250]

I dunno. I have a Cort with a thick neck. I like it but I attribute its thick sound to the electronics. This is because I also have a SBMM Ray and an ESP with thin necks that are more than capable of a big, thick sound. It all depends on how I manipulate the electric signal.

The thin necks are more comfortable to play, and I don't have to set these up any more than I set the Cort up, depending on the changing environment.

 

[BassFalcon]

Obviously you have no idea about which you speak anybody who is anybody knows BBQ sauce is best for Hot dogs Ketchup and mustard are so yesterday...

Lol. There was a hot dog cart at my college that had a cole slaw and bbq sauce dog. It occasionally hit just the spot. If you ever ordered anything with ketchup and onions, when he got a storefront, he would yell your order “red and smelly” lol

 

[sleddogn]

Barrel of bat not handle, come on

 

[moon-bass]

Lol. There was a hot dog cart at my college that had a cole slaw and bbq sauce dog. It occasionally hit just the spot. If you ever ordered anything with ketchup and onions, when he got a storefront, he would yell your order “red and smelly” lol

This sounds great! A West Virginia dog! Up there with a Chicago dog!

 

[brianrost]

I'll just say the thinnest necks on basses that I've owned were a Peavey Palaedium and a Fender AVRI 62 Jazz. People often call thin necks "fast" and I will say that's how these felt next to my P basses. Why that is, who knows...after all my 53 P has a "baseball bat" neck but plays as fast as my 62 P with it's thinner neck.

 

[Iristone]

I've rather large hands, but I find thinner necks help me navigate quicker between strings on a 4-string instrument

 

[Sam Evans]

Three words: Severe Psoriatic Arthritis

Two words: personal preference

One word: Carrots.