- Jan 26, 2014
- 768
- 1,555
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- Endorsing artist;DNA Amplification, GHS strings
I have pretty big hands, thick fingers. The jazz necks feel to "crowded" to me if that makes sense.
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Why you prefer a wide neck?
- Thread starter Brodizzle
- Start date
I can palm a full sized basketball. A P shaped neck fits right up in there. I like my J and some others but my comfort zone is P style necks. My Ray and Sabre necks are really close to the Ps I own. I have an old Kramer that I can't give away because of sentimental baggage. It's super thin and I really don't like that feel. But there's no right or wrong, totally subjective. Like grape or strawberry jelly with your PB&J.
I love reading all the finger analogies haha. To clarify, I bought the mustang short scale thinking it would be a short cut to learn some of the more challenging tunes. Turns out I just needed to practice. I think I can relate to the extra space of a wide neck feeling good as well, room to breathe so to speak. I too have large bear paws.
For no reason that I can explain, a 35" scale 5-string with a wide, flat neck is really comfortable to me. On the flip side I like a 4 with a skinny neck so there you have it.
A lot of taper on the neck annoys me. I can easily feel the drastic inconsistency in string spacing when moving around the neck on a J. A P neck has taper too, but it's not obvious when playing.
With a short scale, the nut spacing is often narrow as well, but so is the neck heel, usually. So I usually feel fine on short scales. It's not so much about the nut width as it is the amount of taper along the neck.
That said, I played upright for years, and the extreme taper of those fretboards never bothered me. Go figure.
With a short scale, the nut spacing is often narrow as well, but so is the neck heel, usually. So I usually feel fine on short scales. It's not so much about the nut width as it is the amount of taper along the neck.
That said, I played upright for years, and the extreme taper of those fretboards never bothered me. Go figure.
I've got pretty big hands, and my TRB-6 neck is undeniably massive, but I find it quite comfortable.
On the other hand, I much prefer jazz necks to P necks..
On the other hand, I much prefer jazz necks to P necks..
I like a decent sized neck. I actually prefer to play 5 strings because of the size of the necks. Broke the metacarpal going to my pinky finger when I was younger. Didn’t realize it until I broke my arm weeks later. The bone in my hand showed up in the arm x Ray. It healed a little funky so I have a knot there. Playing really small necks like a 4 string jazz neck causes issues for me. Not a problem playing a few songs with but i don’t like playing them for long rehearsals or long gigs. I guess it’s similar to folks with shoulder injuries or wrist injuries preferring short scale basses because it’s a little comfortable for them.
No one makes this, but a wide neck on the high string side would make string bends and guitar vibrato in that direction possible. I think I am alone on this.
Long fingers, don’t like crowding on the board, it feels better. neck profile is important , prefer neck on my P than my Sterling ray 34 most times. I suppose it depends on how much I practice.
As a heavyset six-footer, hand size and reach definitely dictate what feels good to me.
That aside, my preferences have changed over time.
As a beginner, I struggled to keep up. Skinny necks helped. I even shaved a couple of necks in an effort to get the speed I was after. By the time I was woodshedding heavily in college, that wasn’t an issue anymore. I could play any phrase I heard in my head, and double guitar and horn solos at tempo.
I didn’t need a pencil-neck any more, but now I had new problems to overcome.
One was overplaying. I lost a few gigs by focusing more on how many notes I could fit in the bar, than on listening to my bandmates. I also started to notice how mechanical my playing had become.
That was when I realized that narrow string spacing at the nut tended to choke off my vibrato, and make other techniques harder to pull off. It also increased hand fatigue on longer gigs.
Switching to a wider neck helped me to develop a rounder sound, and become more expressive. It also helped me to slow down and return to simpler lines- less Jeff Berlin, and more Jamerson.
During that phase, I also bumped into my limits at the other end of the spectrum. 5-string and 6-string basses with 2” finger boards can sound great, but they‘re a chore to play.
By the time I was in my late 30’s, I had pretty much found my sound. By then I was less concerned about tone production, and more about comfort. I had also accumulated enough experience on bass and other stringed instruments to realize that depending on string count and gauges, my ergonomic sweet spot covers a pretty narrow range around 1 11/16” to 1 7/8”.
This has led to my current preferences. I like Jazz basses better with 50’s P-bass necks on them, and I like guitar necks that resemble the PRS wide/fat neck carve.
If I had smaller hands, I’m sure my preferences would be different.
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I prefer a wider neck as long as there aren’t particularly shallow. I have large hands and the wider spacing works for me.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
1. Hand size (I have big hands and stubby fingers).
2. 40 years of playing precision necks means I'm not comfortable on thinner ones.
2. 40 years of playing precision necks means I'm not comfortable on thinner ones.
Big hands. Big fingers.
My favorite neck was an asymetrical MTD. I would like to get that one back.
My favorite neck was an asymetrical MTD. I would like to get that one back.
Wide works.. I have an 1983 Fender Elite II P Bass that is wide and my '74 and '75 P Basses are my favorite.. I do prefer them over some skinny Jazz styles
I have a Jazz (1.5" but) and a P (1.625" nut). The P neck feels slightly meatier all the way up the fretboard.
I can play both just fine, but for extended periods of playing, I'm much happier with the P. I've got big hands, and I suspect that plays a part. I'm beginning to suspect that, for me, the ideal nut width is somewhere between the two. Played a Yamaha BB434 somewhat recently, and it felt really good. I think it's closer to 1.6" than 1.5".
I can play both just fine, but for extended periods of playing, I'm much happier with the P. I've got big hands, and I suspect that plays a part. I'm beginning to suspect that, for me, the ideal nut width is somewhere between the two. Played a Yamaha BB434 somewhat recently, and it felt really good. I think it's closer to 1.6" than 1.5".
