Thin necked 5-strings

[lou24d53]

Hey

I have currently got my Lakland Skyline 55-02 Deluxe for sale on here, absolutely beltin' bass, but I just don't get on with the wide neck.

Initially, I was prepared to move away from 5's and stick with 4's, but now I'm not so sure.

I was wondering if any the more knowledgeable gear heads on here can point me in the direction of any 'thinner' 5'er necks could maybe check and try out.

Ta much,
Dougie.

[apa]

The Squier VM Jazz 5er has a 46mm width at the nut if that's any use. Really good basses to. A

[stingrayPete1977]

This brings up the thin versus narrow thread again, thin for me relates to front to back thickness rather than narrow nut.

Edited June 1, 2013 by stingrayPete1977

[lou24d53]

Fair point, I'll change the title...erm, if I can figure out how to!!

For the avoidance of doubt, I'm meaning the 'width' of the fingerboard, in particular at and beyond the 12th fret.

Edited June 1, 2013 by lou24d53

[stingrayPete1977]

In that case maybe a yammy or ibby?

[lou24d53]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1370102922' post='2096496']
In that case maybe a yammy or ibby?
[/quote]

I had been thinking Ibanez actually as I previously had a K5 - yeah, I know! - which I used to get on with.

[RhysP]

All the Peavey 5vers I've tried have had very narrow necks.

[Machines]

Yamaha are inbetween I think. Definitely Ibanez for narrow string spacing.

[jbn4001]

I found Musicman Stingray 5er to be narrow string spacing (17.5mm I think) , as are some models of Ibanez 5ers.

[Lfalex v1.1]

If you've big money to spend, Vigier necks are lovely. (And thin!)

[lou24d53]

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' timestamp='1370112934' post='2096623']
If you've big money to spend, Vigier necks are lovely. (And thin!)
[/quote]

I've not checked the lottery numbers yet tonight, so perhaps!

[TRBboy]

Got to be an Ibanez Soundgear for a narrow 5er.

[dannybuoy]

Yamaha's are pretty narrow compared to most. I had a Fender P5 but sold it as it was too wide at the nut, and settled down with a Yamaha BB415 which is only 42mm, the same as my Fender 4-string P!

[Kiwi]

Alembic...5 string models apart from the Series basses (e.g. Spoiler, Distillate, Elan) are less common but good value. very narrow across the nut indeed.

[bigsmokebass]

Not that I like them but Ibanez seem to be king of all things thin.

BSB

[White Cloud]

Got to be an Ibanez...fantastic 5 string basses.

[lou24d53]

Cheers all, best get investigating myself!

[Jellyfish]

Vigier, Spector and Ibanez are the first ones that come to mind for me.

[Gust0o]

MTD.

[Oopsdabassist]

Sold my Peavey Cirrus as the neck was WAY too slim for me, replaced with a Yam TRB which I find much wider and easier to use. I wouldn't say the Yamaha is particularly narrow, and that suits me fine

[size=2]edit for my dodgy spelling[/size]

Edited June 2, 2013 by Oopsdabassist

[JTUK]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1370102463' post='2096488']
This brings up the thin versus narrow thread again, thin for me relates to front to back thickness rather than narrow nut.
[/quote]

agree.... The width of the board shouldn't really matter (IMO) and the 'thin' element is more about comfort.
I don't like base ball bat type necks but going too thin on a custom neck can cause satbility issues.
This is why I favour graphite stringers/bar in thin 5 st necks or above

[stingrayPete1977]

I think as soon as you go to a 5er you need to get out of the idea of wrapping your thumb around the neck like you can on a Jazz bass, it isnt a good technique but it is possible with 4 string basses, a 5 er soon starts to make that technique more difficult.

[graham1945]

Not mentioned here is the Modulus Flea 5, it's the narrowest of the ten I have, and plays itself.

[Blackbird88]

I'm in the middle of this search myself at the moment, I've got an Ibanez BTB 775, which sounds great tonally but gives me left hand cramps when I play for a decent amount of time, and it's never been remotely comfortable, so I'm looking to sell it on in favour of something slimmer.

I've found the Yamaha RBX 375 has a great comfortable neck, as do the Ibanez SR 5s, the Rockbass Streamer 5 I didn't like, didn't like the MIM Fender Jazz V Deluxe either. I tried some ESP/LTD thing as well which just generally felt, sounded and looked horrible.

The numbers suggest the Yamaha TRBX 505 should be pretty good but I can't find one anywhere (I think GAK had one, but Brighton is a long drive from here), and I emailed the UK distribution centre for Dean Guitars recently for the neck width on the Hillsboro 5 (after playing the 4 string w/ MM p'up 2 weeks ago in Nevada Music, and loving it, and then going back and buying it Saturday), they said nut width was 45mm, 12th fret width 61.5mm, last fret width 68mm, so all in all not far off the Soundgear necks, and you can get them under £400 as well, the 4 I got is a cracking bass for the £300 I paid. A little rough paintwork round the truss rod access (it's on the body at the base of the neck, not covered over), but it's got a lovely maple neck and fretboard on it, punchy pickup and feels pretty solid, and I've no reason to believe the 5 is any different.

Based on owning an Ibanez EDB 550 I imagine the 5 string Ergodyne basses should be pretty slim necked, the 4 I have is comparable to the Soundgears which seem to pretty much be the standard for slim necks. I'll be looking for an EDB 555 in the near future to compliment my 4, once I can afford it. They're just hard to find because they're discontinued.

[pete.young]

Yamaha's are not all narrow necked - the TRB5P that oopsdabassist has is 19mm at the bridge and my NE2 is about 18. TRBX 505 and 305 are 18mm which is not particularly narrow.

Vigier would be a good choice, at the other end of the cost scale the OLP MM3 is around 16.5mm . But it's not all about pure narrowness of neck, the thickness is important too. I found the TRB5P to be much more playable than a G&L L2500 tribute, which has a spacing of around 17.5mm but a deep neck front-to-back.

Ibanez SR505 is very comfortable too, not sure what the width is but it's very playable.