5 String Help

[chenzo_1]

I'm after a 5 string bass, that would be suited for someone with small hands, So far i've owned/tried a Yam TRB and a Stringray 5 and found both of the neck just slighty too big!

What about a jazz style bass? I've heard jazz necks are pretty small?

Can anyone recommend any basses?

[jon_kemo]

[quote name='chenzo_1' post='771365' date='Mar 11 2010, 10:39 AM']I'm after a 5 string bass, that would be suited for someone with small hands, So far i've owned/tried a Yam TRB and a Stringray 5 and found both of the neck just slighty too big!

What about a jazz style bass? I've heard jazz necks are pretty small?

Can anyone recommend any basses?[/quote]

I've just sold one but Ibanez SR505's have great thin necks and has been the most comfortable five I've tried. The drawback to having a thinner neck though was a tightening of the string spacing which some may find hard to adapt to.

[Bigwan]

The size of the neck isn't related to the style of the bass at all I'm afraid so it would be too sweeping a generalisation to say 'check out jazz style 5 strings'. My first suggestion would have been a Stingray, but you've already tried that (I personally find stingray 5 string spacing too tight but have quite big hands). Is the neck on the 'ray too thick (deep) or too wide (therefore wider string spacing).

You could try the Ibanez ATK305. These are an awesome range of basses for the money and, but for the string spacing, I would own one. The neck may be too chunky though. What about the Ibanez SR series? They're quite slim in the neck department and there's loads of choice at different price points.

The best neck for small hands I've played is on the old Aria Magna series basses - my second bass was an MAB 20/5 and that has tight string spacing and a slim neck. They're not the highest spec'd basses around, but with a decent set of pickups, a brass nut and decent setup they're really good for the money! You could probably pick up the bass itself on ebay for under a ton.

[pantherairsoft]

It unfortunately seems that many basses with a smaller string spacing end up being the expensive ones! I can think of a few with nice tight 17mm spacing, like the Warwick Thumb and most Pedulla basses... On a budget, I would suggest checking out the Ibanez range, they seem to have a mix of either 19mm or 17mm in the standard range (I'm talking non-prestige)... or if you can stretch to it I think the Gary Willis signature is 16mm... which is just silly!

[mic mac moe]

My 5 string is a Cort C5H and the neck is a very comfy (for my small but stubby hands) Wenge neck smaller than a StingRay but not too tight on spacing.See Playback Europe for a jaw dropping price with FREE DELIVERY!!!! If you get up Blackpool way,come and try mine out.Brew included!

[geoffbyrne]

A cheap, decent 5er with a narrow neck is the Hohner B Bass V.

I got one of those a few years ago & modded it (John East U-Retro pre & Joe Barden pickups) and it remained my #1 bass till I got my Peavey Cirrus BXP - another suitably narrow-necked bass. I also have an OLP 5er that's quite tight too.

G.

Edited March 11, 2010 by geoffbyrne

[Sean]

Try a Yamaha BB415 or BB615. Very compact necks and 18mm string spacing. I did a review of one I bought as a stop-gap [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=78057&st=0&p=751269&#entry751269"]here[/url].

[Fianso]

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