hand sizes...can my hands be too big for a 4 string bass?

[bassguy]

i noticed how i could play soo much better on the btb than i can on the mim j. its not the sound, its just i could play harder songs, like donna lee, i can hardly play it on the mim.

 

could it be that my hands are too big for a 4 stringer? ( yes i have huge hands, and no im not stoned...lol)

[oldivor]

Jazzs have small necks, maybe try a p-bass or something like that?

[der oxenrig]

I have the same problem. That's why I love P-bass necks & Ric necks. For me, it's more the chunkiness than the nut width. I actually prefer Ric-style necks for higher up on the frets. I just can't afford a Ric.

[bassguy]

ive tryed a ric, and a pbass, and the same problem, so thats why i asked if its possible to have too big of hands for a 4stringer

[illidian]

Maybe the problem is more in your technique than with your hands? With the proper technique for a smaller width neck, you'll have to find out what works out best for you. My guess is it's just different than your BTB, and you are trying to use the same technique for both.

 

 

 

Disclaimer: I have fairly small hands, so this isn't first-hand experience.

[sevenroy]

I also have gigantic hands, but my favored neck is the Jazz neck.

 

I agree that it's all in your technique. Try wrapping your thumb more around the bottom of the neck, near the E string, without muting it.

[Slap_Thatb_Ass]

 

Originally posted by sevenroy I agree that it's all in your technique. Try wrapping your thumb more around the bottom of the neck, near the E string, without muting it.

 

 

im just going to say that i disagree with this advice.

[bassmanjones]

Maybe not the bass, but your technique. Jaco and Stanley had/have gigantic hands but both primarily played 4....and Stanley even played a piccolo most of the time, 32" scale.

 

However, I know what you mean. I actually have small hands, but can barely solo up the neck on anything except a 6 string. I can't cross strings well above the 12th fret on a 4 string, my fingers get all bunched up.

[sunburstbasser]

Its a technique thing.

 

Handsize has about as much to do with good bass playing as lung capacity does for horn playing-almost none.

 

As long as you have enough air to make the horn play, you have everything you need to play any song you wish, in time. Hands are no different.

 

If you play the BTB a lot and the Fender rather little, then you'll also run into fingerboard familiarity issues. Your hands will become naturally at ease on one neck and a little out of place on the other. You can run into the same thing switching between a slim Geddy Jazz and a Warwick Thumb, even if both are four strings.

[Kindness]

 

Originally posted by sunburstbasser Its a technique thing. Handsize has about as much to do with good bass playing as lung capacity does for horn playing-almost none. As long as you have enough air to make the horn play, you have everything you need to play any song you wish, in time. Hands are no different. If you play the BTB a lot and the Fender rather little, then you'll also run into fingerboard familiarity issues. Your hands will become naturally at ease on one neck and a little out of place on the other. You can run into the same thing switching between a slim Geddy Jazz and a Warwick Thumb, even if both are four strings.

 

 

+1

 

I have large hands and prefer a wider beefier neck. However, if I am playing a 4-string jazz, I just focus on keeping a good arch to my fingers and it gets considerably easier to paly, no matter how narrow the neck. No bass neck should be too narrow for even the most large handed, people with large hands get a round just fine on guitars, and mandolins, and violins, etc.

[badboybass]

doesnt having big hands mean you have a big dick?

[sunburstbasser]

Originally posted by badboybass doesnt having big hands mean you have a big dick?

 

No.

 

The more basses you have, the bigger your dick is.

[badboybass]

 

Originally posted by sunburstbasser No. The more basses you have, the bigger your dick is.

 

 

 

 

*buys more basses*

[sunburstbasser]

 

Originally posted by badboybass *buys more basses*

 

 

Hint: Peavey T-40s will have the biggest effect, per bass.

[BEAD]

You should switch to guitar for awhile.

 

Then switch back.

[the_big_geez]

Here's where my mind goes on this subject:

 

The problem is the thought that there's a right and wrong way to play. There isn't. there's only what works and what doesn't.

 

There was proabably some classical purist that shuddered when first hearing about a guy dropping his empty 5th of cheap bourbon on the sidewalk and then playing guitar with the broken bits. What that guy DID was invent a new style of playing, and the world is a better place for it!

 

But snobs never see it as such...

 

I've seen some of the most hamfisted mothers out there grab a tiny little mandolin neck and wrench notes from it I hadn't even thought of yet! And they had ways of getting there I couldn't imagine with my stubby little dwarf fingers.

 

Take a Look at some video of Jimi playing (or better yet, Albert King, who not only had a huge hand, played upside down AND backwards!) Jimi could cover the whole width of a strat neck with two knuckles of his index finger. I have to go all the way to the palm and still come up a bit short.

 

So, what I do is a little different than the way Jimi did it. It HAS to be that way, 'cause I'm not as well-endowed...

 

Still, people tell me I play pretty damn good.

 

When you think of technique, think of YOUR techique, NOT what some book says is the 'right' way to do it. This is not to say that the books are wrong, only that it is true that one of the three big lies is 'one size fits all'.

 

What works is what works. If it doesn't work for you, try something else.

 

'Technique' has always been subject to re-thinking by creative minds, and it is only though that that new techniques are developed.

[LeBraniac]

how big are your hands?

[1tallbassguy]

Originally posted by chunkathalon You should switch to guitar for awhile. Then switch back.

 

{grabs chunk by the collar and slaps some sense into him}

 

switch to guitar???????

 

Please forgive me chunathalon, it sounded to me as though you had lost your mind for a moment.