Manoeuvrability vs. Tone

[faceman]

Sorry to bombard with another vs. thread but thought your input might be interesting. I've got two basses sitting behind me at the moment and one is staying, one is going, the bank says so. I'm 90% sure that the '75 CIJ Reissue Jazz bass is going to be heading off to 6stringbass tomorrow as we are doing a meet up in Yorkshire for him to buy it and I would be keeping my '83 StingRay.

However, I've been practising a tune today from Rent and the size of the neck of the StingRay has hit me. The Jazz is so much smaller in comparison and for this particular tune, it's got a very quick line that is so much easier to do on the Jazz than the 'Ray. I got a mate of mine along to have a play and he said personally, he'd choose the Jazz as he needs that manoeuvrability to do quick runs and stretches across four frets. However, I pointed out the tone of the 'Ray is so much better, it will cut through anything, it's deep and I love it. I'm probably going to be able to crack this line on the Ray eventually but the point is that it seems to restrict my playing as my hands are quite small and it does have a big neck!

So what do you think is more important? An amazing deep tone or a bass you can run around on and tackle any lines.

Much bass love

[wateroftyne]

I like a playable bass that sounds great. If it fails either of these, what't the point in having it...?

That said, I'm almost totally immune the the effects of different neck profiles. My J and P are polar opposites, but I adapt to whichever no problem.

[harvey1-8]

I know what you're going through. I've got a '75 MIJ Reissue Jazz and a Stingray as well. All I can say is the Jazz gets so much more use. It fits me like a glove where as the Stingray can feel like I'm climbing a mountain. The Stingray has a fantastic tone and probably presents a better investment in the long run. I think you'll get used to the bigger neck, just give it some time.

[Ou7shined]

I'm a tone over comfort guy.
I have a range of basses and they all do different jobs and feel quite different. I try to pick the right tool for the right job.

I was discussing this subject with a BCer the other day (we were talking about strings though) and his take was that he would choose worse sounding strings if they felt comfortable to him. My viewpoint was sod comfort tone should be your priority. We agreed to disagree.

Edited May 27, 2010 by Ou7shined

[faceman]

Playing the StingRay feels great and I just love the feel of the neck of it! However, it is harder to stretch those distances because of my hand size. They aren't particularly small, nor particular big.

The Jazz and StingRay are polar opposites. I'd say overall the StingRay does feel nicer (the Jazz is a bit too glossy for me) but no I couldn't do very fast pentatonic scales (although I'm not sure when that is actually useful).

[Starless]

Probably easier to mod a tone to your liking (strings, pickups, eq etc) than a mod a neck.

[mart]

Isn't the Sterling supposed to give a Stingray-like tone but in a more comfortable package? I've never played a Stingray so I don't know how they compare, but that's what I've read.

Of course, you could get a Squier - I've recently bought one and it looks and feels great ;-)

[chris_b]

[quote name='faceman' post='849455' date='May 27 2010, 02:54 PM']....it is harder to stretch those distances because of my hand size....[/quote]
Don't stretch your fingers, move your hand more.

[yorick]

I have both, and small hands. I adapt my technique to either. It took a while.....

[Bilbo]

Tone every time. When it comes down to it, getting around the neck is overated. Great in practice rooms and at bass clinics but, on the bandstand, I could probably still do 90% of my gigs if I lost two fingers of each hand

[Adrenochrome]

Ergonomics and playability for me.
Of course the sound has to be of at least a minimum standard as well.
For the record, I've played a few 'Rays (never owned one) and they all had medium-ish necks, could yours be a bit bigger than usual?

[Dave Vader]

[quote name='Bilbo' post='849474' date='May 27 2010, 03:08 PM']Tone every time. When it comes down to it, getting around the neck is overated. Great in practice rooms and at bass clinics but, on the bandstand, I could probably still do 90% of my gigs if I lost two fingers of each hand [/quote]
2???
I reckon I could get through a lot if I lost 3, as long as I can wrap my thumb round the back....

[Ghost_Bass]

Always tone! Your agility can be worked to suit any bass. If i was a confort-type guy i'd still be playing my first bass, a Maison P-copy!
I have a SR5 and the first month whith it made bang my head on the wall plenty of times regreting buying it but now i can't see myself finding a better neck than that one! It's just simply amazing! So fast and slick! And what a tone!!!
You only need to get used to your gear, no matter your phisical limitations

[waltsdog]

Sell them both and get a Stingray SLO, jazz neck stingray sound.

[Musicman20]

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='849449' date='May 27 2010, 02:49 PM']I like a playable bass that sounds great. If it fails either of these, what't the point in having it...?

That said, I'm almost totally immune the the effects of different neck profiles. My J and P are polar opposites, but I adapt to whichever no problem.[/quote]

+1, the only thing I cannot get on with is Warwick necks, but thats just me. P to J is no problem. I think perhaps starting on a P style bass helped with stretching easily.


[quote name='Ghost_Bass' post='849500' date='May 27 2010, 03:40 PM']Always tone! Your agility can be worked to suit any bass. If i was a confort-type guy i'd still be playing my first bass, a Maison P-copy!
I have a SR5 and the first month whith it made bang my head on the wall plenty of times regreting buying it but now i can't see myself finding a better neck than that one! It's just simply amazing! So fast and slick! And what a tone!!!
You only need to get used to your gear, no matter your phisical limitations [/quote]

Im hoping my incoming 5 string EBs are the same for me!

[ThomBassmonkey]

If I'm not 100% with the sounds, there's always something I can do.

If I can't play something, I can't play it.

Ergonomics over tone every time. Though in saying that, I wouldn't get a bass unless I was happy with both. There's so many options out there there should be something to suit.

[Commando Jack]

I have to say that one of the things I love about bass is the physical challenge.

Started out on drums so when you got into it, you hit hard. You could put yourself into it. When I picked up guitar, one of the things that annoyed me was that you couldn't put yourself physically into it the way you could with drums.

Now, somewhere deep in my brain, I equate my P-bass copy closer to drumming in the physicality of it, whereas my mate's Ibanez is a bit too guitar like, with its short scale neck etc. When I play a line on the Ibanez it's not quite as thrilling as when I nail it on P copy, like I've 'climbed the mountain'!

[Doddy]

Ideally,I look for both comfort and tone. Having said that,I don't find it a struggle to adapt to
any size neck. It's not a matter of stretching,it's more about using my thumb as a pivot so that
I can reach the notes.

[OutToPlayJazz]

A lot of it can be to do with left hand technique - Try making sure the neck is never actually held in the palm of your hand. The only real contact should be between the fingertips on the strings & the first joint of the thumb on the back of the neck (preferably being opposite your middle finger.) You can always gain more dexterity by pushing the wrist forwards, so you're coming at the neck from underneath as opposed to from behind. Look at Tal Wilkenfeld's left wrist. That's a good example of the correct shape to adopt.

But wider necks do slow you down a little. I find a noticable difference between my four stringers and fives in terms of speed and dexterity. Oddly though, even the 44.5mm nut width on the 62AV Precision didn't slow me down much, but the greater girth was certainly noticeable.

At the end of the day it's all down to what you're used to & left hand technique is all important. Stick with the MusicMan for a while and see how you go, Seb

[lemmywinks]

Probably the last thing you need to hear but maybe you should have a look at a Sandberg?

[url="http://www.sandberg-guitars.de/basscat-overview"]http://www.sandberg-guitars.de/basscat-overview[/url]

[ThomBassmonkey]

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='849530' date='May 27 2010, 04:16 PM']I find a noticable difference between my four stringers and fives in terms of speed and dexterity.[/quote]

It's funny you say that because I've never really noticed a big difference between 4 and 5 stringers (of the same model, to be fair). On my 6 string I definitely feel that the C slows me down on the lower strings, but does the shape of the neck really make that much difference when the extra width is mostly on the low side?

To be honest though, I have quite big hands and I've never had real problems with any bass, I feel myself a little slower on my BTB406 6er than 5 or 4 strings, but it's only a tiny amount when I'm getting carried away with ska style lines.

[Ou7shined]

[quote name='Adrenochrome' post='849489' date='May 27 2010, 03:26 PM']For the record, I've played a few 'Rays (never owned one) and they all had medium-ish necks, could yours be a bit bigger than usual?[/quote]
Actually it's a tad naughty calling it a Stingray. It's hewn from a few different bits and bobs and the neck is off a Sabre and I think the Sabres had thinner profiles - they even had the option of Jazz sized necks.
Stingrays have slightly wider necks than standard P's but their front to back profile is thinner.

[Sibob]

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='849449' date='May 27 2010, 02:49 PM']I like a playable bass that sounds great. If it fails either of these, what't the point in having it...?

That said, I'm almost totally immune the the effects of different neck profiles. My J and P are polar opposites, but I adapt to whichever no problem.[/quote]

This sums it up for me!

Si

[artisan]

for me i'd go with comfort first,if i feel comfortable playing the instrument then i will play it much better.
infact i've just sold my 'ray & gone back to a jazz & i'm loving it to bits,one or two lines that were a stretch on the 'ray are a piece of piss on the jazz.
it's a no brainer for me.
+ you can always buy an active pre-amp for the jazz if you want that "deep" tone.

[Bay Splayer]

[quote name='Adrenochrome' post='849489' date='May 27 2010, 03:26 PM']...... could yours be a bit bigger than usual?[/quote]

ooer mrs.