Curtis said:
A couple of months ago I reviewed one of those new
and cheap Chinese Höfner Violin basses. A great bass, but the string
sopacing was so narrow I played like I was drunk.
After two hours practising (and driving my drummer and guitarists nuts)
I was finally able to play it a little...
`
I tend to adapt quickly to any 4-string, no matter how narrow.
My best guess is that it's cuz every string is either at the edge
of the neck, or next to the one at the edge. Add a 5th string to
that mix and narrow spacing then makes me feel like how you
feel when playing the Hofner. I think my spacial sensability is
OK with pairs of strings, one pair on the bass side, one pair on
the treble side. Add more strings and I hafta have at least the
medium spacing, about 17mm, common to so many 5-string
basses. Warwicks unfortunately, are not so 'common', at least
their standard 5-string neck is not
:-(
Forumites tell me to just order the wide neck. I don't order
NOTHING .... ever. I buy either used or clearance items, or
best of all, used items being clearanced, marked down so far
that I can afford them. Wide neck Warwicks are nonexistant
in my reality, but I really do dig the 4-strings.
One fine clearance deal that came my way, still costing enuf
to be the most expensive ax I ever bought, is a 5-string SSD
NSJH-5. Despite all the online rivalry, my SSD and my Wicks
get along like one big happy famberly. Since the neck profile
and string spacing on my SSD are, for me, the most playable
5-string I've ever touched, it's
my "warwick" 5-string. From
what I've read on this forum, almost none of you would care
for it's tone, which is kinda like the 4th of July in 3 octaves
It's a shame the SSD/Spector and Warwick camps seem to be
at odds, cuz theres already more differences
inside the Wick
lineup than the differences
between the two lines. IOW, both
lines can be owned an gigged together as if one. Que sera.
`
