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Short scale bass


Laurabw
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Anyone have a short scale bass they love? I play guitar but bought a used short scale Global bass for $75 and I love it, but even with a new pickup and strings, it’ll only ever sound so good, it’s super basic. But I love the size...
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Thanks for inspiring me to learn something today! Sweetwater filled me in on short-scale basses and why people love them:

 

https://www.sweetwat...nces-explained/

 

Sir Paul is perhaps the musician most identified for sporting a short-scale bass. But countless legendary bass players representing numerous genres are in the short-scale club. Classic short-scale bass players from the 1960s and 1970s include Jack Casady (Jefferson Airplane), Phil Lesh (Grateful Dead), Bill Wyman (The Rolling Stones), and Jack Bruce (Cream).

Of these players, Jack Bruce was one of the most emphatic short-scale enthusiasts. One of his first short-scale basses was the Fender Bass VI, an oddball of an instrument with six strings tuned down an octave lower than a guitar with an added tremolo arm, which produced some truly diverse bass sounds. Bruce was also known for playing a Gibson EB-3, which was his constant touring companion for much of Cream’s early years.

0cc54438-fender-justin-meldal-johnsen-road-worn-mustang-bass-650x184.png

Fender Justin Meldal-Johnsen Road Worn Mustang Bass

 

In the late-1970s and early 1980s, Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads brought short-scales back into the limelight. Like McCartney, she favored a Höfner — a single-cutaway, two-pickup Club Bass. But she experimented with many short-scale basses over the years. Weymouth has said in interviews that short-scale basses helped her to get her confidence up before folding long-scale basses into her repertoire. Another notable short-scale player from that period is Mike Watt from Minutemen, Dos, and Firehose. Watt is notorious for his moving, geometric bass lines and aggressive post-punk style — for which short-scale basses are particularly well-suited.

Edited by goose
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Thanks for inspiring me to learn something today! Sweetwater filled me in on short-scale basses and why people love them:

 

https://www.sweetwat...nces-explained/

 

Sir Paul is perhaps the musician most identified for sporting a short-scale bass. But countless legendary bass players representing numerous genres are in the short-scale club. Classic short-scale bass players from the 1960s and 1970s include Jack Casady (Jefferson Airplane), Phil Lesh (Grateful Dead), Bill Wyman (The Rolling Stones), and Jack Bruce (Cream).

Of these players, Jack Bruce was one of the most emphatic short-scale enthusiasts. One of his first short-scale basses was the Fender Bass VI, an oddball of an instrument with six strings tuned down an octave lower than a guitar with an added tremolo arm, which produced some truly diverse bass sounds. Bruce was also known for playing a Gibson EB-3, which was his constant touring companion for much of Cream’s early years.

0cc54438-fender-justin-meldal-johnsen-road-worn-mustang-bass-650x184.png

Fender Justin Meldal-Johnsen Road Worn Mustang Bass

 

In the late-1970s and early 1980s, Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads brought short-scales back into the limelight. Like McCartney, she favored a Höfner — a single-cutaway, two-pickup Club Bass. But she experimented with many short-scale basses over the years. Weymouth has said in interviews that short-scale basses helped her to get her confidence up before folding long-scale basses into her repertoire. Another notable short-scale player from that period is Mike Watt from Minutemen, Dos, and Firehose. Watt is notorious for his moving, geometric bass lines and aggressive post-punk style — for which short-scale basses are particularly well-suited.

 

You're welcome! As a guitar player first, I love my baby bass as I call it, but there's nothing else I can do to improve the sound. I mean it's ok, but still wondering if anyone has one they love.

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Thanks for inspiring me to learn something today! Sweetwater filled me in on short-scale basses and why people love them:

 

https://www.sweetwat...nces-explained/

 

Sir Paul is perhaps the musician most identified for sporting a short-scale bass. But countless legendary bass players representing numerous genres are in the short-scale club. Classic short-scale bass players from the 1960s and 1970s include Jack Casady (Jefferson Airplane), Phil Lesh (Grateful Dead), Bill Wyman (The Rolling Stones), and Jack Bruce (Cream).

Of these players, Jack Bruce was one of the most emphatic short-scale enthusiasts. One of his first short-scale basses was the Fender Bass VI, an oddball of an instrument with six strings tuned down an octave lower than a guitar with an added tremolo arm, which produced some truly diverse bass sounds. Bruce was also known for playing a Gibson EB-3, which was his constant touring companion for much of Cream’s early years.

0cc54438-fender-justin-meldal-johnsen-road-worn-mustang-bass-650x184.png

Fender Justin Meldal-Johnsen Road Worn Mustang Bass

 

In the late-1970s and early 1980s, Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads brought short-scales back into the limelight. Like McCartney, she favored a Höfner — a single-cutaway, two-pickup Club Bass. But she experimented with many short-scale basses over the years. Weymouth has said in interviews that short-scale basses helped her to get her confidence up before folding long-scale basses into her repertoire. Another notable short-scale player from that period is Mike Watt from Minutemen, Dos, and Firehose. Watt is notorious for his moving, geometric bass lines and aggressive post-punk style — for which short-scale basses are particularly well-suited.

 

You're welcome! As a guitar player first, I love my baby bass as I call it, but there's nothing else I can do to improve the sound. I mean it's ok, but still wondering if anyone has one they love.

 

As guitar players, we are used to 24.75" to 25.5" scales (or even 24.594 if you are playing a PRS McCarty 594), so even a baby bass is going to feel bigger than what we are used to.

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I picked up a Spector Bantam a few weeks back because I was curious about short scale after briefly trying one of my brother's short scale basses. Adapting to short scale wasn't as difficult as I might have expected and there's no real lack of bottom end like I'd thought there might be.

 

Don't know if it's going to stick around yet, though. Mainly it's a bit redundant sound-wise, since the recorded tone isn't markedly different in the mix than my Ibanez SRT900DX, which uses essentially the same pickups, and the neck profile on the Ibanez is actually a bit more comfortable to me.

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I've played bass in bands in the past, so it's basically how I'm defined as a musician but don't play a lot anymore (for fun or gigs). That said, I still write and record my own music at home, and drifted into the world of short scale basses. I've owned three (Gretsch, my current cheapo Ibanez mikro, and the first one which eludes me at the moment). I've tried buying a more expensive short scale a few years ago from Sweetwater, but they couldn't send me a Fender Mustang that wasn't suffering from horrible intonation issues out of the box [this line of basses was short lived and was pulled from the shelves less than a year after my issues, likely quality control problems like I experienced].

 

Anyway, I don't have much motivation to keep my hands stretched for playing a traditional bass at the level I'd like, so the short scale is the perfect compromise. Because I've mostly owned cheaper models, getting them setup properly (fret height, intonation) is almost impossible which is really my only gripe. I've thought to bring my current bass to a pro for a full workup but at $175 new the pro setup is going to be half the bass's value. Would make more sense to just spend that money on a better bass, just haven't explored this as I'm getting by for now with what I have and have been spending my funds elsewhere and milking the musical equipment I have for now. TMI

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I picked up a Spector Bantam a few weeks back because I was curious about short scale after briefly trying one of my brother's short scale basses. Adapting to short scale wasn't as difficult as I might have expected and there's no real lack of bottom end like I'd thought there might be.

 

Don't know if it's going to stick around yet, though. Mainly it's a bit redundant sound-wise, since the recorded tone isn't markedly different in the mix than my Ibanez SRT900DX, which uses essentially the same pickups, and the neck profile on the Ibanez is actually a bit more comfortable to me.

 

I can only imagine you f^$@ing shredding on a short scale. lol

 

https://www.spectorb...oduct/bantam-4/

 

At $1800 retail, this is so far out of my league... but I can see how such an instrument in the hands of a capable player equates to great performances. Therefore, Vectorman should always spend as much as they can afford!

 

The strings you can use on a short scale are only slightly lighter than a traditional bass. I can get a beefy sound with some post effects/eq'ing.

Edited by stoopid
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I've played bass in bands in the past, so it's basically how I'm defined as a musician but don't play a lot anymore (for fun or gigs). That said, I still write and record my own music at home, and drifted into the world of short scale basses. I've owned three (Gretsch, my current cheapo Ibanez mikro, and the first one which eludes me at the moment). I've tried buying a more expensive short scale a few years ago from Sweetwater, but they couldn't send me a Fender Mustang that wasn't suffering from horrible intonation issues out of the box [this line of basses was short lived and was pulled from the shelves less than a year after my issues, likely quality control problems like I experienced].

 

Anyway, I don't have much motivation to keep my hands stretched for playing a traditional bass at the level I'd like, so the short scale is the perfect compromise. Because I've mostly owned cheaper models, getting them setup properly (fret height, intonation) is almost impossible which is really my only gripe. I've thought to bring my current bass to a pro for a full workup but at $175 new the pro setup is going to be half the bass's value. Would make more sense to just spend that money on a better bass, just haven't explored this as I'm getting by for now with what I have and have been spending my funds elsewhere and milking the musical equipment I have for now. TMI

 

Yes, I know what you mean. Mine is so cheap, and there's probably not much else I can do with it. But I'm just playing in School of Rock anyway, though it is all year round, but still, I also play guitar with them, and thus far with my new strings and better pickup, it's worked out ok, so unless I win the lottery and have money to spend, I'll probably keep what I've got! Until it dies on me! But there's been some good info in this thread if I decide to try and get something better. But I'm sticking with short scale for sure.

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I've played bass in bands in the past, so it's basically how I'm defined as a musician but don't play a lot anymore (for fun or gigs). That said, I still write and record my own music at home, and drifted into the world of short scale basses. I've owned three (Gretsch, my current cheapo Ibanez mikro, and the first one which eludes me at the moment). I've tried buying a more expensive short scale a few years ago from Sweetwater, but they couldn't send me a Fender Mustang that wasn't suffering from horrible intonation issues out of the box [this line of basses was short lived and was pulled from the shelves less than a year after my issues, likely quality control problems like I experienced].

 

Anyway, I don't have much motivation to keep my hands stretched for playing a traditional bass at the level I'd like, so the short scale is the perfect compromise. Because I've mostly owned cheaper models, getting them setup properly (fret height, intonation) is almost impossible which is really my only gripe. I've thought to bring my current bass to a pro for a full workup but at $175 new the pro setup is going to be half the bass's value. Would make more sense to just spend that money on a better bass, just haven't explored this as I'm getting by for now with what I have and have been spending my funds elsewhere and milking the musical equipment I have for now. TMI

 

Yes, I know what you mean. Mine is so cheap, and there's probably not much else I can do with it. But I'm just playing in School of Rock anyway, though it is all year round, but still, I also play guitar with them, and thus far with my new strings and better pickup, it's worked out ok, so unless I win the lottery and have money to spend, I'll probably keep what I've got! Until it dies on me! But there's been some good info in this thread if I decide to try and get something better. But I'm sticking with short scale for sure.

 

I grabbed my Ibanez mikro at Guitar Center, they may even give you something on tradein for the next 'beginner' that walks in and doesn't want to spend much. They had a few so I was able to pick the one I thought had the best chance to hold tuning/intonation. It's not quite perfect, but good enough for home recording. The mikro is likely better than what you're playing now, it's renown as a great budget bass. With guitars nowadays you can get a really solid instrument cheap if you know what one to buy.

Edited by stoopid
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I have tried a short scale bass once, but unfortunately due to me having gigantic paws, they are not suitable for me so I stick to the ordinary ones....
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I've played bass in bands in the past, so it's basically how I'm defined as a musician but don't play a lot anymore (for fun or gigs). That said, I still write and record my own music at home, and drifted into the world of short scale basses. I've owned three (Gretsch, my current cheapo Ibanez mikro, and the first one which eludes me at the moment). I've tried buying a more expensive short scale a few years ago from Sweetwater, but they couldn't send me a Fender Mustang that wasn't suffering from horrible intonation issues out of the box [this line of basses was short lived and was pulled from the shelves less than a year after my issues, likely quality control problems like I experienced].

 

Anyway, I don't have much motivation to keep my hands stretched for playing a traditional bass at the level I'd like, so the short scale is the perfect compromise. Because I've mostly owned cheaper models, getting them setup properly (fret height, intonation) is almost impossible which is really my only gripe. I've thought to bring my current bass to a pro for a full workup but at $175 new the pro setup is going to be half the bass's value. Would make more sense to just spend that money on a better bass, just haven't explored this as I'm getting by for now with what I have and have been spending my funds elsewhere and milking the musical equipment I have for now. TMI

 

Yes, I know what you mean. Mine is so cheap, and there's probably not much else I can do with it. But I'm just playing in School of Rock anyway, though it is all year round, but still, I also play guitar with them, and thus far with my new strings and better pickup, it's worked out ok, so unless I win the lottery and have money to spend, I'll probably keep what I've got! Until it dies on me! But there's been some good info in this thread if I decide to try and get something better. But I'm sticking with short scale for sure.

 

I grabbed my Ibanez mikro at Guitar Center, they may even give you something on tradein for the next 'beginner' that walks in and doesn't want to spend much. They had a few so I was able to pick the one I thought had the best chance to hold tuning/intonation. It's not quite perfect, but good enough for home recording. The mikro is likely better than what you're playing now, it's renown as a great budget bass. With guitars nowadays you can get a really solid instrument cheap if you know what one to buy.

Oh, I could never give up my baby bass, lol.

But, if I get another one, I'll check out the Ibanez, thanks!

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I picked up a Spector Bantam a few weeks back because I was curious about short scale after briefly trying one of my brother's short scale basses. Adapting to short scale wasn't as difficult as I might have expected and there's no real lack of bottom end like I'd thought there might be.

 

Don't know if it's going to stick around yet, though. Mainly it's a bit redundant sound-wise, since the recorded tone isn't markedly different in the mix than my Ibanez SRT900DX, which uses essentially the same pickups, and the neck profile on the Ibanez is actually a bit more comfortable to me.

 

I can only imagine you f^$@ing shredding on a short scale. lol

 

https://www.spectorb...oduct/bantam-4/

 

At $1800 retail, this is so far out of my league... but I can see how such an instrument in the hands of a capable player equates to great performances. Therefore, Vectorman should always spend as much as they can afford!

 

The strings you can use on a short scale are only slightly lighter than a traditional bass. I can get a beefy sound with some post effects/eq'ing.

 

You're very kind, good sir...I am no Geddy Lee, but I try, hehe.

 

I actually got the Bantam used for $1,100. Most of the higher-end stuff I've had has been bought used when I found a reasonably good deal. And you know, one thing I've found from having owned both less expensive and somewhat higher-end gear is that I haven't always found myself liking the more expensive stuff that much better. I have a Sterling 4H bass I bought last year for $950 (again, I waited for a good deal and got one at less than 1/2 the price of a new one), and I'm probably going to sell it...because I have an Ibanez ATK with a Nordstrand MM pickup in it that I snagged for $275 from the Talkbass classifieds a decade ago that plays a little better than the Sterling and sounds very similar recorded. I'm always glad to use a less expensive piece of gear that does the job just as well.

 

It's funny...all my main player basses that I use regularly were deals/finds that cost me under $1K, whereas every time I've spent over $1K for a bass, I seemed to end up not liking something about it and reselling it.

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Kramer Duke and a Fender Mustang. If I were young and were to do it all over again, I would construct a 29" scale 5 string tuned DGCFBb. The traditional eadgc would be at the second fret. It would be as if you put a capo on the third fret and sawed off the headstock and the first 2 frets.
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