Longmayyourun Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 I'd only ever played long (34") scale basses until a couple of months ago when I bought a short scale acoustic - Fender BG32 - and I chose that over about ten others cos it genuinely had the nicest bottom end. I've really come to enjoy the relative ease of getting around on the fretboard in the lower registers, so: the question is - does anyone have any opinions on short scale electrics, are there any out there that manage to sound solid and full or are they a poor relation? I may be getting old but I'm tired of reaching into the middle of last week to find bottom F. Could be my arms are shrinking. Any thoughts or advice would be welcome. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul, the Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 The '60s semis produce some of the best tones imo. It's worth bearing in mind strap length/position, neck positioning, nut width. There are also medium scale basses, but aren't common. Aria ProII did a few medium scale models. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longmayyourun Posted March 21, 2008 Author Share Posted March 21, 2008 [quote name='paul, the' post='161588' date='Mar 21 2008, 09:20 PM']The '60s semis produce some of the best tones imo. It's worth bearing in mind strap length/position, neck positioning, nut width. There are also medium scale basses, but aren't common. Aria ProII did a few medium scale models.[/quote] Hmm, hadn't thought of looking at older stuff. Had to do a nearly 3 hour set last gig (to fit in with catering and speeches and goodness knows what else!) and my left arm was going numb by the end. Even tried hanging it on my right shoulder which brought everything closer but felt very strange. Any way thanks for your thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutToPlayJazz Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 I always thought playing a shorter scale instrument would be odd and difficult to adapt to, but after a few notes on my 32" KingBass, it's just like "home". The only one I find a little beguiling is my Hofner violin bass, which is mainly due to the lack of dot markers on the side of the neck. Strange, really. I have 32, 34 & 35" necks & I don't really think about it usually... I just play them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longmayyourun Posted March 21, 2008 Author Share Posted March 21, 2008 OK - thinking about this I realiseI may have confused the issue. I don't have a problem playing the short scale - infact I like it, but the real question is will I find an electric with a similar scale to my acoustic (30") that has a credible sound? Or should I stop whining and practice / exercise more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7string Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 I have a 32" USA Fender Urge and it's a great, easy bass to play. Sounds great as well !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul, the Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 [quote name='Longmayyourun' post='161595' date='Mar 21 2008, 09:46 PM']Hmm, hadn't thought of looking at older stuff. Had to do a nearly 3 hour set last gig (to fit in with catering and speeches and goodness knows what else!) and my left arm was going numb by the end. Even tried hanging it on my right shoulder which brought everything closer but felt very strange. Any way thanks for your thoughts.[/quote] Perhaps try a violin bass. Very light, lots of character, fat warm tone, 30" scale, cheap to replace if you don't get on with it, huge selection old or new, always [url="http://search.ebay.co.uk/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&dfsp=1&catref=C6&from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=%28beatle%2C+violin%2C+hofner%29+-%28scales%2C+dvd%29&sacat=4713%26catref%3DC6&a6=-24&a14=-24&a53=-24&a30482=-24&alist=a6%2Ca51%2Ca14%2Ca3801%2Ca53%2Ca30482%2Ca55765&pfmode=1&reqtype=1&gcs=2126&pfid=3128&pf_query=%28beatle%2C+violin%2C+hofner%29+-%28scales%2C+dvd%29&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D3&sadis=200&fpos=DT4+0NR&sabfmts=1&ga10244=10425&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&sabdlo=&sabdhi=&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=1%26fsoo%3D1&coaction=compare&copagenum=1&coentrypage=search"]plenty on ebay[/url]... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longmayyourun Posted March 22, 2008 Author Share Posted March 22, 2008 Thanks guys for your thoughts. It has also been pointed out to me that the original Quo bassist (Alan Lancaster?) did alright with a Mustang Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musky Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 [quote name='Longmayyourun' post='161684' date='Mar 22 2008, 09:28 AM']Thanks guys for your thoughts. It has also been pointed out to me that the original Quo bassist (Alan Lancaster?) did alright with a Mustang[/quote] Andy Frazer and Jack Bruce did ok with EB3's as well. Short scale basses may lose a few inches off the neck, but they don't lose anything in tone. If you decide you don't like the bit of 'flap' they add you can always use a heavier gauge of strings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 If your short scale bass is half-way decent it all comes down to the quality of the string. My first 10 years of bass playing were done on a Burns Sonic 29 1/2" scale and for most of that time I never ventured below open A simply because I couldn't get a good enough note out of any of the E strings I tried. Mainstream string makers used to be good at producing 34" scale round wounds for 4 string basses but generally not so good at others. Nowadays with a better choice of strings available on line things have got better. Personally for a good round wound set I haven't come across a better short scale string than the ones [url="http://www.newtonestrings.com/"]Newtone[/url] make Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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