Mike Lull 40" scale custom job...

[NancyJohnson]

Paul Schuster at Lull posted up the image below on the Lull Facebook page yesterday. The bass on the right is a one off build for a customer; a 40" scale monster tuned BEAD. Aside from this (and a little plea for more information), I have nothing more for you. (If you're interested, left to right the models are a 30" scale, a 34", a 34" with an oversized JAX layout and finally the 40" brute.)

I mean, credit for Lull for actually building this. I just get a little tired of standard basses being 34" or 35", just because, cough, 'Leo got it right.'

Edited December 17, 2016 by NancyJohnson

[chris_b]

Looks good. A 40" scale bass will really pick out the guys with poor technique.

[thodrik]

Hmm, interesting. I would love to try something with that kind of scale length.

[NancyJohnson]

I think for me the issue is purely down to the visual aesthetics. Longer scale, bigger body.

I've got a JAXT4 which has a Thunderbird shaped body, albeit 20% bigger...you could easily(!) steal two or three inches at the bridge end, just by setting the bridge further back, which would only mean adding four to six inches to neck length.

It's an interesting concept...sadly it would probably cost an arm and a leg.

[GreeneKing]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1481969621' post='3196605']
Looks good. A 40" scale bass will really pick out the guys with poor technique.
[/quote]

Interesting comment Chris. I'd have thought that the players with good 'one finger per fret' technique would actually struggle the most? Those who move to accommodate fretting more might find it easier?

I try to adopt good technique but struggle with anything over 34" (said the actress....)

[thodrik]

[quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1481974284' post='3196672']
I think for me the issue is purely down to the visual aesthetics. Longer scale, bigger body.

I've got a JAXT4 which has a Thunderbird shaped body, albeit 20% bigger...you could easily(!) steal two or three inches at the bridge end, just by setting the bridge further back, which would only mean adding four to six inches to neck length.

It's an interesting concept...sadly it would probably cost an arm and a leg.
[/quote]

With it being Mike Lull, absolutely!

I wonder if Cort or Ibanez can build a cheap prototype...

[SpcMnk]

With a bigger scale the distance between the frets increases so you would need really big hands to become friends with that one..

[therealting]

Double basses have around a 41" scale, you have to use a 1-2-4 fingering pattern in lower positions though.

[Cosmo Valdemar]

That oversized 34" looks like it would suit me up a ding-dong.

[Happy Jack]

The elephant in the room is that, to keep the visuals working properly, he's clearly scaled up the body to match the huge neck.

Given the typically very light weight of a Lull 4-string (say 7.5lbs) then scaling it up by 20% wouldn't turn it into a back-breaker at 9lbs, but unfortunately I don't think it works like that.

I suspect that the 20% upscale need to be cubed for three dimensions, and 1.2 cubed is 1.73 which would take that 7.5lb startpoint over 11lbs, and that's before you get into the ergonomics of playing a thing that size.

Still love the idea, mind.

[NancyJohnson]

[quote name='SpcMnk' timestamp='1481978780' post='3196715']
With a bigger scale the distance between the frets increases so you would need really big hands to become friends with that one..
[/quote]

Arm length would be more of a factor I suspect, however as I said earlier, I could feasibly rob two or three inches by moving the bridge further back on my JAXT4m so the additional length would only be c.3" beyond the nut. There's a scale length calculator over on the Stewmac site to support measurements. [url="https://www.stewmac.com/FretCalculator.html"]https://www.stewmac.com/FretCalculator.html[/url]

Just type in the scale length and number of frets. Interestingly (and if you have a Fender Precision close to hand), the nut (open tuning) would be at a position equivalent to dead centre that of the D-string machine head capstan. The fifth fret on the 40" scale (so an E) would be roughly at the equivalent position of the 2nd fret (F#) on the Precision.

[burno70]

I'd struggle to play that beast with my little mitts.

[PlungerModerno]

That's a big one!

If it's chambered - with a light, slim neck - I think it might be doable.
I'd need to try it first!

I hope those are lightweight tuners. Come to think of it a 40" headless would be much more practical (might fit in a standard gigbag/hard case?

P.S. It's gorgeous - but it's not even nearly as sweet looking as the JAX layout next to it. The oversized body & the 'buckers remind me of a Peavey T40.

Edited December 18, 2016 by PlungerModerno

[juliusmonk]

Whatever way you look at it, it requires gorilla's arms me thinks.

[BigRedX]

Knuckle Guitarworks got there first with the Quake Bass.

[JPJ]

I've got a 36" scale Overwater, 2 x 35" scale Overwaters, and a quad of 34" scale. Yes you can tell the difference if you go from the 34" to the 36" but as I normally gig the 35", the change to 36" is hardly noticeable at all. 40" though, that would be another thing all together!

[LewisK1975]

There's a LOT of room on that scratchplate! It's 'kin huge!

[HazBeen]

I think a 40" A and D string wouldn't have particularly nice tone. B I get, E possibly still ok. Fanned Fret makes more sense to me.

[Graham]

Getting strings for it must be a ball-ache too.

[stingrayPete1977]

I would like to see a picture of someone playing it, even Dood would look like Suzi Quatro with it!

[Guest ixlramp]

Good to see this, we need to break the commercial chicken-and-egg problem that has been restricting us to 34/35".
34" was chosen for E1 but longer is now useful for modern lower tunings.
Those who have played a Knuckle Guitar Works (now part of Kalium) Quake have mentioned it was surprisingly comfortable to play. That design shifts the bridge to the right and the nut to the left by the same amount, so the nut is only 2.5" further away.
Kalium Strings sell non-custom strings for 40" scale.
I don't consider stretching to cover frets 1 to 4 'good' technique, it may be fast technique but it's unhealthy for the hand to fret high tension strings with fingers in such an unnatural position, no surprise so many bassists have injuries (unnecessarily high tension strings and terrible instrument ergonomics contribute).

Edited December 22, 2016 by ixlramp

[NancyJohnson]

Paul Schuster has said it's (currently) strung with a custom made set of La Bella strings. No intelligence the gauges.

[Russ]

I remember seeing a huge 42" scale Sei Flamboyant back in the mid-90s at The Gallery - I think Martin beat Knuckle and Mike Lull by a good few years.

The thing was absolutely enormous. Must have weighed 20lbs too.