Squier Mini Precision

[JapanAxe]

Ooh...

Anyone planning to try one? 28.6in scale, £139 from GAK.

[therealting]

They look funky - my worry would be finding flats that fit. The Harley Benton Shorty is a 30” P and half the price. 

[JapanAxe]

35 minutes ago, therealting said:

They look funky - my worry would be finding flats that fit. The Harley Benton Shorty is a 30” P and half the price. 

I don't know whether 30in strings would fit the Squier.

[lemmywinks]

2 hours ago, therealting said:

They look funky - my worry would be finding flats that fit. The Harley Benton Shorty is a 30” P and half the price. 

If you get one I have a set of LaBella flats that are just a tad too short for a 30" scale P bass, no cost as I got them gifted off here. Can't post until I'm back at work though.

[therealting]

15 minutes ago, lemmywinks said:

If you get one I have a set of LaBella flats that are just a tad too short for a 30" scale P bass, no cost as I got them gifted off here. Can't post until I'm back at work though.

I actually have a super shorty that I’ve been looking for flats for for AGES. I’ll pop you a message!

[obbm]

Does anyone know what the nut width is and the string spacing at the bridge?

I have a set of Labella flats on an Ibanez Mikro.  They fitted perfectly.

[Burns-bass]

I’ve ordered one. Get it without VAT from Thomann and I think the shorter scale will be perfect for them. Might also order a mustang too so they’ve got shorties to play with.

Will give a report when it arrives. 

[shoulderpet]

If this was 30" scale I would be all over it , it is just a smidge too short as I have no interest in sub short scales but a 30" Squier P bass would be great

[therealting]

2 hours ago, shoulderpet said:

If this was 30" scale I would be all over it , it is just a smidge too short as I have no interest in sub short scales but a 30" Squier P bass would be great

As mentioned above, the HB Shorty gets great reviews, for under £70.

https://m.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hbp90bk_shortscale_ebass.htm

[Baloney Balderdash]

I assume this is a cheaper take on the relatively short lived Fender Precision Jr. Bass that has the same scale length, though that only has a volume and no tone knob.

I am quite of tempted to get the black one, as I love my Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro bass that has the same scale length, though an additional J pickup added to the P, as well as 2 more frets.

But I'd likely just stick to my beloved Mikro, which is actually my main bass that I upgraded the pickups on. 

Big fan of short scale basses, and especially these slightly shorter than the regular 30" scale standard for short scales, and I very much welcome more options on the market for those.

The ESP LTD B-4 JR being another of those, that just recently went into production again, after having been discontinued several years back. 

That one kind of tempts me too, having 24 frets, but also just one single P pickup, like the Squier Mimi P Bass.

But honestly if I get another bass of this kind of scale length I would likely end up with just another Ibanez Mikro, one in the Weathered Black finish to be more exact. 

And I guess, just for the sake of having all the options mentioned that I am aware of for this type of scale length basses, there's the Jackson Minion as well, a 22 fret P/J bass, like the Mikro.

All of these being in the lower budget price category, though I would love to see a higher end take of this concept as well. even if I suppose that is unlikely to happen, unless having a custom one made. 

The original Fender Precision Jr. Bass was more of a lower mid priced instrument though. 

Edited May 30, 2020 by Baloney Balderdash

[Baloney Balderdash]

On 15/05/2020 at 23:25, obbm said:

Does anyone know what the nut width is and the string spacing at the bridge?

I have a set of Labella flats on an Ibanez Mikro.  They fitted perfectly.

Nut width of the Squier Mini P is 40,6 mm (1,6"), don't know the width at the bridge for certain, but I strongly assume it would be the same as a standard vintage Fender bridge. 

Edited May 30, 2020 by Baloney Balderdash

[FrankRNY]

I just bought one.  It is a quality build for the money.  Lots of fun. 

[S.F.Sorrow]

On 15/05/2020 at 20:54, JapanAxe said:

I don't know whether 30in strings would fit the Squier.

They won't. Most short scale strings are around 32-33 inch winding length. I don't think even the Ibanez Micro strings will fit because of the shorter distance from the nut to the E-string tuning peg on the Mini-P.

In fact I don't think there is a single set of strings that will fit this bass unless you don't mind having the wound part of the string around the tuning post. Probably not a big deal with most roundwounds but it won't be a good idea with old school flats like LaBellas.

I think it's poor from Fender to release a bass without being able to supply spare strings for it. What strings do they ship these basses with? The specs say 45-105 but Fender does not sell any 45-105 short scale sets (which would be too long anyway). Do they put LONG scale strings on these 28 inch basses???

[gjones]

Sounds like a P bass to me.

 

[JapanAxe]

17 minutes ago, S.F.Sorrow said:

They won't. Most short scale strings are around 32-33 inch winding length. I don't think even the Ibanez Micro strings will fit because of the shorter distance from the nut to the E-string tuning peg on the Mini-P.

In fact I don't think there is a single set of strings that will fit this bass unless you don't mind having the wound part of the string around the tuning post. Probably not a big deal with most roundwounds but it won't be a good idea with old school flats like LaBellas.

I think it's poor from Fender to release a bass without being able to supply spare strings for it. What strings do they ship these basses with? The specs say 45-105 but Fender does not sell any 45-105 short scale sets (which would be too long anyway). Do they put LONG scale strings on these 28 inch basses???

You sound very certain. Have you tried?

[S.F.Sorrow]

2 hours ago, JapanAxe said:

You sound very certain. Have you tried?

I have not tried the Mini-P but I have measured the strings on my own short scale basses and/or checked the specs I could find for short scale strings from several manufacturers. They are all minimum 32 inch winding length (ball end to taper). Some are even more than 33 inch winding length.This means that they will 100% definitely be too long for the Mini P unless you can accept having the wound part of the string around the tuning post on at least the E-string. I know this is supposed to be ok with roundwounds but it's not something I would personally do. With many flats (at least the old school types like LaBella) it will definitely break the string and I usually prefer flats on short scale basses.

I won't completely rule out the possibility that there might be a short scale set somewhere that will fit the Mini-P but definitely not any from GHS, DR, Pyramid, Ernie Ball or Thomastik. They are all around 32-33" winding length. I didn't check Fender or Rotosound because their short scale sets are garbage, far too thin and floppy (I like Rotosound's longs scale strings though).

Elixir doesn't make any short scale sets to my knowledge.

I couldn't find any winding length specs for D'Addario, Optima or Dunlop but I would be surprised if they differ a lot from the rest. Any shorter than 32" winding length and they would be too short for many regular 30" short scale basses. And I don't like D'Addarios much anyway so they wouldn't have been an option for me.

As for the Ibanez Micro strings I think it's pretty evident just by looking at pics of the headstock of an Ibanez Micro and compare it to a Mini P that that they won't fit the Mini-P without getting the wound part of the E-string around the tuning peg.

I'm a huge fan of short scale basses (and I own lots of them) so I was very excited about the Mini P until I realized there aren't any replacement strings that will fit properly. At least not to my knowledge. I think it's very poor from Fender to release this bass without replacement strings available for this scale. Not that I'm a huge fan of Fender strings but still very, very poor IMO.

[jrixn1]

1 hour ago, S.F.Sorrow said:

With many flats (at least the old school types like LaBella) it will definitely break the string

I had a J&D mini bass, 28.5" scale length, with La Bella flats on it and they definitely did not break.

 

[jrixn1]

And previously with Fender 9050 flats.  I see (and agree) what you're saying about the windings going on the post, but these ones definitely didn't break either.

 

[Paul S]

My strings of choice are TI flats and the ones they sell as 'short scale' actually have 32" of winding so, inevitably, you end up having some winding on the post.  I have them on 3 SS basses at the moment and have had them on numerous others over the years and never had an issue with it.  So, moving down a couple of inches, if you had a string with 30" of winding on a 'less than' 30" scale bass I think it would be ok.  To my mind the problems would start if you cut the string at the winding rather than just bend it.

[obbm]

Labella Short Scale Flats on a Mikro.

 

 

[S.F.Sorrow]

9 hours ago, jrixn1 said:

I had a J&D mini bass, 28.5" scale length, with La Bella flats on it and they definitely did not break.

 

 

Edited August 29, 2020 by S.F.Sorrow
Sorry, messed up the quote a bit. See my post below.

[S.F.Sorrow]

Lets hope it stays that way. I've certainly had LaBellas break this way. Fender flats might work though. I think it's mostly the "old school" type of flats that (may) unravel when installed like this. "Modern" flats are different. I've even had TI flats on string through body basses with no issues. But LaBellas? Seems a bit risky to be.

Are you sure it's 28.5"? I thought the E-string looked VERY close to what I would find acceptable so I checked the specs for the J&D mini J. It said 29". At least for the ones currently for sale. Maybe they changed the specs?

[S.F.Sorrow]

I just remembered I got a tip about strings for the Mini P on a different forum. It completely slipped my mind in my previous post. Apparently Newtone strings will make custom sets in any scale/gauge. I have never tried them so I have no idea if they're any good but at least they could be an option for the Mini P. No flats though, only rounds.

I've also seen some speculation that D'Addario Chromes might fit but no 100% confirmation. I'm not a fan of Chromes so they wouldn't be an option for me personally but lots of people like them and they MIGHT work.

Edited August 29, 2020 by S.F.Sorrow

[S.F.Sorrow]

1 hour ago, Paul S said:

My strings of choice are TI flats and the ones they sell as 'short scale' actually have 32" of winding so, inevitably, you end up having some winding on the post.  I have them on 3 SS basses at the moment and have had them on numerous others over the years and never had an issue with it.  So, moving down a couple of inches, if you had a string with 30" of winding on a 'less than' 30" scale bass I think it would be ok.  To my mind the problems would start if you cut the string at the winding rather than just bend it.

Yeah, TI flats work fine that way. Like I said in my previous post I've even had them on a string through body Mustang with no issues. But TI flats are constructed differently from old school flats like LaBellas. Having the wound part of LaBella flats around the tuning is risky at best. There's a reason LaBella have billions of different versions of these strings to make them fit perfectly on pretty much any bass out there (except mini basses).

Quote from the LaBella website:

"For flat wounds, make sure the wound portion of the string does NOT wrap around thetuning post (or else they will break)."

[jrixn1]

3 hours ago, S.F.Sorrow said:

Are you sure it's 28.5"? I thought the E-string looked VERY close to what I would find acceptable so I checked the specs for the J&D mini J. It said 29". At least for the ones currently for sale. Maybe they changed the specs?

I no longer own the bass, but I measured by doubling the distance between nut and 12th fret.

 

3 hours ago, S.F.Sorrow said:

Lets hope it stays that way. I've certainly had LaBellas break this way.

[...]

Quote from the LaBella website:

"For flat wounds, make sure the wound portion of the string does NOT wrap around thetuning post (or else they will break)."

Thanks - it's good to know the official line and that there's an increased risk.  Perhaps I was lucky!