The Short Scale Bass Appreciation Society!

[scrumpymike]

14 hours ago, Adee said:

Thankfully I don’t think they actually have Lionel on the headstock but have California instead phew!!

 

That's correct.

[Trueno]

31 minutes ago, scrumpymike said:

Almost certainly anybody who's called Lionel - which lets me out 🙂

There’s always the option to change your name... that’s what I did when I fancied a personalised car number plate.

[Stub Mandrel]

9 hours ago, scrumpymike said:

Almost certainly anybody who's called Lionel - which lets me out 🙂

If I was called Lionel I wouldn't draw attention to it...

8 hours ago, Trueno said:

There’s always the option to change your name... that’s what I did when I fancied a personalised car number plate.

So that's how you came to be called XWG 978 P.

[Trueno]

31 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

So that's how you came to be called XWG 978 P.

How did you know?

[Stub Mandrel]

3 minutes ago, Trueno said:

How did you know?

 

It's cheaper to change your name by deed poll (£42.44) than to change your number plate (£80).

[Trueno]

4 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

It's cheaper to change your name by deed poll (£42.44) than to change your number plate (£80).

£42.44 is a bit precise... what’s the 44p for?

Anyway... just call me Ex-dubya. XWG is a bit formal

Edited April 15, 2021 by Trueno

[hooky_lowdown]

8 hours ago, Trueno said:

£42.44 is a bit precise... what’s the 44p for?

Anyway... just call me Ex-dubya. XWG is a bit formal

A couple paper clips plus vat. 🤣

[Merton]

Feel the need to show off my latest in here. It’s exceptional.

[MoonBassAlpha]

That does look rather nice. How does it balance,  with the short upper bout?

 

[Merton]

11 minutes ago, MoonBassAlpha said:

That does look rather nice. How does it balance,  with the short upper bout?

 

It's absolutely perfect. No neck dive at all. No idea how Alan managed it!

[eude]

17 minutes ago, Merton said:

It's absolutely perfect. No neck dive at all. No idea how Alan managed it!

Voodoo.

[scrumpymike]

47 minutes ago, Merton said:

It's absolutely perfect. No neck dive at all. No idea how Alan managed it!

The body weighs 5kg 😲

[mr4stringz]

2 hours ago, Merton said:

Feel the need to show off my latest in here. It’s exceptional.

Stunning.

[barrycreed]

Spotted a used Gibson SG bass with Babiscz bridge. Punt or no punt....

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, barrycreed said:

Spotted a used Gibson SG bass with Babiscz bridge. Punt or no punt....

Purely down to price, and if you get on with the tone. I am always tempted by them when they come up cheap

[Vin Venal]

On 15/06/2020 at 18:05, Baloney Balderdash said:

 

I thought it would make sense to have a more general thread dedicated to lovers of short scale basses, such as my self.

So tell your story of how you got into short scale basses, show off your short scales, and tell their story.

The scene is yours fellow short scale bass enthusiast!

 

Inspired by this thread :

 

I started out playing a regular 34" scale bass, a great old Aria Pro II Laser Electric Classic bass, which I by the way still own, but as I at some point got involved with a noise rock and hardcore influenced math rock band, called Menfolk, with 2 bass players, where I sort of a had a more lead bass oriented role, I began to wish for a bass with a shorter scale, since a lot of fairly fast complex runs and chording was involved in my bass play with this band, not knowing at that point that such basses indeed already existed, and being made fun of by the, by the way incredible skilled, drummer (multi instrumentalist and musician as such for that matter), who was sort of the unofficial band leader, of Menfolk, and by the way still is one of my friends, for voicing my opinion about such, he apparently not being aware of the existence of short scale basses either at that point.

I eventually left that band, something I have regretted many times since, but I just wasn't all that psychologically well off at that time, and I felt like I was not able to give the band the full attention and dedication I felt it deserved, though that's another story, which by the way ended well, by them finding another great bass player, and truly nice guy too by the way, to take over my job, who actually used to be a fan of our band,  and after that, among other things, they released their first full length album on a small independent record company some of our mutual friends owned at that point, where I helped compose a couple of the songs on it, though I didn't actually record anything for it (but while I was still in the band I had previously recorded a 2 track single and a 4 track EP with them, also released on the same label), and after that they got a gig at Scandinavian's biggest rock festival "The Roskilde Festival", which is one of the , but by far not the only, reasons I regret choosing to leave.

Anyway a while after leaving Menfolk I discovered that short scale basses indeed was a thing and bought my first one, a Jerry Jones Longhorn, which is sort of a higher end, high quality, one might even call it boutique, now unfortunately discontinued, version of the original Danelectro one, from a now retired fairly legendary guitar builder/company.

The best bass I have, not only ever owned, but ever had the pleasure to lay my hands on yet, especially with the setting it's stock pickup selector rotary switch offered that put it's 2 lipstick tube pickups in series connection, and going into my Ampeg B15-S, 60W tube amp from 1969, with a 1X 15" flip top cab (same amp I used with my Aria Pro II in Menfolk. And believe it or not, but it was plenty loud to, without any issues whatsoever, compete with a 50W massively distorted Hiwatt guitar tube amp (originally a 100W, modded to work at half power) with a 4x 12" Marshall cab, another bass player with a 100W Carlsbro tube amp and a 2x 15" cab, and a seriously hard hitting drummer, and even to fill up small venues without PA support. Though I am pretty sure it had to do with the kind of really upper mids heavy, overdriven, and very little bass heavy tone of my bass that I used for that band, utilizing the active HPF/LPF circuit of that particular bass's stock preamp, to actually cut some of the lowest bass frequency content out of the signal, before the amp, since as said, I had more of a lead bass role, while the other bass player mainly took care of a bit more traditional supporting bass role. And I did also push that 60W B15-S Ampeg tube amp with the 1X15" cab to it's absolute maximum), me being stupid enough though to later sell both amp and bass (the Jerry Jones one, still own my Aria Pro II), which I still to this day regret.

A combo (my Jerry Jones Longhorn with it's 2 lipstick tube pickups in series + my Ampeg B15-S 60W tube amp with a 1x 15" flip top cab), that  I otherwise also used in another band, that I joined a while after I had left Menfolk, but that I also eventually left, though this time without any regrets whatsoever, due to it taking a musical turn from originally being a quite noise rock influenced and somewhat experimentally minded band to a much more commercial minded direction, I just couldn't see myself in such a band, even if they did get a record deal and they too played at the Roskilde Festival after I had left, I still have or have had absolutely no regrets about that decision, the way their music eventually turned out just wasn't me at all.

A funny story though from that band, after a quite jazzy bass solo I did on one of their tracks (I think one of the only times where I actually utilized the Longhorn's 24th fret), the lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist in jest began referring to me as  Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, though also meant as a genuine compliment to my bass playing skills, and I guess partially as a comment on the kind of sound that semi hollow body Jerry Jones had, even with roundwound strings and it's pickups wired in series, as well,  Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, in case you don't know, being the name of an internationally famous Danish double bass jazz player. 

 

Anyway, that's where my love for short scale basses started, with that Jerry Jones Longhorn, which is also the most expensive bass I've ever owned (they costed 1200$ from new, I think about 20 years ago, when they were still in production, though I got a discount on mine, since it had been used as a display model).

Unfortunately I got no pictures of it.

 

Just love the effortless playability of short scales, and with the right one, to me at least, there is no disadvantages to the shorter scale, only advantages.

 

So a while after having been stupid enough to sell my Jerry Jones Lomghorn bass the cravings eventually came back for owning and playing a short scale bass again, in the meantime mostly having focused on playing guitar, which was actually the original first instrument I started out learning how to play, even if bass then later becoming my main instrument of choice, and really had been for a while at that point too, just all the while continuing to play guitar on the sideline, and in shorter periods of time having guitar take back most of my focus from playing bass.

So the first short scale I bought after that was a cheap Höfner Beatles/violin bass knockoff, forgot the brandname,  West...something, I think, but never really liked it, so that was a relatively short acquaintance, even if it despite being a cheap budget knockoff actually was quite well constructed and pretty much sounded exactly like such a bass is supposed to, just discovered that that type of bass definitely isn't, or ever will be, for me, after that then I bought a used Ampeg Dan Armstrong Plexi Bass, that I actually got cheap, relatively compared to what the used prices usually are, and was at that point too, for those basses, which, even if being a considerable higher end bass than that cheap Höfner knockoff, and generally being a highly regarded instrument, wasn't to my liking either, neither liked how it felt in my hands and played or the tone of it, no matter which of the two slide in interchangeable pickups, that it came with when I bought it, I used, so hat became a fairly short acquaintance as well.

And like with the Jerry Jones Longhorn I don't actually got any pictures of those 2 basses either.

 

Eventually though I then decided to have a 28 5/8" scale bass made out of Warmoth baritone parts, with a Seymour Duncan Rickenbacker Neck replacement pickup placed in the neck position, and a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails guitar Strat humbucker pickup in the bridge. that one I loved, especially how it sounded, a very clear articulate tone, with a quite piano like quality to it.

This one (designed the headstock myself, which admittedly I may have went a little over board with ), mahogany body, maple neck, and a 24 fret, rosewood, as far as I recall it, fretboard :

Unfortunately I was stupid enough to sell that one too.

 

But currently I am very happy with my two lowly but absolutely lovely Ibanez Mikro basses, one black 4 string GSRM20 Mikro Bass, my main, from the December 2010 production (owned since April 2011, bought new), that I baptized "Dud Bottomfeeder", with various visual mods, and with a just freshly installed all new DiMarzio Model P pickup wired directly to the output jack socket, the J pickup from the P/J EMG Geezer Butler set it had installed previously still sitting there, filling out the bridge pickup cavity, but lowered considerably and not being connected, or planed to be connected at any point, anymore, tuned in regular 4 string bass, E standard, tuning, here equipped with gauge 1.00 to .045 D'Addario nickle roundwound strings, though the plan is to have it strung up with a set of gauge  1.00 to .045 coated stainless steel Elixir strings soon, and then a black 5 string GSRM25 Mikro Bass, from last year's, January 2019, production (owned since September 2019, bought new), with various visual mods, it's two stock J pickups wired in series directly to the jack output socket, and strung up with the 5 thickets strings of an Ernie Ball set meant for Bass VI type instruments, gauge .090 to .030, tuned in F# standard, 2 half steps above E standard tuning, as in F#1 to D3 :

 

28,6" scale, 4 string, 22 medium fret, rosewood fretboard, on a bolt on maple neck, with a mahogany body :

 

28,6" scale, 5 string, 22 medium fret, jatoba fretboard, on a bolt on maple neck, with a poplar body :

 

Both those 2 Mikro basses I have been very lucky with, very well made, especially the 4 string has an extremely stable neck that holds tuning remarkably well, and as good as never needs truss rod adjustments (unless of course the string tension changes significantly, by different tunings or string gauges), even seems quite resistant to seasonal changes, despite living in a country where there can be some fairly serious seasonal dependent weather changes, the 5 string neck being a bit more sensitive, but still more stable than most other necks of the instruments I have owned through time, and both got as good as perfect fretwork from factory, being able to get exactly as low string action as I prefer, without any fret buzz whatsoever, with the 5 string Mikro even having truly remarkably, not only for a cheap budget bass, but really for any mass produced instrument at any price class, absolutely perfectly completely leveled fretwork, to a degree where I would be able to get right out ridiculous low string action on it if I really wanted that, both truly great instruments, despite them being cheap budget ones.

Though neither of those 2 basses quite beat the Jerry Jones Longhorn I once owned, but the 4 string Mikro is still one of my absolute favorite basses out of all the ones I've ever owned, in fact a clear, and actually pretty close, 2nd after that fabled Jerry Jones, and I have grown very attached to it and love it dearly, though I kind of would wish I had treated it less carelessly, not exactly a beauty, but damn does it sound great and feels as a true joy and just like home to play on for me.  

Even went as far as to name it, though that is something I otherwise never do with my instruments, to the, I guess little flattering, but quite punk rock-esque, and fitting for how it has turned out looking and it's status as a low end cheap budget bass, name: Dud Bottomfeeder.

Hey, I really like your former band! Been listening to colossus today.

Kind of a Shellac thing going on.

[barrycreed]

18 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

Purely down to price, and if you get on with the tone. I am always tempted by them when they come up cheap

It's listed at €850.... too high?

[Woodinblack]

3 hours ago, barrycreed said:

It's listed at €850.... too high?

Probably a bit below the averge price, not expensive, and in good condition not too bad. Goes in phases, at the moment they seem quite expensive, but gibson often have blowouts, and the end of season you can normally pick them up new for not far off that. In good condition then if you want one it is fine.

[Baloney Balderdash]

13 hours ago, Vin Venal said:

Hey, I really like your former band! Been listening to colossus today.

Kind of a Shellac thing going on.

They were definitely inspired by Shellac, and their second full length album "Beast One/Man Nil", which I wasn't involved in the making of at all, was actually mixed by Bob Weston, the bass player of Shellac. 

I still regret leaving the band, but well they are no more anyway, so way too late to regret that, and honestly with how I struggled with depression and a building up psychosis at that point, which broke out a couple of years later, it isn't like I really had all that much of a choice. 

I appreciate that you like the music though. 

I wrote most of the "lead" bass work for the tracks "Hell is in Texas" and "One is All" (the latter I actually played on on the version of that song that is featured on Menfolk's previous 4 track EP "Are We Enemies"), as well as I wrote the bass line that predominantly makes up the track "The Simplicity of Not Knowing", but as said I didn't actually play or record anything for the album "Colossus". 

However, even though I didn't actually play or record anything on that album, and only helped write a few of the songs on it, it is still my personal absolute favorite of their releases.

The 4 track EP "Are We Enemies" is pretty nice too though, and on that one I played all of and wrote most of the "lead" bass parts (that is when not playing unison with either the guitar, just an octave lower, or the other more traditional bass (the funky hook guitar riff on the title track "Are We Enemies" that I later join in on an octave lower was actually written by me too)), and even wrote the lyrics for the track "Patterns of a Reason" on that EP.

All the lyrics, with the exception of that track, and the 2 tracks on the 2 track single "Double Date" (that is named so because it was actually a split single with our friends and label mates "The Unit"), which was written in a collaboration between me, the drummer and the guitarist/vocalist, were otherwise all written by the guitarist/vocalist.

And while we all contributed to the compositions the drummer, as I mentioned kind of acting as the unofficial band leader, was the main driving force behind the compositions, as well as he was acting as our recording technician, producer, as well as taking care of mixing our tracks, except for on their last full length "Beast One/Man Nil", which, as said, was mixed by Bob Weston.

Edited April 19, 2021 by Baloney Balderdash

[barrycreed]

23 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Probably a bit below the averge price, not expensive, and in good condition not too bad. Goes in phases, at the moment they seem quite expensive, but gibson often have blowouts, and the end of season you can normally pick them up new for not far off that. In good condition then if you want one it is fine.

Now in 2 or 3 minds between this,  the dc junior tribute, or holding out for a medium scale aluminium neck build!!!! Gah!!!

[Woodinblack]

2 hours ago, barrycreed said:

Now in 2 or 3 minds between this,  the dc junior tribute, or holding out for a medium scale aluminium neck build!!!! Gah!!!

I end up in that position quite a lot, then I the decision is too much and I get nothing.

The only way to solve it is to go into a shop and try them - if one speaks to you, then go for that.

[mr4stringz]

Crikey. 🔥🔥🔥

 

 

[Merton]

9 minutes ago, mr4stringz said:

Crikey. 🔥🔥🔥

 

 

Yep, gorgeous. A good friend of mine was in Argentina recently and almost, almost, brought back a black one of these for me. We decided after working out import taxes etc it was going to get silly. For reference they’re about £1400 as a base price. They are gorgeous!

[MoonBassAlpha]

25 minutes ago, mr4stringz said:

Crikey. 🔥🔥🔥

 

 

That's a belter! Love it!

[mr4stringz]

55 minutes ago, Merton said:

Yep, gorgeous. A good friend of mine was in Argentina recently and almost, almost, brought back a black one of these for me. We decided after working out import taxes etc it was going to get silly. For reference they’re about £1400 as a base price. They are gorgeous!

Base price doesn’t seem bad at all, but yeah the extra charges can be a killer on the offshore stuff. I’m glad I wasn’t as close to temptation as you were though, not sure head would’ve won over heart!