The Short Scale Bass Appreciation Society!

[ezbass]

2 hours ago, PaulFenderJazz said:

Went down to Camden at the weekend and collected my Wilcock Mullarkey. Viv’s been building it since May and it’s been worth the wait. A beautiful looking and sounding guitar. Instantly my favourite!  

I so very much want one of these. White with a roasted maple neck & fretboard. I’m most envious. 😍

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited March 15, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited March 15, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[Woodinblack]

2 hours ago, tegs07 said:

 am starting to get GAS for a Fender JMJ which is just odd after decades of hating Mustangs!

I was the same with mustangs and now have one. I don't play it live as it's a 4, but I do play it all the time around the house

[EssentialTension]

55 minutes ago, Rumple said:

That body shape is very reminiscent of a Shergold Marathon, which is a good thing 🙂

 

... and the Shergold Marathon was 'reminiscent' of the Hayman 4040, which is also a good thing.

[ezbass]

7 minutes ago, EssentialTension said:

 

... and the Shergold Marathon was 'reminiscent' of the Hayman 4040, which is also a good thing.

And an element of the Mk1 Wal. IIRC, Viv Wilcock is very open about his influences. I played a Mullarkey when I was Mustang shopping and if my budget would have stretched at the time, I’d have ordered one. Viv’s posts on Instagram are the very thing GAS is made of. https://instagram.com/wilcockbasses?utm_medium=copy_link

[barrycreed]

Selling my Bronco bass. Going to "upgrade". I had though about upgrading it, but might just get something off the shelf.

Only one I have left is the Epi EB0 with roundwounds.....

Decisions decisions........!

[EssentialTension]

The remniscence of a Mullarky with a Wal, Hayman, or Shergold stops, of course, at the scale length.

[PaulFenderJazz]

8 hours ago, three said:

Absolutely beautiful - what a lovely, understated but very classy colour.  I think the finish will have been from Bow - utterly superb work.  I picked-up a Mullarkey a few months ago and it's been a revelation.  I've spent years with active only basses but Viv's approach to passives works incredibly well.  Playability is superb on these and they're just such good fun - a joy to pick-up and play for hours.  This looks like a new(?) approach to the control layout - is it VVT?  Most I've seen are VT with a three-way pick-up selector.  A very lovely bass indeed

Thanks, really pleased with it. The colour I asked for was Lake Placid Blue metallic , I think this is actually a bit bluer and sparklier than that, but I think actually better than I had planned 😀. I asked for the VVT controls as they work so well on my AP Mustang: as you say Viv’s default is VT plus selecter. Would love to see a picture of the one you went for: as you say they are superb

[PaulFenderJazz]

7 hours ago, ezbass said:

I so very much want one of these. White with a roasted maple neck & fretboard. I’m most envious. 😍

 Thanks, they really are worth the money once you can save up!

[three]

13 minutes ago, PaulFenderJazz said:

 Thanks, they really are worth the money once you can save up!

I'd certainly agree - for the current price, I'd say they're a bit of a (relative) bargain: a UK hand-built, boutique bass (and an extremely good one that is really well-thought through in every respect).  For me, these compare very favourably with some of the other (excellent) UK boutique offerings - they also offer something that is genuinely different

[Woodinblack]

FInally played my 5 string short scale talman live, in the second half of a wedding set on saturday. it was actually pretty enjoyable to play and left me wishing I had played it in the first half. Not totally keen on the controls, the pickups or the head heavyness, but I think considering how well it played, it might be well worth the effort of doing it up

 

[barrycreed]

Ok, sold my Squier Bronco, and might look at a "step up". I've been floating between 34" suggestions in other threads or staying in the short scale lane.

Is the PJ Mustang worth a look? Or should I look at the Vintera with the small split pickup?

I hear of folk usually switching pickups in the PJ, and occasionaly the bridge, but I'd like to do as little as possible, just play and stop tinkering!

[ezbass]

48 minutes ago, barrycreed said:

Ok, sold my Squier Bronco, and might look at a "step up". I've been floating between 34" suggestions in other threads or staying in the short scale lane.

Is the PJ Mustang worth a look? Or should I look at the Vintera with the small split pickup?

I hear of folk usually switching pickups in the PJ, and occasionaly the bridge, but I'd like to do as little as possible, just play and stop tinkering!

Different nut widths too, the PJ being J width the Vintera being Precision-esque.

[mr4stringz]

7 minutes ago, ezbass said:

Different nut widths too, the PJ being J width the Vintera being Precision-esque.

This. Also, if you want ‘trad’ Mustang the  PJ won’t give it you as such. I love them, but then I’ve always been a P player and weirdly struggle with a mini pickup!

 

If you are buying new and considering the Vintera I’d also consider a used JMJ, which you could likely blag for not far off the same price as a new Vintera (at least based on Vintera prices I’ve seen lately), and are ‘roadworn’ anyway.

[barrycreed]

56 minutes ago, mr4stringz said:

This. Also, if you want ‘trad’ Mustang the  PJ won’t give it you as such. I love them, but then I’ve always been a P player and weirdly struggle with a mini pickup!

 

If you are buying new and considering the Vintera I’d also consider a used JMJ, which you could likely blag for not far off the same price as a new Vintera (at least based on Vintera prices I’ve seen lately), and are ‘roadworn’ anyway.

Oh yeah, good shout, maybe keep an eye out for the JMJ used. What a set of Geezer Butlers in the PJ 😛

 

I'd have to throw a DC Junior Bass into the mix as well.

 

Edited September 16, 2021 by barrycreed

[Osiris]

14 hours ago, barrycreed said:

Ok, sold my Squier Bronco, and might look at a "step up". I've been floating between 34" suggestions in other threads or staying in the short scale lane.

Is the PJ Mustang worth a look? Or should I look at the Vintera with the small split pickup?

I hear of folk usually switching pickups in the PJ, and occasionaly the bridge, but I'd like to do as little as possible, just play and stop tinkering!

 

I have a PJ Mustang and rate it very highly. The pickups, on mine at least, are very good, IMO. Possibly a little shy in the low mids but on a short scale that actually helps keep the tone from getting too muddy. A little push of the EQ around 350-400Hz will fill the gap should you wish to will bring back those frequencies but we're talking a nudge rather than anything extreme. Mine has had a couple of cheap mods, one of which was to swap the 3 way switch for a blend pot as this opens the tonal options right up. Both pickups blended 60:40 neck/bridge tends to be my preferred setting for most things. It's also had new quality volume and tone pots which seemed to really open the pickups response too. The bridge pickup on mine isn't weak and pairs well with the P. 

 

I also have a JMJ Mustang and it's a very different beast to the PJ. As has been mentioned above, the neck on the PJ is slimmer and more jazz like. It's tone is clean and clear but doesn't lack character - I played it side by side with @Adee's American Performer Mustang and in direct comparison the PJ had those classic Fender tones whereas the more expensive Performer was much more polite, it was more even across the frequency range but just sounded a little bland compared to its cheaper sibling. 

 

The JMJ on the other hand is a very big, warm and vintage sounding bass. But what a sound! And forget what everyone else says, rip the flats off and put some rounds on it, it just sings with rounds whereas it sounded a little choked with flats to me. The neck is also totally different to the PJ, it's much more chunky and the headstock is noticeably thicker too. But still very easy to play. Oh, and it sounds immense!

 

Despite both being Mustangs they are 2 completely different basses in terms of tone and feel. But both great in their own right, IMO. 

 

[barrycreed]

A cranky bugger but...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVbMnJQgn9U

[Petelee]

Great thread to read as a newb Micro bass owner. But what are people referring to with the 'initials' P and PJ?

[tegs07]

3 minutes ago, Petelee said:

Great thread to read as a newb Micro bass owner. But what are people referring to with the 'initials' P and PJ?

Pickup types: P = Precision J= Jazz PJ = Both 

 

In terms of the Mustang bass the PJ variant rather than the trad Mustang pickups.

Edited September 22, 2021 by tegs07

[barrycreed]

Anyone try those Danelectro short scale 59 basses yet? The long scale version video demos sound pretty good. They sure as heck look original.

[Boodang]

 

JEDSON TELE.... the worlds worse bass, short scale or otherwise, and I love it!

Barely a bass at a 24" scale! Jedson took it's tele guitar and just slapped on some bass hardware. The body is plywood and the neck looks like oak but I'm sure it can't be. 

Swapped a cheap Ibanez I wasn't getting on with for this just for a laugh as it was so different. It's such a bonkers thing to play that I find myself inventing new lines on it everytime I pick it up, it's quite the inspiration machine.

However, looking at it critically for it's craftsmanship, it is truly appalling! I'm not sure what strings were supposed to be on this but the only way to make it work is to use either short scale nylon or baritone bass six strings, then run the strings through the body or there's too much to go on the tuning peg (the original string anchor was a hideous piece of bent tin). And because of the scale length it has a solo tuning of F# or there's not enough tension.

The pickups were knackered but I had a EMG MM pickup lying around. The resultant tone actually massive! 

And having said all this it's great fun to play!

[mr4stringz]

On 22/09/2021 at 16:45, barrycreed said:

Anyone try those Danelectro short scale 59 basses yet? The long scale version video demos sound pretty good. They sure as heck look original.

Not yet, though I do know that they really need to be making them in the tacky silver metalflake they used to use on the long scale.

 

 

[petetexas]

Just got hold of a Epiphone Ravoli , sunburst .

Arrived with a cracked neck joint ( UPS again ) seller is claiming for a repair from them , and has refunded me the repair ammount . NICE !

This one is a 1997 Korean , made at the Peerless Factory .

Had one about 10 years ago , and the pickup was crap , changed it for a D`Marzio No1 , but the sound was not suitable for the band I was in , so it had to go .

The pickup on this one is superb , balanced output from all strings . not microphonic either .

Now playing in a Stones Tribute band , so its gonna fit in perfectly ,

 

 

 

Edited October 25, 2021 by petetexas

[Stub Mandrel]

Tried an Epiphone EB0 yesterday.  Good sound and looked good for a £218 bass, but felt 'toy like' in a way that the Jaguar doesn't.