The Short Scale Bass Appreciation Society!

[RichT]

18 hours ago, scrumpymike said:

 

Believe me, the Vox Artist is in a completely different league from both the 'budget' Starstream (which I bought first and sent back) and the 'Ray. Vox said that the Artist was made in Japan for parent company Korg as a limited 'premium' run to test/prepare the market for the cost-engineered version intended to sell in higher volumes. Even priced at its launch RRP of around £1400 the Vox would be value for money. For the £800 I paid, it's a steal.

 

Ok that's convinced me. I like the red/ebony A1H version that Dan's playing in the video, and upon investigating, it turned out there was literally one red A1H left - a refurbished unit for £718. Can't dither in those circumstances. Slept on it and then put the order in first thing this morning. Vox have a 30 day free returns policy so nothing to lose. 

 

Edited September 5, 2022 by RichT

[Obrienp]

39 minutes ago, RichT said:

 

Ok that's convinced me. I like the red/ebony A1H version that Dan's playing in the video, and upon investigating, it turned out there was literally one red A1H left - a refurbished unit for £718. Can't dither in those circumstances. Slept on it and then put the order in first thing this morning. Vox have a 30 day free returns policy so nothing to lose. 

 

I hope you are pleased with it. Given everything it has got on it in terms of hardware, that sounds like a very good price. Enjoy!

[Rumple]

I've stuck my short scale SX Precision bass up for sale 😊

 

 

[scrumpymike]

3 hours ago, Obrienp said:

I hope you are pleased with it. Given everything it has got on it in terms of hardware, that sounds like a very good price. Enjoy!

 

+1

[RichT]

On 05/09/2022 at 09:04, RichT said:

 

Ok that's convinced me. I like the red/ebony A1H version that Dan's playing in the video, and upon investigating, it turned out there was literally one red A1H left - a refurbished unit for £718. Can't dither in those circumstances. Slept on it and then put the order in first thing this morning. Vox have a 30 day free returns policy so nothing to lose. 

 

 

So I thought I ought to report back after a week of ownership... and wow, what an instrument! The Vox A1H beats any bass I've owned in terms of build quality, it feels solid and made with precision and attention to detail. I think mine may be one of the heavier examples at about 6lb 14oz, but anything under 7lb is fine by me. Ergonomics of the surrounds are great and well thought through so while you're playing it, either sitting or standing, you're completely unaware there's anything unusual about the design. Neck & frets are beautifully finished, and the sound... oh the sound is exactly what I was after. I've never played an American Stingray, but the Vox has the ability to convincingly emulate all those Ray-featuring classic records I love, so I'm happy. 

 

What I'm most impressed by is just how easy it is to play. Whereas I've found I sometimes need to coax my EHB1505 into what I want it to do and have to play carefully to achieve the desired results, this thing just wants to make all the right sounds without me even really trying. I think there's something special about the Aguilar pickup and pre-amp in the Vox, it seems to respond to right hand positioning and how hard I play completely intuitively. 

 

The Starstream comes across as less odd and more functional in real life than in photos. The matt finish on the surrounds makes them feel like wood and it kind of has the impression of a natural evolution of something like my Hohner stick bass. And for something featuring so much physical space it really sounds very solid-body, much more so than the chambered EHB does. scrumpymike was entirely correct, at the price these are available they're an absolute steal, can't recommend them enough.

 

Edited September 14, 2022 by RichT

[Obrienp]

12 hours ago, RichT said:

 

So I thought I ought to report back after a week of ownership... and wow, what an instrument! The Vox A1H beats any bass I've owned in terms of build quality, it feels solid and made with precision and attention to detail.

 

I am very glad to hear you are happy with it. I thought my passive version was good and well made but the active one is obviously that, plus, plus. 👍

[scrumpymike]

On 14/09/2022 at 00:41, RichT said:

 

So I thought I ought to report back after a week of ownership... and wow, what an instrument! The Vox A1H beats any bass I've owned in terms of build quality, it feels solid and made with precision and attention to detail. I think mine may be one of the heavier examples at about 6lb 14oz, but anything under 7lb is fine by me. Ergonomics of the surrounds are great and well thought through so while you're playing it, either sitting or standing, you're completely unaware there's anything unusual about the design. Neck & frets are beautifully finished, and the sound... oh the sound is exactly what I was after. I've never played an American Stingray, but the Vox has the ability to convincingly emulate all those Ray-featuring classic records I love, so I'm happy. 

 

What I'm most impressed by is just how easy it is to play. Whereas I've found I sometimes need to coax my EHB1505 into what I want it to do and have to play carefully to achieve the desired results, this thing just wants to make all the right sounds without me even really trying. I think there's something special about the Aguilar pickup and pre-amp in the Vox, it seems to respond to right hand positioning and how hard I play completely intuitively. 

 

The Starstream comes across as less odd and more functional in real life than in photos. The matt finish on the surrounds makes them feel like wood and it kind of has the impression of a natural evolution of something like my Hohner stick bass. And for something featuring so much physical space it really sounds very solid-body, much more so than the chambered EHB does. scrumpymike was entirely correct, at the price these are available they're an absolute steal, can't recommend them enough.

 

 

I've just finished setting mine up for Schaller strap-locks - the cherry on the icing on the cake! PIc's to follow.

[scrumpymike]

This bass comparison spreadsheet I set up a while back may be of interest to this forum, as they're all short-scale. I've done all I can to make it accurate but can't guarantee it. It's not got everything on it - just stuff I've either owned or been particularly interested in - so if anyone wants to send me missing data I'll update it.

Short-scale bass comp.xlsx

[msb]

Favourite? I’ve got around a dozen and found the Gibson DC Jr to be the favourite , although I usually gig with a Longhorn.

[dmckee]

Rather nice custom 2 pickup Fallout from the G&L Custom Shop just popped up on Facebook. I wonder when USA Fallouts will appear in the UK again…..

 

[LeftyJ]

1 hour ago, dmckee said:

Rather nice custom 2 pickup Fallout from the G&L Custom Shop just popped up on Facebook. I wonder when USA Fallouts will appear in the UK again…..

 

Ooh, I love that! That's the first time I see one with two pickups in that layout. They posted one earlier without a pickguard and with a true bridge pickup, but this is new to me. Very nice! 

 

Sorry for the poor resolution, it's the only pic I could find:

 

 

[dmckee]

1 hour ago, LeftyJ said:

Ooh, I love that! That's the first time I see one with two pickups in that layout. They posted one earlier without a pickguard and with a true bridge pickup, but this is new to me. Very nice! 

 

Sorry for the poor resolution, it's the only pic I could find:

 

 

Interesting. They also posted this one recently. Wonder if we might see this become standard. 

[barrycreed]

Any recommendations for lighter tuners for an Epiphone EB0 bass?

[martthebass]

On 17/09/2022 at 13:11, dmckee said:

Interesting. They also posted this one recently. Wonder if we might see this become standard. 

Oooooh that's nice.  

 

[Eric.C.Lapton]

Recently purchased a 30” short scale, what gig bags are you guys using? 

[msb]

There’s quite a difference in size from one short scale to another , much of it is how the bridge sits on the body. Sometimes the bridge is right at the edge , on other basses it might be 1/3 of the way into the body.

Here’s two Dano shortscales , the Longhorn will fit in many guitar cases , the DC will not.

 

[bassist_lewis]

I just received my 30.5" scale Serek MW-2 5 string. It's an amazing instrument. Looks great, sounds great, feels great... even smells great! I can see it becoming my new workhouse, replacing the Callowhill I've used 90% of the time for the last 7 years. 

[Eric.C.Lapton]

I’ve purchased a musicman stingray so it’s close to the bottom of the body I’ll take a look at some of the Mono guitar cases cheers 

[msb]

Measure first , it might well fit in a guitar case. 
Congratulations on the Ray ! EB make some of the best production instruments in the US.

[ped]

My little mustang is now blend/tone which is super 👌🏽

 

 

[BCH]

11 hours ago, bassist_lewis said:

I just received my 30.5" scale Serek MW-2 5 string. It's an amazing instrument. Looks great, sounds great, feels great... even smells great! I can see it becoming my new workhouse, replacing the Callowhill I've used 90% of the time for the last 7 years. 

Pics please!

[wrinkleygit]

I was hoping to bring this along to the SW bash in a few weeks time, there has been a pickup and bridge change since it came into my hands last year.

[BCH]

On 17/09/2022 at 13:11, dmckee said:

Interesting. They also posted this one recently. Wonder if we might see this become standard. 

Now that looks the biz

[scrumpymike]

13 hours ago, Eric.C.Lapton said:

Recently purchased a 30” short scale, what gig bags are you guys using? 

 

13 hours ago, Eric.C.Lapton said:

I’ve purchased a musicman stingray so it’s close to the bottom of the body I’ll take a look at some of the Mono guitar cases cheers 

I doubt you'll find a guitar case that fits the 'Ray due to its 3+1 headstock design. My SBMM 'Ray came with a branded gig-bag and IIRC was also a good fit in my Fender s-s gig bag. Maruszczyk also do nice s-s gig bags - visit their 'public peace' online shop or you can get the expensive leather ones from Bass Direct. Just bear in mind that the above-mentioned gig bags (including the OE Sterling one) are relatively lightly padded and don't give any real structural protection. If you don't need that, they're fine.

[wrinkleygit]

18 hours ago, Eric.C.Lapton said:

I’ve purchased a musicman stingray so it’s close to the bottom of the body I’ll take a look at some of the Mono guitar cases cheers 

Have a look at the TGi extreme range, in particular the classical and small acoustic guitar bags, they will need some extra padding to the sides, but length wise they are close to most shortscale basses.