The Short Scale Bass Appreciation Society!

[scrumpymike]

On 10/10/2022 at 17:31, fretmeister said:

What would you fine people suggest for a short scale jazz type?

Ideally a low weight option.

 

ta

 

S-s Maruszczyk or Sandberg.

[Baloney Balderdash]

On 28/09/2022 at 16:33, barrycreed said:

Hi folks. I picked up the same Squier Bronco bass I sold a year or so ago by chance. I had planned to upgrade the pickup and maybe the bridge, so asking again! I already have replacement tuners, and may stain the neck with linseed oil or similar.

Would a 34" scale single coil pickup fit, or would there be a spacing issue so better to replace with a drop in pickup?

Any cheap bridge that would be an upgrade on the stock one? Same with the nut. Anything here? Thanks!

I would personally stick to a single coil pickup, like the original stock one is, and would properly more specifically go for a single coil '51 P/Tele Bass pickup, and if you absolutely want high output then the Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder single coil P pickup, which unlike all the other Quarter Pounders actually have quite a big mid content and isn't scooped at all, which I personally appreciate (perosnally I would go for a lower output, more classic voiced, single coil '51 P/Tele bass pickup though).

 

If you insist on getting a humbucker I know that the Seymour Duncan Hot Rails Strat pickup is a quite popular pickup upgrade for the Bronco Bass.

 

 

Edited October 12, 2022 by Baloney Balderdash

[barrycreed]

@Baloney Balderdashwould the 51 p bass pickup be the incorrect spacing for a short scale though? Guitar pickup: should it be bridge , middle or neck or does it matter much in this case?

[Obrienp]

3 hours ago, barrycreed said:

@Baloney Balderdashwould the 51 p bass pickup be the incorrect spacing for a short scale though? Guitar pickup: should it be bridge , middle or neck or does it matter much in this case?

I know this wasn’t directed at me but having had a Bronco I was upgrading and a spare ‘51 P pickup, the answer is no if you keep the original string spacing (i.e. the original bridge or replacement with the narrow saddle spacing). You would need to angle the ‘51 pickup to line up the pole pieces with the strings properly. ‘51 P basses had pretty well 20mm spacing at the saddles. On the Bronco you may have to do a little extra routing to get a ‘51 P pickup in at the correct angle and you would need a replacement pickguard cut appropriately.

 

I have the Seymour Duncan 1/4 pounder ‘51 P pickup in my ‘51 P bass (self-build). It’s got a lot of gain and as Baloney Balderdash said, a lot of mids. In fact it sounds very bright and nasal generally. I only use it with the tone rolled right off and even then I find it lacks bottom end. I am not sure I would recommend it.

[Baloney Balderdash]

11 hours ago, Obrienp said:

I know this wasn’t directed at me but having had a Bronco I was upgrading and a spare ‘51 P pickup, the answer is no if you keep the original string spacing (i.e. the original bridge or replacement with the narrow saddle spacing). You would need to angle the ‘51 pickup to line up the pole pieces with the strings properly. ‘51 P basses had pretty well 20mm spacing at the saddles. On the Bronco you may have to do a little extra routing to get a ‘51 P pickup in at the correct angle and you would need a replacement pickguard cut appropriately.

 

I have the Seymour Duncan 1/4 pounder ‘51 P pickup in my ‘51 P bass (self-build). It’s got a lot of gain and as Baloney Balderdash said, a lot of mids. In fact it sounds very bright and nasal generally. I only use it with the tone rolled right off and even then I find it lacks bottom end. I am not sure I would recommend it.

@barrycreed

 

That's a matter of personal taste isn't it?

 

I personally happen to love clanky and bright big piano/chime like bass tones.

 

But if the person who asked the question doesn't like that, then no, probably not other single coil P pickups either then, they traditionally have rich upper mids and high end, the Quarter Pounder is just a little more extreme and with a bit more mids overall.

 

Also I would think that since the pole pieces are much bigger on the Quarter Pounder pickup it would work fine, even with the Bronco's slightly more narrow string spacing (standard 19mm vs Bronco 17mm), pole pieces of pickups doesn't have to line up perfectly for the pickups to still work flawlessly, the magnetic field that picks up the string vibrations reach a good bit beyond merely the pole pieces radius, with regular single coil P bass pickups, which would have smaller pole pieces, you might be right though, maybe not so much.

 

Also just to clarify to the one who asked the question, most short scale basses will have regular standard 19mm string spacing, with a few exceptions, the Bronco being one of those with a couple of mm more narrow spacing, namely 17mm.

 

Edited October 13, 2022 by Baloney Balderdash

[barrycreed]

I don't think I'll go for extreme ! 

[barrycreed]

19 hours ago, Rageofklugman said:

Not dirt cheap, but the Creamery do a pickup specifically for the Bronco: Creamery pickups

I'll check these out thanks

[Obrienp]

7 hours ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

@barrycreed

 

That's a matter of personal taste isn't it?

 

I personally happen to love clanky and bright big piano/chime like bass tones.

 

But if the person who asked the question doesn't like that, then no, probably not other single coil P pickups either then, they traditionally have rich upper mids and high end, the Quarter Pounder is just a little more extreme and with a bit more mids overall.

 

Also I would think that since the pole pieces are much bigger on the Quarter Pounder pickup it would work fine, even with the Bronco's slightly more narrow string spacing (standard 19mm vs Bronco 17mm), pole pieces of pickups doesn't have t line up perfectly for the pickups to still work flawlessly, the magnetic field that picks up the string vbrations reach a good bit beyond merely the pole pieces radius, with regular single coil P bass pickups you might be right though, maybe not so much.

 

Also just to clarify to the one who asked the question, most short scale basses will have regular standard 19mm string spacing, with a few exceptions, the Bronco being one of those with a couple of mm more narrow spacing, namely 17mm.

 

All good points and I agree with you that tone is very subjective. My ‘51 P with the 1/4 pounder certainly cuts through the mix! I don’t have the Bronco anymore, otherwise I would measure up how far out the ‘51 pickup would be on string alignment. I wonder whether the poor string alignment would make it sound even more unbalanced?

 

Anyway, @barrycreed I would certainly check out the Creamery pickup. I wish I had known about it when I was modifying my Bronco. It was quite a lot of hassle getting the split P pickup to fit but it did sound good.

[barrycreed]

Creamery closed for orders at the moment , so will have to wait it out! Next up is a 17mm bridge...

Edit: just picked up a hipshot kickass bridge second hand in Spain. Happy days.

Edited October 14, 2022 by barrycreed

[Bunion]

Picked up my first short scale 

Here she is with my old smoothie, a US of A  Musicman Stingray with roasted maple neck.

It’s got the factory round wounds on it atm (EB slinky’s) which I love but I’ve got some labella short scale 42-100LTF  I got sent by mistake awhile ago so I’m going to try them and see how she thumps. 

Absolutely love the tones from the passive circuitry, but still capable of that classic stingray growl if you dial it in. 
At 30” it feels tiny, but so easy to play.

well chuffed. 

[Stub Mandrel]

On 10/10/2022 at 17:31, fretmeister said:

What would you fine people suggest for a short scale jazz type?

Ideally a low weight option.

 

ta

 

 

Jaguar.

[Obrienp]

@fretmeisterThere are two Jazz configuration Vox Starstreams: https://www.voxamps.co.uk/collections/bass-guitars. Pretty good value for money and they certainly meet your weight criterium. I have the passive single humbucker version and they are pretty well made. Also very ergonomic and comfortable to play. If you can stretch to the active one you get loads of quality parts: I can’t imagine anybody needing to upgrade it.

 

Heck, I am getting a feeling of deja vu: have I already posted this? Old age I am afraid. Apologies if this is a duplicate!

[scrumpymike]

11 hours ago, Obrienp said:

@fretmeisterThere are two Jazz configuration Vox Starstreams: https://www.voxamps.co.uk/collections/bass-guitars. Pretty good value for money and they certainly meet your weight criterium. I have the passive single humbucker version and they are pretty well made. Also very ergonomic and comfortable to play. If you can stretch to the active one you get loads of quality parts: I can’t imagine anybody needing to upgrade it.

 

Heck, I am getting a feeling of deja vu: have I already posted this? Old age I am afraid. Apologies if this is a duplicate!

Ha-ha! As the saying goes: 'Tell 'em, tell 'em you've told 'em - then tell 'em again!'

 

As an owner of the active Artist version, I totally agree provided you're not bothered that it doesn't LOOK like a J bass (or any other bass). The OE Aguilar classic '70s retro jazz pickups are killer.

Edited October 19, 2022 by scrumpymike

[grayn]

My bass is a Sandberg California II Lionel Short Scale.  I got it around 7 1/2 months ago and around 3 months ago I wanted to replace the strings Sandberg had put on it.

When I bought the bass, at Promenade Music, Gary had given me a set of GHS Pressurewound, med-light, 44-102 strings and asked me to let him know what I thought of them.

So I thought it only fair to give them a try.  GHS say these strings have the bite and growl of round wounds but with a much smoother feel.

When I put them on, it was obvious they were heavier gauge than Sandberg's originals, with some extra tension.  So, I just lowered the action, to approximate the feel of the original strings.

Still had a tad more tension but it wasn't long before I liked the feel of these newer strings.  They do have a rather nice, smooth feel to them.  I do not like the feel of flat wound strings under my fingers but these GHS strings do feel good and very nice to play.  Tonally they do have that thicker tone you get from some flat wounds, yet do in fact retain the snap and attack associated with round wounds.  I am not saying they are the best of both worlds, rather they have their own sound, which contains elements of both.  It's a sound I have come to really like.  Kind of retro, yet with plenty of definition.  I do not use a plectrum on bass but for finger playing, slapping and muted playing, these Pressurewounds do a very good job.  And 3 months on, they sound pretty much the same, as they did when new and they have had a lot of playing.

[scrumpymike]

Anybody tried one of these?

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/274878751114

[bertbass]

11 minutes ago, scrumpymike said:

Anybody tried one of these?

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/274878751114

Not yet, but I will as soon as I can get the cash together.  I quite like the idea of a Stat bass, left handed.

[Obrienp]

Just looked at the Vox UK website to check out a claim made by somebody selling a Vox Starstream bass on a FB forum. He said they were no longer available and rare as hens teeth. It turns out that all 4 models are available on the Vox website and furthermore they have a sale price of £299 on both the passive versions, which seems like reasonable value to me. The active versions are both £799, which is a different proposition but still reasonable given the quality of the hardware. 

They have also got the teardrop basses greatly reduced but still pretty expensive IMO for such a niche product.

 

Anyway, no vested interest, apart from owning a passive 1H, which I reckon is a pretty good bass in the ‘Ray mould. The sale price smarts a bit though!

Edited November 24, 2022 by Obrienp

[Stub Mandrel]

8 hours ago, Obrienp said:

Vox Starstream bass

 

Is it possible to remove the feet and fit a normal strap button without damage?

[Obrienp]

23 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

Is it possible to remove the feet and fit a normal strap button without damage?

Not as far as I am aware. The diameter of the bolts holding the strap buttons on is much larger than standard strap button screws and they also secure the outer ABS moulding to the inner (wooden) body. I think @scrumpymikehas come up with a way of fitting standard locking buttons using a metal extension. I just use those rubber washer strap locks: a bit awkward to fit but they do the job. The location of the original buttons may look odd but they work well and balance the bass nicely.

[Manwithvan]

The active versions are both £799…..

 

pmt might be interested. They currently offer the A1H on preorder at nearly double. £1595!

Edited November 25, 2022 by Manwithvan

[dmckee]

Bought this little beauty yesterday. I liked the Tribute but this one is a real step up in terms of quality of finish (as you would expect). Lighter too, at 8.6lb. 

[ezbass]

2 hours ago, dmckee said:

Bought this little beauty yesterday. I liked the Tribute but this one is a real step up in terms of quality of finish (as you would expect). Lighter too, at 8.6lb. 

That colour scheme is really nicely understated; I like it. I for one would be interested in how this compares to the Wilcock MM.

[martthebass]

3 hours ago, dmckee said:

Bought this little beauty yesterday. I liked the Tribute but this one is a real step up in terms of quality of finish (as you would expect). Lighter too, at 8.6lb. 

Cracking basses these.  My Fallout Launch edition will be getting a good workout at the weekend.  Comes in handy at gigs where I need a bit more control over the sound (and the Mustangs struggle to cut through) and flicking between parallel and OMG gives a nice contrast in the set list.

[Sambrook]

On 24/11/2022 at 12:10, scrumpymike said:

Anybody tried one of these?

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/274878751114

I have the sunburst that's for sale on here.

Neck pickup nothing to write home about, but the bridge pickup is brilliant, punchy and switchable between single and parallel.

The neck is really good too, and the tuners are excellent.

Super light, too. I moved the top strap button to the base of the neck, and moved the other one higher on the body, and it now hangs perfectly.

Definitely worth a try...

[scrumpymike]

On 24/11/2022 at 12:22, bertbass said:

Not yet, but I will as soon as I can get the cash together.  I quite like the idea of a Stat bass, left handed.

 

I've now discovered the Retrovibe website and the Strat would be my preference too.