The Short Scale Bass Appreciation Society!

[ezbass]

35 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

Q: are buyers of the JMJ replacing the bridge?

No. That extra length allows easy use of long scale strings.  

[meterman]

34 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

I'm a minimalist in general. I prefer design to be concise and compact. I'm not overly impressed with the bridge which hints at 60s design rather than being contemporary.

 

The original 60s Mustangs had adjustable foam mutes for each string which were fixed into the body where those four screw holes are at the top. I’ve never seen the mutes on any of the reissues so I don’t get why the bridge plate still needs to be that big. The late 1990s Squier Vista Musicmaster bridge design would look better imho. Kind of like a 4-saddle string through affair. Not sure why that hasn’t been repeated elsewhere in the Fender range? Or maybe it has and I’ve missed it? 

[msb]

The Jr is easily one of my favourite basses.

Edited July 27, 2023 by msb

[msb]

14 hours ago, vates said:

Thanks everyone!

 

I guess there’s no escape from a JMJ in my future. Ticks all the boxes: nut width and fb radius, rw board, better (wider, fuller) pickup, distressed nitro, daphne blue (!). 

 

Meanwhile, my go-to shortie is Gibson LPDC Tribute. Well modded.

What all did you do to the Jr?

[vates]

14 minutes ago, msb said:

What all did you do to the Jr?

 

You've probably seen it on the other forum. I'll upload pictures once I'll locate them.

[martthebass]

1 hour ago, TheGreek said:

Q: are buyers of the JMJ replacing the bridge?

Not in my case, to be honest I think it takes away the Mustangness if it's replaced with the standard Fender BBOT.

[NHM]

42 minutes ago, msb said:

What all did you do to the Jr?

nothing, it's fine as it is.

[Baloney Balderdash]

On 25/07/2023 at 19:15, Baloney Balderdash said:

I just turned my main, an 28.6" Ibanez Mikro Bass with an EMG Geezer Butler P pickup installed, from F# standard tuning, as I otherwise has it tuned to (that is 2 half steps above regular 4 string bass E standard tuning), to B standard tuning, uninstalling the low F# string and moving the others up a nudge, and then adding a thinner high D string.

 

Let's see how this works out...

 

Definitely better articulation and definition (which was a bit lacking on the low F# string, due to the increased stiffness of the strings as you move up the fretboard that comes with the shorter scale), and great for chord work, as well as that extra upper range sounds beautiful for melodic stuff, which I do like a lot, but not sure about how I feel about loosing those additional low notes.

 

For how I use my bass, as a solo and mainly bass and drums duo sort of thing, it does kind of makes sense though.

 

But if I end up liking it this way I will most likely restring it with a set of strings suited for A standard tuning, so called "tenor bass" tuning (that among others Stanley Clarke is famous for utilizing a lot), a full step down from the current B standard tuning (I just didn't have reasonable fresh strings of the correct gauge to tune it to A standard tuning).

 

Eventual I might get an EHX Bass9, which is capable of pitching down you signal with an impressive low latency and great tracking while sounding remarkably authentic to a real bass, for if I need to go lower.

 

Now I know the obvious reply as a question to that would be to why not just use the 5 string Mikro Bass, which I do own, but first of all that would require a pickup upgrade to get it to sound like I want to, plus I really like both the feel and idea of the just 4 strings.

 

By now I have grown quite fond of having it tuned like this.

 

Don't miss the lower range much, and love the added upper range.

 

Obviously it does change the voicing of the bass, but as said I really do like the change.

 

Though actually the stuff I composed for my bass and drums sort of duo project still work perfectly well.

 

However it is no doubt going to change the way I compose on it going forward, with more regular chord work incorporated than what was the case previously.

 

Edited July 27, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[EssentialTension]

2 hours ago, TheGreek said:

I'm a minimalist in general. I prefer design to be concise and compact. I'm not overly impressed with the bridge which hints at 60s design rather than being contemporary.

 

 

Surely the whole thing doesn't merely hint at 60s design but is actual 60s design.

[scrumpymike]

48 minutes ago, EssentialTension said:

 

Surely the whole thing doesn't merely hint at 60s design but is actual 60s design.

 

Exactly! Proper period authenticity, including the 4 holes left over after everybody removed and binned the individual string dampers 😊

[EssentialTension]

1 minute ago, scrumpymike said:

 

Exactly! Proper period authenticity, including the 4 holes left over after everybody removed and binned the individual string dampers 😊

 

And how much would the binned dampers fetch today on ebay?

[scrumpymike]

4 hours ago, JohnDaBass said:

NBD

Gibson Les Paul DC Tribute.

 

Drove to Southampton to pick this lovely bass up last Thursday from a real Gentleman Basschatter.

Sounds and plays wonderfully.

My deteriorating arthritis in my left hand has forced me to play short scale basses exclusively. But joyfully.

 

I gigged a pair of LP Triumph basses followed by an SG for years and still have a real hankering after one of these - despite the un-contoured slab body and upper strap button at F15 🙂

[Baloney Balderdash]

28 minutes ago, scrumpymike said:

 

I gigged a pair of LP Triumph basses followed by an SG for years and still have a real hankering after one of these - despite the un-contoured slab body and upper strap button at F15 🙂

You forgot to point out the really poor upper frets access.  (Edit!: Well to be fair, not quite as bad upper frets access as the Fender Mustang, which it by the way also shares the un-contoured slab body design with)

 

Oh, and then of course also the typical Gibson clunky/clumsy 3 point bridge that is notorious for failing, more specifically sooner or later likely to lift from the body.

 

Edited July 27, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[scrumpymike]

2 minutes ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

You forgot to point out the really poor upper frets access. 

 

Oh, and the typical Gibson clunky/clumsy 3 point bridge that is notorious for failing, more specifically sooner or later likely to lift from the body.

 

I know, I know! I have such a soft spot (between my ears maybe?) for Gibson basses that I didn't want to complete the full character assassination of the brand 😉

[msb]

Those 3 point bridges lift in the back only when you drop the nose too far , they’re fine as long as you don’t drop the nose.

[msb]

The Jr is quite different from most Gibson basses , they simply dropped a single humbucker in the classic sweet spot. So it behaves like a short scale set neck Pbass might.

I love the two knob simplicity. I’m an old Pbass guy.

They are great little basses. 
It does have a cheap finish. And many do not care for the bridge. I have always been able to set a 3point exactly where I want to , but I have replaced three of them with Hipshots. I just think they look better (if I can be allowed to be that shallow) , but they’re much easier to palm mute , and certainly much more precise to adjust. I still have left a 3point on an older Rumblekat.

They are said to be no longer in production and yet they remain on the Gibson website. And I hope they will do more runs of them.

[MichaelDean]

1 hour ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

(Edit!: Well to be fair, not quite as bad upper frets access as the Fender Mustang, which it by the way also shares the un-contoured slab body design with)

Not all Mustangs lack contours! 

 

[Baloney Balderdash]

24 minutes ago, MichaelDean said:

Not all Mustangs lack contours! 

 

Is that an original stock Fender one though?

[MichaelDean]

Just now, Baloney Balderdash said:

Is that an original stock Fender one though?

Well, I've refinished it (it was a horrible black over the original sunburst), replaced the frets and tuners and fitted a KiOgon loom, but the body shape is as I got it. It's a 1976 model. Maybe it was because of the wood they were getting in at the time that they introduced some contours? 70s Fenders are renowned for being a bit heavy. This is just over 4kg. 

[Baloney Balderdash]

9 minutes ago, MichaelDean said:

Well, I've refinished it (it was a horrible black over the original sunburst), replaced the frets and tuners and fitted a KiOgon loom, but the body shape is as I got it. It's a 1976 model. Maybe it was because of the wood they were getting in at the time that they introduced some contours? 70s Fenders are renowned for being a bit heavy. This is just over 4kg. 

Curious...

 

But well, in any case every current production Squirer and Fender Mustang Basses are slab body designs without any contours. 

 

Edited July 27, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[ezbass]

46 minutes ago, MichaelDean said:

Not all Mustangs lack contours! 

 

I think I can’t be the only person wanting to see a frontal shot of that.

[JohnDaBass]

6 hours ago, msb said:

The Jr is easily one of my favourite basses.

That is beautiful.  I love the Pup covers and read your posts on the darkside(TB) I think the Jazz knobs are a really subtle up grade. When fitting Hipshot 2 and 3 point bridge upgrade I always add a spring washer under the bridge to prevent pulling the threaded insert out of the body. The clearance Hipshot allow under the fixing screw mount is far too deep and without a suitably sized washer to reduce the clearance you can pull the insert up out of the body.

Look forward to hearing your posts.

[ped]

1 hour ago, MichaelDean said:

Well, I've refinished it (it was a horrible black over the original sunburst), replaced the frets and tuners and fitted a KiOgon loom, but the body shape is as I got it. It's a 1976 model. Maybe it was because of the wood they were getting in at the time that they introduced some contours? 70s Fenders are renowned for being a bit heavy. This is just over 4kg. 

Contours were added in ‘69 with the introduction of the ‘competition’ Mustang (stripes) 

[MichaelDean]

1 hour ago, ezbass said:

I think I can’t be the only person wanting to see a frontal shot of that.

I'll take one tomorrow. The light has gone today. 

[MichaelDean]

Here you go. I picked it up for £500 on eBay about 15 years ago. It was in a sorry state, so I stripped the paint and refinished it (poorly and not patiently) in a thin layer of white blonde nitro, and added a racing stripe decal. It has been played a lot, so in lockdown I got the frets replaced with stainless steel ones, so I won't have to have it done again, and the old tuners are shot, so replaced them with some Hipshot ultralights. The new hole I drilled would be covered by the old tuners were I ever in the unlikely event of selling it. 

 

All mojo is genuine play wear and it even came with me on a short Japanese tour. 

 

 

I'll bring it along to the SW bass bash! 😁

Edited July 28, 2023 by MichaelDean