The Short Scale Bass Appreciation Society!

[scrumpymike]

57 minutes ago, FieldsNPT said:

I'm a recent convert to bass, having been a very poor guitar player I am now mostly a novice bass player. First I had a fretless Sire P7, then recently added a Sire P8. They're very nice basses although I'm not sure I'm a fan of basses around 9.5 pounds. I also have some mild tennis elbow after playing the fretted bass. Anyway, I have been eyeballing the Vox Starstream A2S basses being blown out on the voxamps site, and was disappointed when the red version sold out. Anyway, today I bought the black version for £399, the last one by all accounts, so it should be here next week I think. I'm not a total fan of the look of the body, though a super-light bass will be interesting to try for sure. I'll post a pic when I get it. Cheers!

You've got a massive bargain there my friend! The original retail price of the premium-quality Artist versions was £1350, later reduced to £799 as a clearance price. I bought mine at that point and absolutely love it, especially the innovative design. The build quality on mine is second to none and the Aguilar package it comes with is the best active set-up I've ever played. I've made a couple of mods to fit strap-locks and improve strap balance but that's just my obsessive tendency 🙂 

 

Edited February 16 by scrumpymike

[FieldsNPT]

5 minutes ago, scrumpymike said:

You've got a massive bargain there my friend! The original retail price of the premium-quality Artist versions was £1350, later reduced to £799 as a clearance price. I bought mine at that point and absolutely love it, especially the innovative design. The build quality on mine is second to none and the Aguilar package it comes with is the best active set-up I've ever played. I've made a couple of mods to fit strap-locks and improve strap balance but that's just my obsessive tendency 🙂 

 

I can't wait to be honest. There's not much info about them at all on forums or YT, and I think selling it would be difficult at any price in today's market so maybe price is less of an issue. My wife likes the word "bargain" though, she's always "spending money to save money" as it were. 🙂 

[scrumpymike]

5 minutes ago, FieldsNPT said:

I can't wait to be honest. There's not much info about them at all on forums or YT, and I think selling it would be difficult at any price in today's market so maybe price is less of an issue. My wife likes the word "bargain" though, she's always "spending money to save money" as it were. 🙂 

IMHO they were worth every penny of the original RRP. That's no surprise as the Vox brand is owned by Korg so the design, specification and quality were always going to be of the highest order. Trouble is bass players are generally a conservative lot and Marmite-y designs rarely sell well.

 

Welcome to the world of short-scale basses btw!

[lee650]

I may have missed the Acinonyx section of this thread, but I got this beauty a few weeks ago.

 

I'm still recovering from a hand operation so decided to try the shortscale vibe again. I'd previously had a Sire U5 which was a cracking little bass, which sounded great, but just felt wrong to me,it was like Honey i shrunk the Aerodyne jazz, and I feel shortscales work when they are a bit quirky and different.

 

It's based on the Goya Panther a daft quirky Italian bass from the 60s, as im a huge Abe laboriel fan, I'd always wanted to try one. It's beautifully made and feels like a much more expensive bass than the Sire (it is). Sound wise it's very vintage and thick and dark, but surprisingly versatile, and i usually dont use pickups solo, but both these sound really good on their own,  and with both pickups on, a very good slap sound is achievable . The push button tone controls don't work for me, just varying levels of mud (sounds like a tone control 50% off then fully off, which i know some people love), I'd have preffered a standard tone control, but the flat sound sounds clear and punchy, so I'll leave it there, I'm also using a sadowsky preamp pedal with it and it sounds  huge.

 

Incredibly light and a fantastic comfortable neck, and the pickups/hardware are very high quality 

 

I'll have it for a while,as ive still an op on my other hand to do.  I'm so ingrained in long scale I'm not sure I'll be permanent convert, although as in 50 next month, maybe a few gigs with this, will change my mind.

[Obrienp]

That’s the identical twin of my Cat bass. Only thing I have changed is the volume knob for a Hipshot knurled knob in the same brushed aluminium effect as the machine heads. I actually get on with the push button tone controls. Very predictable and very quick.
 

My only real gripe with it is that it is difficult to hold down all 4 pickup selector buttons to get the “all in” position, which I think is just both pickups in series. I would swap the mute button for a single button “all in”. 

 

Occasionally I get confused by the upside down machine head layout and start tuning the wrong string. 

[FieldsNPT]

The Vox Starstream A2S turned up on Saturday. So far, so very good. The gigbag seems to be a tightish fit, but it's nice to have to keep the dust off. The fit and finish are excellent - Gotoh bridge and tuners, Aguilar pickups and preamp. The nut is perhaps cut a little high for the quite small fretwire, but that's the only thing I noticed. It gives of an FGN vibe to me, based on the fit and finish of an FGN S-style guitar I have, though the neck is all gloss. I'm not sure who else even has a factory in Japan which builds for other brands, so it could well be FGN. The strings are Ernie Ball and feel quite high tension. The low E in particular sounds like a piano when plucked open, and the body and ABS shell resonate nicely. All in all I'm very pleased with it.

[Stub Mandrel]

1 hour ago, FieldsNPT said:

I'm not sure who else even has a factory in Japan which builds for other brands, so it could well be FGN

 

Interesting. A quick dig suggests that besides Fuji-Gen, there is only Dyna Gakki, and possibly Atlansia making some parts for Fender. All the others seem to have closed or moved production to Indonesia, Korea or China.

[JohnDaBass]

NBD Squier Jaguar SS

 

Back in August last year I bought one of the new Fender Limited Edition Mike Kerr Jaguar SS.

Arthritis in my left hand has forced me to move from 34 ins scale basses to short scale 30 ins basses.

After new strings, Gotoh bridge and setup I have fallen deeply in love with my Barbie bass, yes Tigger orange, wide range humbuckers and gold hardware.

I have been hoping that Fender would launch a Squier Jaguar SS with the same humbucking Pups as the Rascal.

In the meantime, up popped a 2015 Squier Jaguar SS which I nabbed within hours of it appearing for sale.

      

 

The previous owner had a luthier to refinish the body in metallic sliver and refinish the colour matching headstock with clear poly and naughty (But nice) Fender Jaguar Bass logo.

The Squier now sports my favourite DiMarzio Split P Pup and DiMarzio Ultra J (neck) Pup in the bridge position. It's necessary to use the neck J Pup at the bridge because the combination of 38mm nut, 30ins scale means that the pole pieces do not align perfectly if you fit the J bridge Pup.

I rewired the controls to add a 3-x position switch with master volume and tone and also adding a 0.5 mF capacitor rather than the DiMarzio recommended 0.33mF capacitor. A 3D Guyker bridge replaced the standard Squier bridge and helps provide perfect pole piece alignment and perfect balance, no neck dive on knee or strap. 

I have successfully used the DiMarzio Split P Pup on a few Bitsa builds, it's a fantastic Pup, it’s powerful, articulate, with a huge range of tones. 

In my search to match a single coil bridge Pup to the Split P I concluded that the DiMarzio Ultra J was the best fit.

The DiMarzio website has a very nice set of data sets and graphics which show the tone and power characteristics for each of their Pups.

The Split P has a reference output of 250 which is the same as the Ultra J. That 250 output is far higher than the new Relentless P and J Pups so I am pleased that there is a nice balance between the Split P and Ultra J so avoiding the normal drop off of gain when switching from P to J .

The Ultra J is humbucking so is free from hum associated with single coil Pups.

 Happy Days

 

Edited February 21 by JohnDaBass
spelling

[Obrienp]

Nice! I regret selling mine about 8 years ago but I was wedded to long scale then. Now I’ve also got arthritis in my left hand and find medium and short scale, jazz style necks are best for me. I also put a DiMarzio P/J set in mine and some interesting wiring. Only issue I had was neck dive but a wide grippy strap cures that.

[scrumpymike]

On 20/02/2024 at 14:31, FieldsNPT said:

The Vox Starstream A2S turned up on Saturday. So far, so very good. The gigbag seems to be a tightish fit, but it's nice to have to keep the dust off. The fit and finish are excellent - Gotoh bridge and tuners, Aguilar pickups and preamp. The nut is perhaps cut a little high for the quite small fretwire, but that's the only thing I noticed. It gives of an FGN vibe to me, based on the fit and finish of an FGN S-style guitar I have, though the neck is all gloss. I'm not sure who else even has a factory in Japan which builds for other brands, so it could well be FGN. The strings are Ernie Ball and feel quite high tension. The low E in particular sounds like a piano when plucked open, and the body and ABS shell resonate nicely. All in all I'm very pleased with it.

Glad to hear that what you've received meets your expectations. I'm a flats guy so my first change was to fit TI Jazz Flats with a replacement nut to fit.

 

Just out of curiosity, I looked up the price of the Aguilar package that's standard on the Artist version - and it's pretty much what you paid for the bass!!

 

Let us know how you get on!

[ped]

I recently bought some new strings to replace the Elixir 45-100 rounds that I'm using on my Mustang. I play in drop D and found to my surprise that this works really well despite the short scale and relatively light strings.

 

However I ordered the wrong set, instead of nickel 45-100 I bought Stainless Steel 45-105, so near enough. Strung them up earlier, including giving the fingerbard a bit of Planet Waves Hydrate fluid, and you know what, they're great. 

 

I have never been able to use heavier strings on long scale basses as I go so used to a .40 G string and love the lower tension, but going down to 30" the .45 G makes sense and feels fine, more familiar now specially since the 'Stang has been my go to for a while now. The tighter D string is noticeable, and the SS strings have a bit more top end and I think a less focused midrange, which suits the bass well because it's naturally mid punchy. It means using both pickups in jazz bass mode sounds a little deeper.

 

So all in all, happy accident. Reckon I'll use these again next time (which IME will be about a year, more because I think I should rather than them needing it!)

[martthebass]

4 minutes ago, ped said:

I recently bought some new strings to replace the Elixir 45-100 rounds that I'm using on my Mustang. I play in drop D and found to my surprise that this works really well despite the short scale and relatively light strings.

 

However I ordered the wrong set, instead of nickel 45-100 I bought Stainless Steel 45-105, so near enough. Strung them up earlier, including giving the fingerbard a bit of Planet Waves Hydrate fluid, and you know what, they're great. 

 

I have never been able to use heavier strings on long scale basses as I go so used to a .40 G string and love the lower tension, but going down to 30" the .45 G makes sense and feels fine, more familiar now specially since the 'Stang has been my go to for a while now. The tighter D string is noticeable, and the SS strings have a bit more top end and I think a less focused midrange, which suits the bass well because it's naturally mid punchy. It means using both pickups in jazz bass mode sounds a little deeper.

 

So all in all, happy accident. Reckon I'll use these again next time (which IME will be about a year, more because I think I should rather than them needing it!)

I’ve always used a heavier gauge set on my shorties than the longies. Don’t know where I got the advice from; all mine are 50-105. I find I can easily pull the G off the fretboard on my G&L if I don’t do this…..crack handed, that’s me.

[tayste_2000]

1 hour ago, martthebass said:

I’ve always used a heavier gauge set on my shorties than the longies. Don’t know where I got the advice from; all mine are 50-105. I find I can easily pull the G off the fretboard on my G&L if I don’t do this…..crack handed, that’s me.

Same, the 105-50 D’addario Chromes for me.

[Baloney Balderdash]

While tension is lower relatively on a short scale bass the strings are, also because of the shorter scale, considerably stiffer/less flexible relatively to gauge and tension than on a regular 34" scale bass, something that becomes particularly apparent when you move up the fretboard, above the 12th fret or so, and can make for a verry thuddy dead tone.

 

Personally I use the same gauge strings on short scale basses as on regular 34" scale basses, that is a tension balanced set of gauge .095 - .075 - .055 - .040 hex steel core nickel-plated roundwound strings.

 

It does require a relatively light touch, but as far as I am concerned also results in a far better tone.

 

Edited February 24 by Baloney Balderdash

[fretmeister]

1 hour ago, martthebass said:

I’ve always used a heavier gauge set on my shorties than the longies. Don’t know where I got the advice from; all mine are 50-105. I find I can easily pull the G off the fretboard on my G&L if I don’t do this…..crack handed, that’s me.

 

Me too. I'm a 40-100 on a long scale, but 45-105 at least on a shortie.

[scrumpymike]

1 hour ago, fretmeister said:

 

Me too. I'm a 40-100 on a long scale, but 45-105 at least on a shortie.

+1

[Stub Mandrel]

I'm 45-105 on all scale lengths. Except my Performer (34") which I use 40-95 on.

[Pea Turgh]

Recent convert to LaBella low tension flats (think they only do the one gauge).

 

Love them on my long scales, but thought they might be a bit floppy on my short scale.  Bought a set anyway…

 

Thankfully they feel as great on the short scale as they do in a long scale!  Thought I’d mention it just in case anyone else was wondering the same.

[three]

I’ve just gone down from 40-95 to 30-90 on shorties (and two of the last long scales) with an extremely low action. Unusual I know, but I play with a very light touch (and my usual comedy technique)

[Kateplaysbass]

11 hours ago, Pea Turgh said:

Recent convert to LaBella low tension flats (think they only do the one gauge).

Me too. I still have Deep Talkin Flats on my JMJ, where I want a very specific sound and they do that perfectly. But overall I think the Low Tension are a bit more versatile, so they're now my first choice on my other basses. 

[msb]

I’ve been using Deep Talking flats on most shortscales , I’m going to pick up some low tension ones to try them out.

[scrumpymike]

15 hours ago, Pea Turgh said:

Recent convert to LaBella low tension flats (think they only do the one gauge).

 

Love them on my long scales, but thought they might be a bit floppy on my short scale.  Bought a set anyway…

 

Thankfully they feel as great on the short scale as they do in a long scale!  Thought I’d mention it just in case anyone else was wondering the same.

I would have tried these but my band plays drop-tuned to Eb. The normal LaBella s-s flats are perfect for this but I'm not sure the low-tension strings would.

[gemdids]

Just posted my Vintera mustang for trade on a PJ mustang if it’s of interest to anyone. 

 

 

[FieldsNPT]

I fitted some Ernie Ball group 2 45-105 short scale flatwounds on the Vox yesterday. I have nothing good or bad to say yet, they seem fine to me. The only thing I noticed was a little bit more friction over the Elites flatwounds I have on a 34" bass. Well, one plus is that the silk is a nice gold colour. 🙂 On the downside I still have tennis elbow and need some rest and ice I think. I keep meaning, and forgetting, to put an ice pack on it, and keep playing bass, so I'm not helping myself much. Doh.

[ezbass]

1 hour ago, FieldsNPT said:

On the downside I still have tennis elbow and need some rest and ice I think. I keep meaning, and forgetting, to put an ice pack on it, and keep playing bass, so I'm not helping myself much. Doh.

After trying many different things for my tennis elbow, I found that the application of KT tape was the best way to recovery. There are plenty of videos showing the pattern the tape should be. It’s certainly worth a try as it’s not expensive.