The Short Scale Bass Appreciation Society!

[ezbass]

On 25/04/2024 at 18:30, ped said:

Recorded a bit of my 66 Mustang today. Backing track is my band, used Moises to remove the bass and put mine over. Backing track is only a demo so not 100% full quality but it gives you some idea. Love the sound of this bass, it just sits and pokes out when needed. 
 

 

That sounds ace, both the bass and the track itself.

[ezbass]

Question for the short scale collective: has anyone replaced the PJ pickups in their shorty, with EMG GZRs? If so, how did it turn out? I’m wondering about ordering some for my HB ‘stangalike, but saw on the shortscale FB group that someone had had poor results, with regard to boominess.

Edited May 1 by ezbass

[Osiris]

15 minutes ago, ezbass said:

Question for the short scale collective: has anyone replaced the PJ pickups in their shorty, with EMG GZRs? If so, how did it turn out? I’m wondering about ordering some for my HB ‘stangalike, but saw on the shortscale FB group that someone had had poor results, with regard to boominess.

 

Not a PJ set but I've put a GZR P in my Sandberg shorty and it sounds great, not quite the classic precision sound as the pickup position is 15-20mm closer to the bridge relative to my Mustang (which nails the classic P tone) but it sounds great, definitely no booming in the lows. It's a punchy low end, bags of mid range detail and enough highs to add clarity without getting abrasive.

 

Dunno if it matters but I always string my shorties with rounds whereas a lot of guys use flats but I find flats are too dull and lifeless, which some may interpret as boominess 🤷

[Baloney Balderdash]

On 01/05/2024 at 17:46, ezbass said:

Question for the short scale collective: has anyone replaced the PJ pickups in their shorty, with EMG GZRs? If so, how did it turn out? I’m wondering about ordering some for my HB ‘stangalike, but saw on the shortscale FB group that someone had had poor results, with regard to boominess.

I replaced the stock P/J pickups in my Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro Bass with a P/J set of EMG Geezer Butler pickups, and the tone went from decent to amazing.

 

I can only recommend it.

 

Definitely no boomyness.

 

Quite on the contrary, these pickups are really articulate and adds a ton of definition. 

 

Edited May 3 by Baloney Balderdash

[tayste_2000]

I couldn’t decide what to keep so I’ve listed my 3 not main basses and will let the market decide.

 

For this crowd

 

 

[martthebass]

With my JMJ on hold and the Mikey Way in the classifieds I thought I’d take a quick group shot of my shorties before they are reduced from 4 to 2.

[vates]

 

So. One month since we’ve finally reunited with my first (and so far the only) Serek.
10 gigs in 10 cities with an audience of roughly 4000 people in total. 10 rehearsals and a few dozen hours of practice. I think I have a proper opinion re.the bass’ durability, pros and cons. 

 

Well, the bass is durable alright. The finish albeit rather rustic (see below) is sturdy enough.
The hardware works as it should.

The gig-bag is not perfect (see below) but it works well. It saved the bass from the harsh loading and unloading on buses, cars, trains, hotels, station premises, lockers etc. Saved if from a few more than likely bumps and bruises. 

 

Cons. 
The body finish looks a bit amateurish up-close. Strong DIY vibes. The color is spot-on though. And a few feet away it looks fine. I personally don’t like the texture contrast between the stripes and the main finish: how it feels to the touch under my elbow. But it works and it’s rather durable. 
The neck heel plate is horrible. Just an unfinished square of sheet metal with rough edges. It will ruin the insides of the gig-bag one day. And it was hard on my clothes as well.
The pickup is rocking a bit inside the pickguard. And it’s unprotected: I had to rest my finger directly on the blades. I guess one day the perspiration will get through them to the coils and kill them. Rather unsustainable.
The gig-bag is nice in the pictures. Looks almost like a Mono. But in reality it’s a rather budget Chinese product: the quality of zipper seams and straps is not very high. The pocket is poorly designed and struggles to hold even the basic necessities (strap, cord, rag), the neck cushion is crooked. But again, it works.

 

(turned out to be) not a con. 
The presumably silly built-in fuzz circuit is surprisingly useful. And the rather radical switching between the full tone and tone cup is amazingly practical in real life situations. I got used to it and will not change it to the stacked vol-tone (as previously planned) until it’s broken. The purchased parts are going to wait for now.

 

Pros. 
The sound. It’s there. The stock rounds are fine. But I changed to Dunlop flatwounds right away and never looked back (

Spoiler

well, actually the G string just popped and I had to change to a spare Pyramid Gold. the latter is awful but Dunlop just do not ship single strings and they just do not care about such complaints

).  After the swap - it’s just the sound from my head. I can’t put my finger on it. It’s just right. Sits perfectly in our rather motley alt-country mix. It’s different from my preferred P-bass tone. But it works in the similar manner by being both unobtrusive but always present and fundamental, and by firmly moving the whole band in the right direction. 
The ergonomics. Although geometrically the shortest one from my stable, this bass doesn’t feel small. The body is shaped in such a weird off-set way that it feels like a full-size instrument. The upper frets reach is even better than on most of my “traditional” full-scale basses. And the balance is strange but somehow works properly: you may swear that you feel the neck dive but in reality there isn’t any. A rather uncanny feeling that goes away after a few hours of play. 
Overall, the bass feels to be meticulously designed by a rigorous engineer. A lot of thought went into this design. Heck, even the lower Dunlop strap lock once connected forms a firm standing base together with the lower bout of the bass’ body.
The neck feels and looks fantastic! Now, this is probably the best part of the instrument. I like everything about this neck: back shape, radius, how it feels in the hand, how the wood looks and the shade of it. 
It looks tasty and feels sublime. 
The color scheme is beautiful. It came right from my dreams and I’m happy that I didn’t pull the trigger on the earlier batches. The quality of plastic parts is on the highest level.

 

Conclusion.
A unique instrument with rather appealing vibes despite all the quirks.
I will definitely keep my eyes open for another Serek. 
Preferably a Midwestern with a single B-90.

 

Thanks for reading!
 

[tayste_2000]

5 minutes ago, vates said:

 

So. One month since we’ve finally reunited with my first (and so far the only) Serek.
10 gigs in 10 cities with an audience of roughly 4000 people in total. 10 rehearsals and a few dozen hours of practice. I think I have a proper opinion re.the bass’ durability, pros and cons. 

 

Well, the bass is durable alright. The finish albeit rather rustic (see below) is sturdy enough.
The hardware works as it should.

The gig-bag is not perfect (see below) but it works well. It saved the bass from the harsh loading and unloading on buses, cars, trains, hotels, station premises, lockers etc. Saved if from a few more than likely bumps and bruises. 

 

Cons. 
The body finish looks a bit amateurish up-close. Strong DIY vibes. The color is spot-on though. And a few feet away it looks fine. I personally don’t like the texture contrast between the stripes and the main finish: how it feels to the touch under my elbow. But it works and it’s rather durable. 
The neck heel plate is horrible. Just an unfinished square of sheet metal with rough edges. It will ruin the insides of the gig-bag one day. And it was hard on my clothes as well.
The pickup is rocking a bit inside the pickguard. And it’s unprotected: I had to rest my finger directly on the blades. I guess one day the perspiration will get through them to the coils and kill them. Rather unsustainable.
The gig-bag is nice in the pictures. Looks almost like a Mono. But in reality it’s a rather budget Chinese product: the quality of zipper seams and straps is not very high. The pocket is poorly designed and struggles to hold even the basic necessities (strap, cord, rag), the neck cushion is crooked. But again, it works.

 

(turned out to be) not a con. 
The presumably silly built-in fuzz circuit is surprisingly useful. And the rather radical switching between the full tone and tone cup is amazingly practical in real life situations. I got used to it and will not change it to the stacked vol-tone (as previously planned) until it’s broken. The purchased parts are going to wait for now.

 

Pros. 
The sound. It’s there. The stock rounds are fine. But I changed to Dunlop flatwounds right away and never looked back (

  Reveal hidden contents

well, actually the G string just popped and I had to change to a spare Pyramid Gold. the latter is awful but Dunlop just do not ship single strings and they just do not care about such complaints

).  After the swap - it’s just the sound from my head. I can’t put my finger on it. It’s just right. Sits perfectly in our rather motley alt-country mix. It’s different from my preferred P-bass tone. But it works in the similar manner by being both unobtrusive but always present and fundamental, and by firmly moving the whole band in the right direction. 
The ergonomics. Although geometrically the shortest one from my stable, this bass doesn’t feel small. The body is shaped in such a weird off-set way that it feels like a full-size instrument. The upper frets reach is even better than on most of my “traditional” full-scale basses. And the balance is strange but somehow works properly: you may swear that you feel the neck dive but in reality there isn’t any. A rather uncanny feeling that goes away after a few hours of play. 
Overall, the bass feels to be meticulously designed by a rigorous engineer. A lot of thought went into this design. Heck, even the lower Dunlop strap lock once connected forms a firm standing base together with the lower bout of the bass’ body.
The neck feels and looks fantastic! Now, this is probably the best part of the instrument. I like everything about this neck: back shape, radius, how it feels in the hand, how the wood looks and the shade of it. 
It looks tasty and feels sublime. 
The color scheme is beautiful. It came right from my dreams and I’m happy that I didn’t pull the trigger on the earlier batches. The quality of plastic parts is on the highest level.

 

Conclusion.
A unique instrument with rather appealing vibes despite all the quirks.
I will definitely keep my eyes open for another Serek. 
Preferably a Midwestern with a single B-90.

 

Thanks for reading!
 

😉

 

[scrumpymike]

3 hours ago, vates said:

 

So. One month since we’ve finally reunited with my first (and so far the only) Serek.
10 gigs in 10 cities with an audience of roughly 4000 people in total. 10 rehearsals and a few dozen hours of practice. I think I have a proper opinion re.the bass’ durability, pros and cons. 

 

Well, the bass is durable alright. The finish albeit rather rustic (see below) is sturdy enough.
The hardware works as it should.

The gig-bag is not perfect (see below) but it works well. It saved the bass from the harsh loading and unloading on buses, cars, trains, hotels, station premises, lockers etc. Saved if from a few more than likely bumps and bruises. 

 

Cons. 
The body finish looks a bit amateurish up-close. Strong DIY vibes. The color is spot-on though. And a few feet away it looks fine. I personally don’t like the texture contrast between the stripes and the main finish: how it feels to the touch under my elbow. But it works and it’s rather durable. 
The neck heel plate is horrible. Just an unfinished square of sheet metal with rough edges. It will ruin the insides of the gig-bag one day. And it was hard on my clothes as well.
The pickup is rocking a bit inside the pickguard. And it’s unprotected: I had to rest my finger directly on the blades. I guess one day the perspiration will get through them to the coils and kill them. Rather unsustainable.
The gig-bag is nice in the pictures. Looks almost like a Mono. But in reality it’s a rather budget Chinese product: the quality of zipper seams and straps is not very high. The pocket is poorly designed and struggles to hold even the basic necessities (strap, cord, rag), the neck cushion is crooked. But again, it works.

 

(turned out to be) not a con. 
The presumably silly built-in fuzz circuit is surprisingly useful. And the rather radical switching between the full tone and tone cup is amazingly practical in real life situations. I got used to it and will not change it to the stacked vol-tone (as previously planned) until it’s broken. The purchased parts are going to wait for now.

 

Pros. 
The sound. It’s there. The stock rounds are fine. But I changed to Dunlop flatwounds right away and never looked back (

  Reveal hidden contents

well, actually the G string just popped and I had to change to a spare Pyramid Gold. the latter is awful but Dunlop just do not ship single strings and they just do not care about such complaints

).  After the swap - it’s just the sound from my head. I can’t put my finger on it. It’s just right. Sits perfectly in our rather motley alt-country mix. It’s different from my preferred P-bass tone. But it works in the similar manner by being both unobtrusive but always present and fundamental, and by firmly moving the whole band in the right direction. 
The ergonomics. Although geometrically the shortest one from my stable, this bass doesn’t feel small. The body is shaped in such a weird off-set way that it feels like a full-size instrument. The upper frets reach is even better than on most of my “traditional” full-scale basses. And the balance is strange but somehow works properly: you may swear that you feel the neck dive but in reality there isn’t any. A rather uncanny feeling that goes away after a few hours of play. 
Overall, the bass feels to be meticulously designed by a rigorous engineer. A lot of thought went into this design. Heck, even the lower Dunlop strap lock once connected forms a firm standing base together with the lower bout of the bass’ body.
The neck feels and looks fantastic! Now, this is probably the best part of the instrument. I like everything about this neck: back shape, radius, how it feels in the hand, how the wood looks and the shade of it. 
It looks tasty and feels sublime. 
The color scheme is beautiful. It came right from my dreams and I’m happy that I didn’t pull the trigger on the earlier batches. The quality of plastic parts is on the highest level.

 

Conclusion.
A unique instrument with rather appealing vibes despite all the quirks.
I will definitely keep my eyes open for another Serek. 
Preferably a Midwestern with a single B-90.

 

Thanks for reading!
 

Love quirky, love this!

[vates]

14 hours ago, scrumpymike said:

Love quirky, love this!

 

Yep. It's obviously imperfect and that's what makes it special.
The main merits are there though: it plays great and sounds killer.

[Obrienp]

1 hour ago, vates said:

 

Yep. It's obviously imperfect and that's what makes it special.
The main merits are there though: it plays great and sounds killer.

Yes, those are the main merits. It’s a bit disappointing to hear that the finish isn’t that well executed, given how much Sereks sell for and I think the looks are a bit marmite. However, if it plays well and sounds good the rest is superficial.

[Teyeplayer]

I’m in the ‘early’ stages of rediscovering bass having had a cheap knock-of eb3 copy that I purchased (and gigged) for £60 about 30 years ago. In due course I moved onto guitar and bass fell by the wayside until I picked up a lovely precision bass a couple of years ago. Something wasn’t quite the same and I have gradually pieced together that as good as the precision is, it’s long scale. Since then a Hofner ignition Beatles bass has been added which is fantastic for the price, and then in the past few weeks a Vox VBW3000 (Bill Wyman) bass has turned up. Since it’s arrived I have played little else, though I do need to get a set of flat rounds on there for that authentic mid-60s sound.

Edited May 14 by Teyeplayer

[Frank Blank]

2 minutes ago, Teyeplayer said:

... in the past few weeks a Vox VBW3000 (Bill Wyman) bass has turned up. Since it’s arrived I have played little else, though I do need to get a set of flat sounds on there for that authentic mid-60s sound.

 

Christ, always lusted after one of these...

[Teyeplayer]

30 minutes ago, Frank Blank said:

 

Christ, always lusted after one of these...

I’m really impressed with it. This modern run are built in partnership with one of the Japanese factories and it is the usual high quality build we’ve all come to expect from Japanese made guitars and basses. It plays really well and was almost perfect straight out of the box. Smallest neck I’ve ever encountered on a bass, but kind of fun for it. 

[scrumpymike]

7 hours ago, Frank Blank said:

 

Christ, always lusted after one of these...

You and me both!! Lee Jackson also used to play one in The Nice IIRC.

[scrumpymike]

7 hours ago, Teyeplayer said:

I’m really impressed with it. This modern run are built in partnership with one of the Japanese factories and it is the usual high quality build we’ve all come to expect from Japanese made guitars and basses. It plays really well and was almost perfect straight out of the box. Smallest neck I’ve ever encountered on a bass, but kind of fun for it. 

I've got a Vox Starstream A2S and the quality is as good as anything I've ever played.

[Count Bassie]

On 13/05/2024 at 09:20, tayste_2000 said:

😉

 

This is really cool.

[RichT]

Delayed NBD - Maruszczyk Jake 4P 30" 

 

(Apologies for post length. tl;dr - After 35 years of playing bass I finally bought my first P bass, highly recommended)

 

I actually got this about a month ago, only just getting around to posting about it! Never having owned anything vaguely resembling a P Bass since I started playing in the late 80's, I found myself increasingly feeling that it was a sound missing from my collection and started looking for something that would get me in the ballpark of the distinctive P sound. Getting a standard P bass was out of the question, I have osteoarthritis (in multiple places) and the Fender P body is too large and too heavy for me, complete non starter.

 

I preferably wanted short scale, passive, and under my magic weight of 7.5lbs, so I started by looking a Mustangs, firstly because the Player series has a P pickup, but then down a rabbit hole with all the other models reasoning that split pickups are split pickups, but as it happened I couldn't find any Mustangs much below 8lbs so gave up on that idea, plus I really can't deal with humming pickups and I've read a fair few reports of noisy Mustangs so I pulled myself back to being set on something with a single P pickup. 

 

I was playing with the Sandberg configurator, toying with the idea of pushing the boat out a bit for a Lionel, and this is the look I came up with. 

Colours were exactly what I wanted, but these don't tend to come in much under £1800 once they get to the UK, and tbh I'm not entirely sold on the look of the Sandberg finishes.

 

But then completely by chance, I found this rather attractive short scale Maruszczyk Jake on Bass Direct...

 

 

Aha! Now that's more like it! Exactly the same colour scheme but with a nice bit of flamed maple!😍 30" scale, Haussel PB4 pickup, scaled down P shape alder body with flame maple top, 40mm nut, 19mm spacing at the bridge, gorgeous satin neck finish, 7lbs 7oz, and at £1250 probably a good £500 cheaper than a Lionel (also somehow cheaper than precisely the same config on Maruszczyk's own website), plus Bass Direct gave me a decent part ex price for a bass I was looking to move on to bring it down further - BD were excellent to deal with, as always.

 

It's a fantastic little bass, very comfortable, lightweight and easy to play, hangs perfectly with no neck dive, satin neck finish is wonderful and the 40mm nut gives it a touch of P bass heft while remaining appropriate to the overall short scale dimensions. The colour in person glows, more turquoise/peacock blue than it looks on my laptop. And most importantly, to my ears it sounds like a P bass. Interesting to note the difference in pickup placement between the Lionel and the Jake...

 

 

Obviously it looks like the Jake's pickup is closer to the neck than on a classic Fender P bass, however as far as I can make out, Maruszczyk have actually placed the pickup the same distance from the bridge that it would be on a standard 34" scale - about 5.5 inches from the bridge to the pickup centre line. Consensus from what I've read, is that Fender P pickups are located about 28.5 inches from the nut. So, 34 - 28.5 = 5.5.

 

I don't know much about string physics but given the obvious differences that occur the closer the pickup gets to the bridge on any scale length, I'm guessing that possibly Sandberg went for the more traditional aesthetics of the look of the pickup location, whereas Maruszczyk sacrificed the traditional look to chase the classic P sound in what would be this bass' comparable sweet spot? Whatever, it's a pretty convincing take on it, short scale warmth notwithstanding.  

 

If you're looking for a short scale P style bass, can't recommend these enough. One slight word of warning though, I've never bought a bass that's required quite so much setup to get it to what I'm used to. I tried 5 sets of strings on it wondering why they all sounded awful before I realised quite how low the action was and quite how high the pickup was. It was only when multiple sets of strings sounded chorusy that I worked out what was going on, increased the action up to 6/64 and reduced the pickup height by a full 3mm. I read other people received Maruszczyk's with pickups set crazy-high but even so, it was nuts. Anyway, all sounds great now. Oh, and the tuners function well, but they do feel a step below the quality of the rest of the instrument. Stiffest tuners I've ever experienced on a new bass, had to smother the gears in lip salve (best thing I could think of) to lubricate them and get them working smoothly. Luckily they hold tune incredibly well so I don't need to use them much!

 

Currently got short scale D'Addario 45-100's on it, which just happened to be the set No.5 on it at the time I adjusted the pickup height, and they've stayed on. I've been meaning to go back again and try some flats and Elixirs etc to see how it responds to different sets now it's adjusted correctly, but it just sounds so damn good with the D'Addarios on it I haven't been able to stop playing it for long enough to think about changing the strings.

 

I don't think the Jake would replace my No.1 - my short scale USA Stingray (modded to be active with a John East preamp) which I bought from scrumpymike just over a year ago, but it does something completely different and complements the Stingray beautifully. If for some reason I had to get rid of most of my basses, it would be this and the Stingray that I'd keep (...and my Vox Starstream A1H, couldn't let that one go.) People like to say that P basses "sit in the mix" well. Actually I think my Stingray sits "in" the mix, in that it's tone naturally draws attention and sits smack bang in the centre of the mix for songs/genres where the bass needs a strong presence as a featured main instrument. In comparison I hear the Jake more as sitting "under" the mix, ever present and inconspicuously holding down the low end, doing it's very necessary job without hogging the attention. Maybe just a difference of terminology, but both fantastic basses in their own right with very distinct personalities.

 

[Teyeplayer]

Love that @RichT, I had been watching that same one on bass direct. Looks fantastic!

Edited June 5 by Teyeplayer

[LeftyJ]

2 hours ago, RichT said:

Obviously it looks like the Jake's pickup is closer to the neck than on a classic Fender P bass, however as far as I can make out, Maruszczyk have actually placed the pickup the same distance from the bridge that it would be on a standard 34" scale - about 5.5 inches from the bridge to the pickup centre line. Consensus from what I've read, is that Fender P pickups are located about 28.5 inches from the nut. So, 34 - 28.5 = 5.5.

 

I don't know much about string physics but given the obvious differences that occur the closer the pickup gets to the bridge on any scale length, I'm guessing that possibly Sandberg went for the more traditional aesthetics of the look of the pickup location, whereas Maruszczyk sacrificed the traditional look to chase the classic P sound in what would be this bass' comparable sweet spot? Whatever, it's a pretty convincing take on it, short scale warmth notwithstanding.  

 

Actually, it's Sandberg that have the pickup closer to the classic P position relative to the scale length . 5.5" from the bridge on a 34" bass versus 5.5" on a 30" bass will sound warmer on the shortscale because it's actually further from the bridge relative to the entire scale length. 

Edited June 5 by LeftyJ

[RichT]

1 hour ago, LeftyJ said:

 

Actually, it's Sandberg that have the pickup closer to the classic P position relative to the scale length . 5.5" from the bridge on a 34" bass versus 5.5" on a 30" bass will sound warmer on the shortscale because it's actually further from the bridge relative to the entire scale length. 

 

Ah that's interesting! The Maruszczyk certainly does sound warm, but I took that as kind of being factored in with the short scale. I'm happy with that, maybe that's why it sounds so good with rounds on it when I was expecting to have to use flats to get the kind of tone I was after. A lot of the P bass GASsing was wanting that mellower more vintage vibe that would do the jobs the Stingray couldn't, without being as downright awkward (in all senses) as my Hofner HCT Club!  I wondered about whether the pickup position would/should be based on relative scale length. I haven't played a Lionel to compare but I've seen a few posts where they're described as bright sounding, wasn't sure if that was to do with the pickup being closer to the bridge or more to do with pickup & electronics.

[scrumpymike]

15 hours ago, RichT said:

I don't think the Jake would replace my No.1 - my short scale USA Stingray (modded to be active with a John East preamp) which I bought from scrumpymike just over a year ago

 

Glad to hear that you're still so happy with the Stingray! With that, the Starstream and the Jake, you've got one helluva bass collection. Just add a Sandy Cali ll TM Short and you've got my top 4 (although my Vox is the JJ version).

[RichT]

4 hours ago, scrumpymike said:

Glad to hear that you're still so happy with the Stingray! With that, the Starstream and the Jake, you've got one helluva bass collection. Just add a Sandy Cali ll TM Short and you've got my top 4 (although my Vox is the JJ version).

 

Yes it's a fantastic instrument, I find it difficult to imagine one that would supplant it for me.

 

I put some Ernie Ball cobalt flats on there when they released the s-s versions last summer, that tamed the sizzle and actually made it extremely versatile. Lots of fundamental in the tone but with 'Ray growl when it's needed, plus the preamp is comfortably the best active circuit on any bass I've owned. Gets me right into the Paul S Denman and Bernard Edwards kind of sounds that inspired me to want one in the first place.

 

I keep a set of Elixirs on my Starstream A1H with its big fat Aguilar MM humbucker, so I've got the option of that super bright 'Ray-esque sound there too. Not quite the luxury of having two Stingrays but not far off. Real shame the Starstreams were a limited run, they're amazing basses. 

[Dazed]

10 minutes ago, RichT said:

 

 

 

I keep a set of Elixirs on my Starstream A1H with its big fat Aguilar MM humbucker, so I've got the option of that super bright 'Ray-esque sound there too. Not quite the luxury of having two Stingrays but not far off. Real shame the Starstreams were a limited run, they're amazing basses. 

Is the Starstream short scale and have you cut down standard length Elixirs for it? No issues ?

[BabyBlueSound]

2 minutes ago, Dazed said:

Is the Starstream short scale and have you cut down standard length Elixirs for it? No issues ?

 

Well you did not ask me, but I had Elixirs before on both my Ibanez and Sterling short scales, can be cut down with no issues. E string's winding can get bulky and tricky but nothing crazy.