The Short Scale Bass Appreciation Society!

[Lozz196]

So lately I’ve been playing all my basses on rotation. Precisions with maple and rosewood, Jazzes with maple and rosewood, and Mustangs with rosewood (both Precision & Jazz width neck).
 

The result being that after years of being a Precision with maple strung with steel rounds man I’m now def a Mustang with Jazz width neck strung with nickels man, I’m finding it much easier to play and I’m getting a sound that’s much more pleasing to my ears.

 

Whoda thunk it!

[ped]

I’ve been playing mine in all sorts of environments for a while now and I’m 100% chuffed with it. Sounds amazing 🤩 

 

 

[fretmeister]

29 minutes ago, martthebass said:

I got chills…they’re multiplying…..

 

 

Lovely!

 

I keep thinking about a second one - especially as they now do a J type shortie.

[MichaelDean]

I was playing my Mustang a lot today. Such a great bass. Does sound alright in drop C too, despite the old strings. Tempted to intonate it and take it to band practice at the weekend...

[martthebass]

1 hour ago, fretmeister said:

 

 

Lovely!

 

I keep thinking about a second one - especially as they now do a J type shortie.

The original intent was an active Lionel, sadly I had to return it as it had a cosmetic defect, fortunately the vendor had the gold one in stock so I took that in exchange. I’m happy enough though, I’ve been gigging the white one for a couple of months and was so impressed I sold my Fallout and Mustangs and went for another Lionel.

[ezbass]

1 hour ago, martthebass said:

I got chills…they’re multiplying…..

And you’ve plainly lost control…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…and what a way to do it - nice.

[vates]

13 hours ago, ped said:

I’ve been playing mine in all sorts of environments for a while now and I’m 100% chuffed with it. Sounds amazing 🤩 

 

 

 

 

This amalgam never ceases to amaze me.

[fretmeister]

14 hours ago, ped said:

I’ve been playing mine in all sorts of environments for a while now and I’m 100% chuffed with it. Sounds amazing 🤩 

 

 

 

 

I've never heard of Valco pedals.

 

If I go to youtube will it cost me money?

 

[ped]

35 minutes ago, vates said:

 

 

This amalgam never ceases to amaze me.

 

Cheers mate I've never been happier tbh. I never thought mustangs would be my taste in all honesty but I'm a total convert.

[ped]

20 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

 

 

I've never heard of Valco pedals.

 

If I go to youtube will it cost me money?

 

 

Haha well I make no promises. I got the Fuzz first (grey one) because I read about it somewhere and saw a video on YT. KGB stands for Keys, Guitar Bass (as I believe it did in the former Soviet Union). This video gives a pretty good demo, although his 'clean' sound is pretty gnarly already. But the fuzz is super thick and sludgy, and infinitely tweakable. The impedance control is soooo useful in changing the response.

 

 

I liked it so much that I wanted the Distortion version, which the founder old me would suit my lower gain needs. This has selectable diodes, and each sounds very different - the Germanium circuit can slightly overlap with the fuzz if cranked. Where it excels is in breathy, cutting and warm overdrive - for that I use the silicon circuit and again the impedance control alters the way the clipping interacts with your playing. 

 

I think the pedal in the video above must be an earlier model as it doesn't have the polarity switch. I find that really useful, I run the fuzz at 180 so you get some massive cascading fatness without ever getting wooly or indistinct. When I had my tall font Sovtek Big Muff I was able to exactly match it's sound using the valco (voice 1, 110k, fuzz on full, tone at 9 o'clock and mix full). He gets nearly there in the video at 9:15

 

I don't think there's a decent bass orientated vido of the Dist on YT.

 

I actually have the loop pedal, too - but don't currently have a use for it.

 

What's also cool is that on the fuzz you can add tone, which is what you need to cut through, and on the dist you can cut top end, which is what I want at lower gain to add warmth. They're very well designed IMO.

 

The more guitar orientated pedal the 'Bloodbuzz' is a clone of the Lovetone Cheese Sauce. I think that was their first, and probably why they use these enclosures. Honestly it's happened by accident that I happen to love the Valco and the Lovetone pedals over anything else!

[meterman]

31 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

 

 

I've never heard of Valco pedals.

 

If I go to youtube will it cost me money?

 

They're a boutique pedal outfit so £250 to £300 per unit is where they're at. Not the most expensive pedals out there but hardly Behringer. The name comes from a budget US amp company that went out of business in the late 60's that was very popular with blues players. I have a Supro amp that is basically an old Valco amp with a different badge. Decent gear, but some of it is a bit spendy.

[Badscrew]

Why isn't the shortscale Talman called "Shortman"?

[Badscrew]

<--->

Edited June 28 by Badscrew

[EssentialTension]

16 hours ago, ped said:

I’ve been playing mine in all sorts of environments for a while now and I’m 100% chuffed with it. Sounds amazing 🤩 

 

 

 

Very neat and tidy!

[EddieG]

I've got it on extremely good authority that Harley Benton are bringing out a Rivoli-style semi-hollow short scale later in the year.

I'll definitely be snapping one of those up, even though I don't need it!🤣

[msb]

I hope they do not have a single pickup at the fretboard.

[msb]

There was a Harley Benton hollow body that looked quite similar to the Eastwood Classic series , but was much cheaper. Two pickups. I picked up a Classic IV several years back on kijiji for a good price. Good bass for the money. The HB looked like a deal.

 

I like shortscale hollow bodies. 

Edited June 28 by msb

[Obrienp]

Yesterday evening doing a catch up on Glastonbury on iPlayer, I stumbled on the Last Dinner Party. I noticed from the very brief glimpses of the bassist (BBC seems to try to avoid showing bassists) that she seemed to be playing a Gretsch Junior Jet and it sounded pretty good. Good on her I thought. You don’t need fabulously expensive kit to sound good. Of course they didn’t show her rig (at least while I was watching). One up for the short scale players anyway.

[msb]

I’m in the midst of trying to buy an expensive Duo Jet. 

[LeftyJ]

7 hours ago, Obrienp said:

Yesterday evening doing a catch up on Glastonbury on iPlayer, I stumbled on the Last Dinner Party. I noticed from the very brief glimpses of the bassist (BBC seems to try to avoid showing bassists) that she seemed to be playing a Gretsch Junior Jet and it sounded pretty good. Good on her I thought. You don’t need fabulously expensive kit to sound good. Of course they didn’t show her rig (at least while I was watching). One up for the short scale players anyway.

Cool! When I saw them on Later with Jools Holland once she played a gold Fender PJ Mustang. Sounded great too. 

[neil___lien]

On 28/06/2024 at 19:21, EddieG said:

I've got it on extremely good authority that Harley Benton are bringing out a Rivoli-style semi-hollow short scale later in the year.

I'll definitely be snapping one of those up, even though I don't need it!🤣

 

 

Hello @EddieG!

Are U 100% sure about this? Is this not the HB-50 that was briefly seen at some of those big gear shows a few months back in orange & red? 

If so, they are long scale semi-hollows with a musicman-style humbucker. One Basschat member had the orange prototype and sold it here recently..

I am asking because i am really interested in getting a semi-hollow (i miss my long gone Rockbass Star Bass 32") & i cant afford anything that's on the market right now except Harley Bentons. But the HB-60 comes in just one finish for now. 

I sent them an email a few weeks back to see if by any chance they would make the HB-50 or HB-60 in finishes that i find the classiest (Dark Lake Placid Blue, Faded Pehlam Blue....) but they didn't feel i deserved to be told anything lol

Edited June 30 by neil___lien

[AlexDelores]

On 29/06/2024 at 00:31, msb said:

There was a Harley Benton hollow body that looked quite similar to the Eastwood Classic series , but was much cheaper. Two pickups. I picked up a Classic IV several years back on kijiji for a good price. Good bass for the money. The HB looked like a deal.

 

I like shortscale hollow bodies. 

I know this is a weird question. But, do short scale hollow bodies actually feel like you’re playing a short scale? 
 

I always assumed because of the size of the body that they sit on a strap and feel more like a full scale bass? 
 

God, that sounds weirder to read back than it did in my head 😅

[AlexDelores]

My pair of shorties.

 

The Gretsch was bought recently as a cheap back up to the Mustang on the basis that it will basically live in its case in the van… 

 

But, I’ve quickly come to realise that although I really like the Mustang. I prefer the Gretsch in almost every way to the Fender. The neck is superb, now as I’ve found a comfortable strap position, the small body makes it a doddle to play live, it sounds so much fuller/warmer than the Fender and I personally think the finish is gorgeous. 
 

So, the question now is whether to move on the Fender and try something new. Or, have it sitting in the van as my more expensive back up bass. 
 

Edited July 1 by AlexDelores
Grammar

[LeftyJ]

4 hours ago, AlexDelores said:

I know this is a weird question. But, do short scale hollow bodies actually feel like you’re playing a short scale? 
 

I always assumed because of the size of the body that they sit on a strap and feel more like a full scale bass? 
 

God, that sounds weirder to read back than it did in my head 😅

I had an Italia Torino Bass a few years ago. My 2 cents: yes and no 

 

To elaborate: because of the large body, and the bridge sitting relatively far forward, it was a fairly big bass. It had a separate tailpiece which sat farther back, enabling the use of normal longscale strings. That said, because of the weird plucking position relative to the size of the body (and to counter its tendency to topple over forward, because of the arched back) I always wore it somewhat to my side so the 12th fret was more or less dead center in front of me. This added to the shortscale feel of the bass to me, despite the larger size. 

 

It was a fun bass, with a big mudbucker up against the fingerboard and a guitar humbucker underneath a closed cover close to the bridge. It sounded big and thunderous and looked great. It was surprisingly heavy due to the solid maple center block below the bridge and pickups, but played great. 

 

Edited July 1 by LeftyJ

[scrumpymike]

50 minutes ago, AlexDelores said:

I know this is a weird question. But, do short scale hollow bodies actually feel like you’re playing a short scale? 
 

I always assumed because of the size of the body that they sit on a strap and feel more like a full scale bass? 
 

God, that sounds weirder to read back than it did in my head 😅

All other things being equal, the shorter the scale, the shorter the distance your fingers have to stretch between frets and the shorter the distance your left hand has to reach to get down to the lower end of the fretboard. However, that 'reach' advantage* gets progressively cancelled out for body designs where the bridge is moved ever further away from the bottom edge of the body.

 

*Of course, if you're a player with small hands and long arms, you may consider the shorter reach to be a disadvantage as it could make your playing position feel a bit cramped.