The Short Scale Bass Appreciation Society!

[Pauld]

Ibanez Talman TMB30 has a nice chunkier neck. It's 41mm wide at the nut and 21.5mm thick at the first fret. Feels nice in he hand, fairly cheap but you may get a bit of neck dive, mine has licenced hipshot ultralites which help. 

[martthebass]

9 hours ago, ead said:

 

Thanks for the recommendation but string spacing would be an issue for me (fat fingers).  I will amend my post to reflect this.

Take a look at the Sandberg Lionel, decent string spacing and 40mm nut width. If you get an alder one, about 7.5lbs, the ash ones are about a pound heavier.

[scrumpymike]

19 hours ago, martthebass said:

Take a look at the Sandberg Lionel, decent string spacing and 40mm nut width. If you get an alder one, about 7.5lbs, the ash ones are about a pound heavier.

Excellent recommendation but scarce second hand and not cheap new.

[Obrienp]

On 11/11/2024 at 11:31, Woodinblack said:

Yes the talman has a wide neck, and is quite a good bass (although shocking QC, but then really cheap) although it has to be said its balance isn't the best.

Yes, QC is a bit dodgy but it makes an excellent modding platform. With a little bit of work (shielding, etc) you can get a decent bass. Just ignore the jazz pickup, it’s pretty weak and doesn’t add much, so not a priority for replacement IMO  (if I remember correctly it’s not full size Jazz bridge size either, so difficult to find a direct replacement).

 

The chunkyness is what made me move mine on but would probably suit the OP well. They do vary a bit in weight also: mine was a boat anchor but I’ve seen other reports of examples that weighed less than 8lbs.

[martthebass]

28 minutes ago, scrumpymike said:

Excellent recommendation but scarce second hand and not cheap new.

True.  Even new there's not many about.  I think Bass Direct have 2 or 3 but no other stock in UK that I could see when I was looking a few weeks back.  Worth the search though.

[BabyBlueSound]

2 hours ago, Obrienp said:

Just ignore the jazz pickup, it’s pretty weak and doesn’t add much, so not a priority for replacement IMO  (if I remember correctly it’s not full size Jazz bridge size either, so difficult to find a direct replacement).

 

I had to file off the plastic from the sides of my EMGs 😅

 

Does anyone know what electronic trickery it would take (apart from going active) to make it match the output of the P, if there's even a way?

[msb]

I dropped in a Tbird style humbucker. Much closer.

[SonnyBassPlayer]

On 09/10/2024 at 10:07, SonnyBassPlayer said:

Just starting to revive my BroncoMaster. I'm working on a paint tone to make it cream-yellow with nitrocellulose and I'm currently having a custom split coil made the size of a strat as pickup. The Duncan Hot Stack never really made it.

Sooooo here's the bass now!

 

It has a custom made split bobbin neodymium pickup that sounds really awesome. As for the paint I mixed and can painted it before doing a light relic on it. This Bronco now slaps. The string are Ernie Ball Cobalt flats SS tuned in D standard.

Edited November 13 by SonnyBassPlayer

[Obrienp]

17 hours ago, BabyBlueSound said:

 

I had to file off the plastic from the sides of my EMGs 😅

 

Does anyone know what electronic trickery it would take (apart from going active) to make it match the output of the P, if there's even a way?

Every P/J I’ve ever had and every replacement P/J pickup set (several different brands) has suffered from the Jazz having less output than the P. It would be great if someone does have an easy wiring fix for it but I’m not hopeful.
 

At one stage I did think of doing a mix and match based on the output of pickups; I.E. seek out a really powerful Jazz and a less powerful P pickup but I am sure I read somewhere that it doesn’t necessarily produce the result you expect. Also a really powerful Jazz pickup is likely to produce a different tone to the standard. That may or may not work for what you are after.

 

I decided in the end that it didn’t really matter for me, as I only use the Jazz pickup to blend in a bit of upper mids. I never solo it. I’m no Jacko! You might have different requirements of course.

 

Probably irrelevant but one wiring trick I have used, is a push/pull to put both pickups on but in series. It sounds massive! 

Edited November 13 by Obrienp

[Lozz196]

In an old Aerodyne Jazz I replaced the stock pickup with a Seymour Duncan Hot Stack, made a much better balance between the two pickups and without any radical changes in sound, was pretty much the same but just about 20% "more" if that makes sense.

[AlexDelores]

I’ve picked up a double electric guitar soft case for a decent price. 
 

It’s to fit my Gretsch Junior Jet and Mustang basses. 
 

But, as it’s a guitar case it’s a couple of cms too small really… The basses fit and the case zips up. But, the end of the mustang headstock is pushing quite a lot into the material.
 

With it being a soft case. Anyone think this will affect anything too much? My worry is that it’s putting too much pressure on the neck, but with it being a soft case, I’m wondering if I’m overthinking it as surely cases stretch a bit over time anyway?
 

Any thoughts are appreciated. 
 

Curious if anyone with short scale basses has gone down this road with guitar cases and has had any problems (or not!) 

 

Thanks

Alex

[ped]

9 minutes ago, AlexDelores said:

I’ve picked up a double electric guitar soft case for a decent price. 
 

It’s to fit my Gretsch Junior Jet and Mustang basses. 
 

But, as it’s a guitar case it’s a couple of cms too small really… The basses fit and the case zips up. But, the end of the mustang headstock is pushing quite a lot into the material.
 

With it being a soft case. Anyone think this will affect anything too much? My worry is that it’s putting too much pressure on the neck, but with it being a soft case, I’m wondering if I’m overthinking it as surely cases stretch a bit over time anyway?
 

Any thoughts are appreciated. 
 

Curious if anyone with short scale basses has gone down this road with guitar cases and has had any problems (or not!) 

 

Thanks

Alex

 

I should think it's fine for the neck, but I'd be worried about the tuners - IMO they need a bit of space, and with the G string tuner being right at the end of the headstock I'd be worried about it getting bashed

[Lozz196]

I use the Mono M80 guitar cases for my Mustang Basses, yes it’s a bit tight but I’ve had no issues and my gigging/rehearsing bass stays in the M80 unless I’m using it.

[Obrienp]

I have a Thomann deluxe guitar gig bag for my Sire fretless shorty. It was recommended as a “perfect fit” on their website when I bought the bass and it is. There is a little bit of room spare above the headstock and plenty of room around the body, plus 25mm padding. Not bad for a tadge over £40.
 

It is much better designed than the Fender SS gig bags that I have used previously. They don’t have any reinforcement at the bottom of the bag, so it doesn’t take long for the strap button to split the seam.

Edited November 13 by Obrienp

[AlexDelores]

Thanks guys. Decided to send it back after another try. 
 

It’s 1040cm internal and the mono is 1060cm (from internet specs). I think this just feels a bit too tight to get away with. 
 

G4M do a double with 15mm foam which would be long enough but I think I’m gonna hang fire and buy something a bit better. 
 

I don’t really ‘need’ a double case tbh. But, with another premier inn stay coming up after Saturdays gig, I’m remembering how annoying it’s been the last few times trying to get my long scale hard cases into the room 2 stories up at 2am 😂

[BabyBlueSound]

Something happened to my Sterling shortie, anyone has any idea what's going on? Example attached.

 

The E-string (Elixir, not very old) is ridiculously distorted, no matter what settings I use (serial, parallel, etc). The same settings work absolutely fine with my Ibanez. I have done some recording on this Sterling not that long ago and I did not have any of these issues.

All pedal settings (sansamp, compressor and HPF) are the usual, and again, the Ibanez does not distort, and I recorded both many times with the same settings, never having problems with one of them.

 

I even thought maybe it's the pickup height (which was unchanged since I last recorded myself), so I lowered it to the very bottom, but the E string still farts.

 

EDIT: It's important to note the gain IS set up correctly, there's absolutely no peaks, nothing's even close, I even halved the gain I usually record on, monitored it on both the Focusrite and the DAW, etc.

 

 

Edited November 15 by BabyBlueSound

[Pea Turgh]

Is it an active bass?  Battery change required?

[BabyBlueSound]

2 minutes ago, Pea Turgh said:

Is it an active bass?  Battery change required?

 

Nope, it's passive!

[Pea Turgh]

What happens if you record bass direct to interface?

[eude]

Could the pickup be malfunctioning? 

[BabyBlueSound]

38 minutes ago, Pea Turgh said:

What happens if you record bass direct to interface?

If there are no pedals and I'm just recording directly, of course the distortion effect becomes weaker, but the sound is still a bit weird. Like I have lost some definition and gained some rumble.

 

The weirdest thing is, I have recorded this bass before fairly recently as well, and I never really mess around with the compressor or Sansamp, I just leave them at the desired sound I found months ago. I don't recall having any similar issues.

 

1 minute ago, eude said:

Could the pickup be malfunctioning? 

 

I'm starting to think that's the case... I can also replicate the distorted rumble if I pluck the A string with some decent force.

 

The issue is most prominent in Series mode when the signal is the loudest, but Parallel is not that different once I start plucking really hard

[eude]

4 minutes ago, BabyBlueSound said:

I'm starting to think that's the case... I can also replicate the distorted rumble if I pluck the A string with some decent force.

 

When you really pop the A string it will be getting into the magnetic field of the poles under the E string, so it would suggest that those pole pieces might have gone wrong?

[Woodinblack]

9 minutes ago, BabyBlueSound said:

The issue is most prominent in Series mode when the signal is the loudest, but Parallel is not that different once I start plucking really hard

 

That really doesn't sound like the pickup to me - a broken pickup is a broken pickup, it wouldn't make a difference how loud or really what string, it sounds like a volume issue, whch sounds like a 'what you are going into' issue.

[BabyBlueSound]

5 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

That really doesn't sound like the pickup to me - a broken pickup is a broken pickup, it wouldn't make a difference how loud or really what string, it sounds like a volume issue, whch sounds like a 'what you are going into' issue.

 

It does seem like a standard volume issue at first, but I think it's somehow more related to the signal level of the pickup/bass.

 

Again, I always used this same bass with the same pedals and same settings, recorded it before, and I did not experience any ridiculous rumble. I have a recording from this October where this does not happen at all. I love to compare tones, so swapping this and the Ibanez all the time is pretty standard operation for me, and this was never an issue before.

 

And the volume is not actually loud. I am very far away from peaking anywhere, no reds or oranges, and even having the single Sansamp as my "chain" greatly increases the already present, but normally barely audible distortion (as expected, as it adds saturation). Again, my October recording is still proper clean.

 

I can set the Ibanez to much higher volumes without hearing any similar distortion happening, and even then the clipping starts in the interface, visibly reaching peaks, not just making fart noises without visible issues. My current DAW peak was not ever louder than -16dB which should be way more than enough headroom.

 

So all in all, the signal seems to become distorted as soon as it leaves the jack output of the Sterling...

[Woodinblack]

2 minutes ago, BabyBlueSound said:

So all in all, the signal seems to become distorted as soon as it leaves the jack output of the Sterling...

 

Maybe it is a pickup issue then if it has changed, or something between the pickup and output. Does the tone affect it, ie, has the capacitor gone funny somehow. For me the first thing would be to disconnect the pickup hot output and connect it straight to a jack plug to see what that sounded like.